A popular interview form in contemporary media is the “Ask Me Anything” feature where people from all over can ask an important figure questions and get immediate answers. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to do an “AMA” with Jesus Christ?
Well, actually we don’t have to imagine. It’s already been done and it’s available to the whole world. Here’s a sample:
ASK ME ANYTHING WITH JESUS CHRIST
After journeying with Jesus and being witnesses to his inspiring teachings and miraculous works, the friends of Jesus worry that their time with him is coming to an end. Jesus gathers them together and confirms their fears.
Jesus Christ: I will be with you only a little longer. (John 13:33)
Hearing this concerns them deeply and raises questions, many questions. The “Ask Me Anything” interview with Jesus as document by the Gospel of John begins:
Q: Where are you going?
JC: Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later. (John 13:36)
(They don’t get what Jesus means when he says he is going somewhere they can’t. He tries to calm their fears by telling them he would not mislead them about God having a place for them.)
Q: Why can’t I follow you now?
JC: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:1 – 3)
Q: We don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?
JC: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. (John 14:6)
(Jesus tells them directly he is the way to God. Yet they don’t get it. They want to know about how they can get to God themselves without depending on Jesus.)
Q: Show us the Father.
JC: Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. (John 14:9 – 11)
(Jesus sees that they’re still confused so he elaborates on his answer.)
JC: If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:15 – 20)
(They seem to miss that Jesus is introducing the Holy Spirit to them. Perhaps they heard the word “spirit” as being with a small ‘s.’ So they continue with another question.)
Q: Why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?
JC: Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (John 14:23 – 24)
(Jesus is saying if you love me, obey his teaching and God will love them and welcome them to heaven. But they still don’t get it. He senses their anxiety. He uses a metaphor to explain what he needs from them.)
JC: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:5 – 7)
(That’s clearer to them. Stay joined with Jesus and all will be good. There is still so much more they want to know from Jesus. He said to ask whatever they wish. How about telling them how to act when he is gone?)
JC: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:12 – 15)
(It’s comforting that this great man calls them friends. But what about everyone else? What if they’re not well liked?)
JC: If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:18 – 19)
(They have been chosen by the Son of God. They know that means they have a duty to which they must show unyielding devotion. Even so, Jesus sees they are gravely troubled by his impending departure. Why does he have to leave them?)
JC: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate (Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment; about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. (John 16:7 – 11)
(So this Holy Spirit is going to be a helper and be an advocate for truth, a counselor and a comforter. Now they will have a voice who can tell them how to act and what to say. But what exactly should they be telling people about Jesus?)
JC: I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. (John 16:12 – 13)
(Trust in the Holy Spirit and receive God’s will. So when will the Spirit come to them?)
JC: In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me. (John 16:16).
(They’re puzzled and not reluctant to say so.)
Q: What do you mean by “in a little while you will not see and then in a little while you will see me”?
JC: You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. (John 16:20 – 22)
(Then he tells them there will be another “Ask Me Anything.” But this time it will be with God who will respond to anything they ask.)
JC: In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 16:23 – 24)
(Finally, joyfully, they begin to understand and accept all that Jesus is saying. Here in just a few pages in the Gospel of John the great summation of the Christian faith is delivered. Having answered his friends’ every question, Jesus turns the tables. He ends this “AMA” interview by asking them a question.)
JC: Do you now believe? (John 16:31)
(Before they answer, Jesus tells them the reason why it is so important to have faith in him.)
JC: I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
(Jesus then prays to God on behalf of his friends as he prepares for his ultimate glory. But he prays not just for those friends he knew on earth, but for all of us who accept Jesus as our Savior.)
JC: My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20 – 21, 23)