The Divine Inquiry: Questions Jesus Asked to Change Your Life

By Sanford Zensen

Jesus had a lot to say about the way we live out our daily lives. In the process, he asks a lot of questions that are insightful, penetrating, and thought-provoking, all demanding an honest appraisal of oneself and an appropriate, life-changing response. He asks the same questions today. For example, Why are you so afraid? What do you want me to do for you? What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?
This book explores a sampling of the questions Jesus asked, as he walked the streets of the ancient world. Every divine inquiry was/is designed to confront, convict, challenge, conform, and/or comfort (cf John 16:7-13) His listeners. His intention has always been the same - to give us a fresh, new set of eyes with which to assess our individual lives, address areas of personal weakness, encourage spiritual and emotional maturity, and press us to apply practical life-principles that actually work in everyday living. His purpose is discipleship, Christlikeness. His objective is to move us to consider the deepest of truths regarding the person I am, the person I could be, and the person I must be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Jan 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666759440

Sanford Zensen

Sanford Zensen is an ordained Baptist and former Christian & Missionary Alliance minister with twenty plus years’ experience in pastoral ministry, including twenty-five years as a professor of Christian Studies and a Christian college administrator. He has authored two five-star rated books, On the Wall with Sword and Trowel: The Challenges and Conflicts of Ministry (WIPF and Stock, 2019) and Living Deep in a Shallow World (WIPF and Stock, 2020).

Book preview

THE DIVINE INQUIRY

Questions Jesus Asked to Change Your life

Sanford Zensen

The Divine Inquiry

Questions Jesus Asked to Change Your life

by

Sanford Zensen

Copyright © 2022

ISBN:

Independently Published

First Edition

Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked (AVS are taken from the American Standard Version (1901), Public Domain.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version, public domain.

Scripture quotations marked (MSG) are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scripture marked (NKJV) taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved. New Living, NLT, and the New Living Translation logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked (Phillips) are taken from The New Testament in Modern English, copyright 1958, 1959, 1960 J.B. Phillips and 1947, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1976, The MacMillan Company, New York. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (TPT) are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a literary work.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

The Barren Fig Tree

Introduction

Chapter 1: How Life Was Meant to Be Lived: Christlikeness

Chapter 2: The Most Important Question of All

Chapter 3: Dancing in the Rain

Chapter 4: You Get What You Settle For

Chapter 5: The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Chapter 6: For the Love of God

Chapter 7: All in or Not at All—A Life of Sacrifice and Service

Chapter 8: Fitting into God’s Plans for Your Life

Chapter 9: What Only God Can Do

Chapter 10: Taking Hold of the Power of God

Conclusion

About the Author

Notes

Dedication

For my students, former parishioners, and fellow pilgrims who have taught me much more about life and God than I care to admit, I offer a hearty, eternal thank you for your encouragement, kindness, longsuffering toward me over the years, and for your faithfulness to Christ and His Kingdom.

I particularly want to mention Dr. Bill Johnson, pastor and teacher, and Coach Joey Johnson, both of whom I am privileged to count as friends. They are extraordinary men of faith who have stood with me for many years, who have remained to this day lovers of God, and who have spent their lives imitating God (Ephesians 5:1). They are faithful servants, teaching, coaching, and mentoring those under their charge to become men of integrity and honesty, men of faith and moral courage, men who know God intimately and deeply, and who will be good men, good husbands, good fathers, and compassionate men who are ready to serve the needs of those less fortunate. Well done, men. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers… I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now (Philippians 1:3-5, NIV).

I am convinced that the survival and effectiveness of the Church over the centuries (particularly in the places where I’ve preached, pastored, and attempted to minister) is a sure testimony to the sustaining power and greatness of God and His grace, poured out on unworthy men of whom I am one. To God be the glory. Great things He had done.

Jude 24-25 – Now to Him who is able to make you and me stand in the presence of His glory BLAMELESS (without spot or stain) and do it WITH GREAT JOY; To the only God our Savior…Jesus, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever."

The Barren Fig Tree

Luke 13:6-9

How many years hast thou, my heart,

Acted the Barren Fig Tree’s part?—

Leafy, and fresh, and fair,

Enjoying heavenly dews of grace,

And sunny smiles from God’s own face—

But where the fruit? Ah, where?

How often must the Lord have pray’d,

That still my day might be delay’d

Till all due means were tried!

Afflictions, mercies, health, and pain—

How long shall these be all in vain

To teach this heart of pride?

Learn, O my soul, what God demands

Is not a faith like barren sands,

But fruit of heavenly hue;

By this we prove that Christ we know—

If in his holy steps we go:

Faith works by love, if true.

–Robert Murray M’Cheyne (August 14, 1831)

A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you always known you could be.

–Tom Landry

Introduction

J

esus had a lot to say about the manner in which I live out my daily life, much like a coach preparing a team for the tough, long season ahead. Frankly, Jesus gets under my skin, seemingly always interfering in my personal affairs, saying things that unsettle my thoughts, challenge my values and priorities, and turning my worldview upside down. He causes me to rethink and evaluate who I am and how I am doing in this thing called life. He asks a lot of questions—insightful, profound, penetrating, personal and bothersome questions—that demands an immediate, honest appraisal of oneself and an appropriate, life-changing response. There are over three hundred questions recorded in the four gospels,¹ all of which drill down into my psyche and challenge my personal perspective on what constitutes successful, daily living. Each one is important. It is not coincidence, observed Martin Copenhaver, that the Great Physician is also the Great Questioner because healing begins with questions.²

Questions are the tools of a master teacher. It seems very Jewish. The first recorded words of Jesus in the gospels was a question posed to potential followers. He simply asked, What do you want?" (John 1:38, TPT, cf footnote c). It is the same question Jesus asks of me and His would-be disciples that presses me to think more deeply and reflect on what I want for my life, and more importantly, on what I want from my relationship with God. Both are serious impactful matters to consider.

