Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
November 16, 2014 - W1446

Today, I want to talk to you about questions that Jesus asked His disciples and why He led them with questions.

I recall in my 5^th grade pre-algebra class with Mr. Hayes we had a very tough algebra exam.  I went blank and I guess he noticed my glazed-over look so he ambled over to my desk and stood behind me and though he never gave me the answers he would always lead me with questions.  He asked, “Wayne, what’s the question there?”  I said, “It says to find the area of the circle.”  So he asked, “What’s the radius?”  I said, “The radius is half the diameter.”  He said, “Do you remember the formula we wrote on the board yesterday?”  I said, “Pi r squared is how you find the area of a circle.”  He said, “Yes, and what is pi?”  I said, “Pi is 3.14, and something else.”  He said, “That is close enough.  Plug that in and see what you get.”  I said, “Oh, now I remember.”  He knew that just slipping me the answer would never get me to think for myself.   You see, questions made me think—made me remember; then I would come to the conclusion on my own with his guidance, of course.   He made me recall things, but he did not just make me recall things, he made me recall, then apply. 

 Jesus did the same for His disciples.   To recall the answers wouldn’t be enough, it had to be applied.  Here’s one of Jesus’ questions.  They were in Caesarea Philippi, just north of Galilee. He gathered His disciples and asked them, “Who do men say that I am?”  The disciples had heard a variation of answers ranging from He’s John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets.  He stopped them and asked them directly, “Who do you say that I am?”  Peter shot out like an excited schoolboy confident that he had the right answer.  “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”   I’m sure Peter puffed up a little, showing off his ability to give the right answer, when Jesus corrected him, popping his newly inflated chest and said, “Peter, a rooster won’t crow before you will have denied me three times.”  In other words, you know the right answer but the question is “will you be able to apply it?” 

 Peter thought, “I am the leader and if everyone leaves you, Jesus, I will not leave you.  You can count on me.  I’ll be around.”  Peter knew the right answer but he didn’t know that he was about to be tested.  You see, knowing the correct response is good but it’s nothing unless you do a reality check and it can be applied. 

 It’s not what you do in church that’s important, but it’s what you do when you leave church.  You see, later on, Jesus will be betrayed by Judas Iscariot and the next day He will be tried before the high priest and Peter will be sitting incognito trying to find out what was about to happen to his Master when a slave girl recognizes him and says, “Aren’t you one His disciples?  You’ve been following this Jesus around.”  Peter is afraid that Jesus’ fate may become his as well and he said, “No, no I don’t know him.”  A second time she repeats, “I saw you.  You were with him with the other disciples.”  He said, “No, I’m not.”  He gets a little angry.  She looks at him again and says, “I’m sure it was you.”  Matthew 26:74 records, “…he began to curse and swear saying, ‘I don’t know this man!’ and immediately, a rooster crowed.” 

 Before we get down on Peter and use him as a bad example in life, let’s use him as a mirror.  Peter knew the right answer but that’s where it ended.  It’s as if Jesus is saying to you and me, “Do you know me? ... Then live it!”    

 It’s not enough just to know the right answers and to know who Jesus is.  The real question is can we apply the answer when we are tested?  How often we know all there is to know about love, but there’s not much love in our home?  How much do we know about forgiveness but we just can’t forgive?  We know all there is to know about peace but there is no peace in our hearts.  Jesus is saying, “Do you know who I am?”  “Yeah, I do.”  He says, “Now live it. Then and only then will you know who I really am.” 

 Let’s travel to the shores of Galilee where after the resurrection Jesus is about to ask Peter another question that will be tested in the caldron of his life.  You must remember that for three years Peter saw the good in Jesus and the ugly and bad in mankind.  Peter’s discouragement and maybe his immaturity didn’t always bring about the most sterling responses from him.  He talked way too much, put his foot in his mouth, denied Jesus to a slave girl, he even resorted to slicing off a man’s ear just because he wanted him to back off.  Peter would be reminded of his failures each time he would hear a rooster crow.  The reminiscence of too many failures and now the absence of his savior had left him with unanswered questions, but Jesus was about to fix that. 

 Peter and a few disgruntled disciples resigned their apostolic credentials and traded them in for a few casting rods and headed for their usual fishing grounds.  They had struggled all night until the early morning light.  These veteran fishermen always came home with a catch, but this time it would be different.  Jesus (unbeknownst to them) said, “Children have you caught any fish?”  “No,” the disciples answered somewhat perturbed.  The voice continued, “Why don’t you cast your nets on the right hand side of the boat?”   Peter, either fixed on disproving this stranger or maybe just to humor him, decided to tell his depleted crew to throw the nets on the right side of the boat.  They flung their nets into the water but after could hardly haul in the nets because there were so many fish! 

