Introduction - The Jesus Code
Introduction
Recently, while reading through the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—I was captured by something I had read a thousand times but had never really seen: on page after page, I noticed the Lord asking questions.
Think about that. Our omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing) Savior was always asking questions. It mattered not whether He was one-on-one, in a small group, or among a crowd. He was continually probing and questioning His listeners. I became so intrigued by this observation I decided to count His questions. The Gospels alone record over 150 questions that escaped the lips of our Lord—and these are just the ones written down for posterity. John informed us near the end of his gospel that if everything Jesus said and did had been recorded, all the books of the world could not contain it (John 21:25).
The more I thought about this phenomenon, the more I became convinced that this was a distinctive code, a “Jesus code,” for us to follow as we journey through God’s written truth. And one thing this code clearly reveals: it is okay to ask questions. In fact, good leadership is more often characterized by the question mark than the period, exclamation mark, or comma. Those who continue to grow in spirit and in wisdom ask a lot of questions. We have reached a dangerous point in our spiritual journey when we feel that we have all the answers and we stop asking questions.
Among the hundreds of questions asked in the pages of the Bible are fifty-two (one for every week of the year) that every believer should be able to answer. The Jesus Code will guide you on a journey through Scripture by challenging you to study a question a week and then meditate on the answer until it is firmly fixed in your heart. The journey begins with the first question asked in the Bible, “Has God indeed said . . . ?” and continues with every question believers should desire to answer before they get to heaven.
So let me pose a personal question: Are you ready to begin looking at the fifty-two questions in The Jesus Code, questions with answers that impact not only today but eternity? After all, some answers for life just can’t be found on Google! Let’s turn the page and begin with the first question recorded in Scripture.