The disciples called Jesus a teacher (John 1:49), and rightly so. They heard Him teach in the synagogues and on the streets of the ancient world as one having authority (Mark 1:22, NASB). He spoke with power and an uncommon clarity…unlike anyone the crowds had ever heard before. He was good, really good. A master communicator. He knew what He was talking about. "Rabbi" was the title Nathanael, Andrew, Peter, and Nicodemus first gave Him from the very start of their daily walk with Christ.

Jesus started His teaching career as a boy in the Jerusalem temple where He sat among the priests, scribes, Bible scholars, the learned men of the day, listening to them and asking questions (Luke 2:46, NASB). And there it is. Questions are an effective teaching methodology that probed the depths of a man’s soul and pushed His listeners toward a clarification of biblical, life principles and self-assessment. The Scriptures go on to say that "those who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers" (Luke 2:47, NASB). He delivered the truth with simplicity, transparency, and conviction, opening the minds of His hearers, softening their hearts, and contending with their stubborn wills. Some things haven’t change…and shouldn’t. Later, at Nazareth, Jesus entered the synagogue. He stood up so all could see and hear Him and read aloud (cf Luke 4:16-30) from the prophet Isaiah, applying those words to Himself. He rattled a few cages, but the crowd was mesmerized. They hung on every word and couldn’t take their eyes off Him (Luke 4:22). Great teachers seem to have that ability. They can hold an audience. Others can kill an audience and make the Good News sound like bad news.

Christ’s words were strong and clear-cut. There was no mistaking His message. He had come to bring the gospel to the world, to the poor in spirit overwhelmed by life’s tragedies, to those held captive by demeaning and destructive moral behavior, to those in great need of mercy and forgiveness, to the spiritually blind and searching for answers, and to those beaten down and hopeless souls who see no relief in sight to their troubles (Luke 4:18-19).

When Jesus taught, He released the compassion and grace of God and made it available to all men and women from every walk of life and nation. The moment the Son of God was laid in a manger in the back alleyways of Bethlehem, the love and mercy of God arrived on earth to declare the message of the Good News that would soon cut across every social boundary, generation, and culture without exception. Jesus made that ever so clear. He spoke to the Jew and the Gentile alike. He was born to play the role of Savior, Redeemer, and the living Word of God set loose on this earth to rescue and save all manner of people.

No doubt, Jesus raised a lot of questions in the minds of that first century crowd and upset the religious and secular mobs along the way (Luke 4:28-29), questions that disturbed and unsettled a good many people. When Saul was heading down the Damascus Road prior to his conversion, Jesus showed up and asked, Why are you out to get me? (Acts 9:4, MSG). The question stopped the man cold in his tracks and pressed him to reconsider his decisions and actions. Jesus is still, this day, asking questions that move men and women to change the course and direction of their lives.

The objective of divine inquiry has always been transformation, a spiritual overhaul of the inner man/woman to better reflect the character, attitudes, and behavior of Christ Himself. From the start, His questions were designed to increase one’s personal knowledge of God and what He wants from each of us, inform us about what works best in this life, and to help us develop wisdom in choosing a philosophy of life (a biblical perspective) that governs every aspect of daily living. Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth (Psalm 86:11, NLT). Good theology leads to good choices, and good choices produces good living.

Open the pages of Scripture and you will discover that Jesus is asking the same questions today with the same purpose in mind. For more than two-thousand years, He has not stopped calling people to account, questioning everything—inviting you to make a brutal self-examination of your person, an open no-holds-barred battle with the ugly truth, the deepest of truth regarding the person you are, the person you could be, and the person you must be.

Questions are intrusive, particularly those recorded in the gospels, and they were/are meant for all and applicable to all: male and female, rich and poor, the Wall Street executive and the grocery bagger at the local store, the old and the young, kings in castles, and people who live in cardboard boxes under bridges. Consider the following few questions as Jesus began to teach the multitudes and His disciples (Matthew 5:1-2, NASB). You will find His words to be quite direct and terribly uncomfortable:

Matthew 5:43-48, TPT – What reward do you deserve if you only love the loveable? Don’t even the tax collectors do that? How are you any different from others if you limit your kindness only to your friends? Don’t even the ungodly do that? Since you are children of a perfect Father in heaven, become perfect like him.

I wish sometimes that Jesus would just lighten up on the demands. Perfect? Really? Not a chance of me qualifying for that award. I prefer a less intrusive Jesus, less pushy, less meddling, and more accommodating of my quirks, tendencies, and ideas—and I’ve got some good ones, if you ask me. However, God has a greater purpose than coddling me or going soft on me. That has never been His style. He’d rather press me hard to consider my current attitudes and actions, and change what needs to change (no matter how troublesome or painful that may be) to better reflect the character and behavior of Christ.

He is still engaged in that task and often uses questions applied to our hearts and minds by means of the Holy Spirit to accomplish His purpose in our lives.

Some years ago, Sgt. Steve Perez, a thirty-four-year veteran of the Houston Police Department was killed as he was responding to the catastrophe of hurricane Harvey that hit the city with a vengeance. Knowing the seriousness and danger of the situation, he set out to rescue those whose lives were threatened. On the way to his station, his car became trapped in the flood waters beneath an overpass, and he drowned before anyone could get to him. A tragic loss for the family.

Amazingly, Officer Perez did not have to report to duty. He was off duty. His wife begged him not to leave home, not to go out because of the danger of flooded streets. He went anyway, unselfishly, willingly, without regard for his own well-being and safety. He knew there were desperate people out there crying for help,