 One of the disciples said, “It’s the Lord!”  When Peter heard this he immediately plunged overboard and upon arriving on shore found Jesus sitting by a newly ignited fire.  Jesus asked, “Peter, do you love me more than these (fish)?”  Peter assured Him that he did.  Jesus replied, “Then leave these fish and find my lambs.”  Jesus asked him a second question, “Peter do you love me more than these (fish)?”  “Absolutely,” Peter replied.  Then Jesus followed up, “Then leave the Sea of Galilee and head for the pastures.  My sheep need a shepherd.”  Jesus must have stirred the hot coals of fire in Peter’s heart because a third time he asked, “Peter, do you love me?”  Peter was certain that Jesus knew his answer before he even replied, he always did.  He said, “Yes, I love you.”  Jesus countered, “Then leave these fish and find my sheep.”  Often, in order to go after one thing you must leave another.  For Peter it meant leaving the fish and opting for sheep.   

 Following is not just going; it may include leaving.  In order to follow Jesus, we need to be willing to leave certain things behind that have been weighing us down.  He could be asking you and me, “Do you love me enough to leave this propensity of yours towards skepticism?  “Do you love me enough to leave those habits or doubts or anger or lust or pride or ego?   This is a question Jesus asks me often and I need to answer them often. 

 For example, in the midst of an escalating argument the Lord would ask me, “Do you love me?”  “Yes.”  “Then leave it.”  It’s not fish we need to leave to deepen our commitment, it’s usually a habit, a negative attitude, or my right to retaliate, to defend myself, to excuse my actions or point out to my accusers their faults which I think are bigger than mine.  When I’m about to do that I can hear the Lord saying, “Wayne, do you love me?”  “Yes.”  “Then leave it.  It’s like dragging around old fish for months; they’re beginning to stink.”

 Take a few minutes and recall what Jesus has been asking you to leave behind once and for all.  When you do, it may just bring about a fresh new fragrance of God’s grace that had been eluding you for so long.

 Come with me to the final stop near Jerusalem where Jesus asks the third question that holds an assignment for every one of us.  After all the miracles and all the things that you have seen Jesus do, how open is your heart to Jesus to put everything on the line? 

 Jesus had performed many miracles and done so much for the people but they still wouldn’t open their hearts to the Messiah.  Jesus could see that soon they would turn on Him and have Him crucified like a common criminal.  In Matthew 23:37 He prayed over the city, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who killed the prophets and stoned those who were sent to her.  How often I wanted to gather your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you were unwilling.”  You can sense the compassionate heart of Jesus and a slight edge of sadness.  Jesus often prayed for the city and for His disciples back then, and He is still praying for them now.  I know he still prays for us.  In fact, read John 17:20-21,“I pray also for those who will believe in me; that all of them might be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

 Here is the final question.  Can you hear Him praying for you?  He is.  Let me ask if He is indeed praying for us, how many times has He answered our prayers when we prayed for our safety, finances, forgiveness, etc.—hundreds of thousands?  Well, here’s one prayer that we could answer for Him.   He prayed that the church would be one, just as He and the Father are one, so the world would believe that the gospel is credible.

 In this next season of New Hope, let’s live what we know and follow Him.  Leave behind excuses, wrong habits, and let’s answer one of His prayers that we be one. Why?  Because of our love for one another the world would believe that the gospel really works. 

 Let me tell you a story about one of the ladies on our trip to Israel.  She came on this trip with some physical problems to the point she could hardly walk.  Every day it got worse until she was taken to a physician who prescribed some medication so that she could function.  She didn’t want to stay in the bus and rest because she didn’t want to miss anything.  During one of the morning devotionals, she gave her heart to the Lord.

 Last night I saw her and told her how much I appreciated her spirit.  She said, “Oh no. From the very beginning when I joined this group I watched every one of you and there was like a light that shone around everyone.   You just love each other so much and it blew me away and I knew I wanted to be a part of this kind of family.”  She said, “In fact when I get back to the Midwest I’m telling my husband we are moving to Hawaii to be a part of this church.”  I thought that’s what Jesus was saying when He said in John 17:20,21, “I pray also for those who will believe in me; that all of them might be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

 You see it’s not enough just to know the right answers; we must live the right answers.  For example, when issues pop up do we have the courage to remember what Jesus asked us, “Do you love me more than hanging on to this?”  “Yes.”  “Then leave it, leave it behind.”  “Do you love me enough to leave that pride?”  “Can you be one with one another?”  Can you hear him praying?   Don’t just know the right answers.  Let’s live it, this season.  Go above and beyond the call of duty.   Then there will be a glow on the people of God just as the traveler said.  We’ll find that we have answered one of Jesus’ prayers.  Watch what He is about to do for us, our church, and our future.  It will be absolutely amazing.  You watch.  You wait.  You’ll see!    

 STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. Why did Jesus lead His disciples by asking them questions?

 2. Expand on “Knowing the correct response is good but it’s nothing unless you do a reality check and it can be applied.”

 3.What was Jesus trying to get Peter to understand when he asked him three times “Peter, do you love me more than these (fish)?”

 4. What is Jesus’ one prayer request that we can answer for Him?