The Questions Jesus Asked – Part 1

We are looking at the questions Jesus asked in this series. Last week in the introduction to this series we looked at a question Jesus asked in John 1:38:

John 1:38 (NIV)
38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

It is a question that we can and should be asking ourselves often. There is another way to translate that same question and I want to talk about that today.

What are you seeking (looking for)?

John 1:35–39 (ESV)
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

This question (or a slight variation of this question, who instead of what) is repeated several times in the gospel of John. When a band of soldiers come to arrest him, Jesus asks the same question twice: “Who are you seeking (looking for)?”

John 18:3–8 (ESV)
3 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. 7 So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.”

Then, Jesus asks it again after the resurrection to Mary in the garden outside the empty tomb: “Who are you seeking (looking for)?”

John 20:11–15 (ESV)
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

What are you looking for, anyway? We don’t always know. We know that we want something, but we aren’t quite sure what it is. We try this or that hoping that it will fill the longing, but it doesn’t last. Pondering this question leads me to this thought, that this deep longing inside is a longing for new creation.

Revelation 21:1–5 (NIV)
1Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

I think that most people don’t know what the longing for new creation looks or feels like. We know deep down that there is something better than we are experiencing. No matter how hard we try to make everything work, it just never does. But the longing for new creation cannot be fully satisfied this side of Jesus coming back. We get tastes of eternity now, but we do not get the whole banquet. The reality we must face and embrace is that we live in a fallen world on a broken planet. Everything is broken here, including us.

I like this quote from Pascal:

“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”

A paraphrase of this quote has been popularized over time and now reads like this:

“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”

So many of us try to fill that God-shaped vacuum or hole with things that end up causing us to feel even more empty and unhappy. It is only in Jesus that we can experience full and abundant life, now and forever.

Steve Lawes is a church encourager and the lead pastor of Keys Vineyard Church.