How many questions did Jesus ask?

By common counts Jesus asked well over three hundred questions in the Gospels, far more than he directly answered. He often responded to a question with a question, using them to expose the heart and invite a personal response rather than merely to inform.

Why did Jesus ask so many questions?

Because questions do what statements cannot: they engage the listener, draw out what is really in the heart, and require a personal answer. Jesus used questions to move people from spectators to participants, and his questions still ask something of every reader today.

The words of Jesus

The Questions Jesus Asked

It is one of the most overlooked facts about Jesus: he asked far more questions than he answered. The Rabbi who is God mostly did not hand down conclusions; he asked, and the asking did the work, exposing the heart, drawing out the honest want, turning the conversation, gently, back onto the listener. These are his real questions, and none of them stayed in the past. He is still asking.

“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?”

Matthew 16:15

Each of his questions below has its own page: the scene in which he asked it, why he asked it, and then, the point of the whole thing, how he asks it of you.

“Who Do You Say That I Am?”Asked at Caesarea Philippi · Matthew 16:15
“What Do You Want Me to Do for You?”Asked to blind Bartimaeus · Mark 10:51
“Do You Love Me?”Asked to Peter, three times · John 21:15-17
“Why Are You Afraid?”Asked in the storm · Mark 4:40
“Do You Want to Be Made Well?”Asked at the pool of Bethesda · John 5:6
“Who Touched Me?”Asked in the crowd · Mark 5:30-31
“Why Do You Call Me Good?”Asked to the rich young ruler · Mark 10:18
“Could You Not Watch With Me One Hour?”Asked in Gethsemane · Matthew 26:40
“Where Are Your Accusers?”Asked to the woman caught in adultery · John 8:10
“Do You Believe This?”Asked to Martha at the tomb · John 11:26
“Why Seek the Living Among the Dead?”Asked at the empty tomb · Luke 24:5

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The question waits for an answer

A question is not a lecture; it waits for you. These were not asked two thousand years ago and closed. The same Jesus is still asking, and Living Bread is a quiet place to sit with the question, read the Gospels, and answer him honestly, at your own pace.

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Jesus Christ is Lord.

Frequently asked questions

How many questions did Jesus ask?: By common counts Jesus asked well over three hundred questions in the Gospels, far more than he directly answered. He often responded to a question with a question, using them to expose the heart and invite a personal response rather than merely to inform.
Why did Jesus ask so many questions?: Because questions do what statements cannot: they engage the listener, draw out what is really in the heart, and require a personal answer. Jesus used questions to move people from spectators to participants, and his questions still ask something of every reader today.