Jesus must have driven the disciples a little nuts at times. He seldom answered their questions directly. Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” Jesus launches into a long story about “menservants and maidservants.” Someone asked, “Who is my neighbor?” and Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. The disciples of John the Baptist ask, “Are you the one to come or shall we look for another?” Jesus answers, “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” You can imagine the disciples thinking, Just once, can’t you give us a straight answer. On further reflection, though, Jesus is actually placing faith in the disciples ability to figure things out for themselves. Instead of providing pre-digested answers like a catechism book he asks to them to look into themselves and to look around God’s world and find that they already know the answer if they just do the work of looking. That is our story as well. Jesus trusts us to find the way to a life of compassion, forgiveness, generosity.
