Jesus is the Question, by Martin Copenhaver

This is an interesting concept for a book. I had not thought before about the fact that Jesus is asked many questions and in return He asks a bundle of questions. But it was surprising for me to read that he only truly answered a handful of the questions put to him. Typically in response to a question being asked he would in turn ask a question of the person posing the question.

In true Socratic form he was use to asking open ended questions that would cause His listeners to have to think, process and then come to a conclusion on their own. Sometimes in answer to a question he would tell a parable. Such as the question, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus did not directly answer the question but responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan. In a way he answers the question but causing the listeners to listen and interpret the parable and thus come to a conclusion on their own.

While the book is intriguing I found that it really ends up being mini sermons based on the questions that Jesus asked. That is not a bad thing, I just had thought it would be something else. I was looking at this as a guidebook for a small group to use to go through the many questions that Jesus asked. It can do that although it is a bit more direct than what I would have liked.

There is a readers guide in the back, starting on page 145 that is very good and will give you a summary of each chapter and will be very useful in a small group.

Also Chapter 13, "All Those Questions" is more of what I thought I would find. It gives a chronicle of all the questions that Jesus asked broken down by some topical headings. This is a great tool and would be highly useful to the Bible Teacher looking for a collection of Jesus's questions that will give them a jumping off point in their teaching.

Enjoy!