4 - Why...

"The students began to look at one another amidst an array of emotions.  Some of them were relieved, some upset, some confused, and some were angry."

Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”(ESV)

​Granted, as college students, he didn’t know them very well.  However, he did know enough to successfully conclude the following:

1. The red envelope means we all must’ve done the same thing.
2. None of us knew the answer to the question or what was set to happen next.
   
   

As he contemplated these things, the professor came and asked all of the seated students to come back into the classroom.  Each of the 12 students gathered their belongings, walked into the room, and quietly took their seat.  When all students were seated, the professor closed the door, walked back to his podium, and said this:

“If you’re in this room, it’s because you didn’t know the answer.  However, you should also know that I intentionally and purposefully planned for no one to know the answer.”

The students began to look at one another amidst an array of emotions.  Some of them were relieved, some upset, some confused, and some were angry.  

Carlos asked, “If you knew we didn’t know the answer, why would you give us the quiz? And, why would you allow this one question, which none of knew the answer to, to cover so much of our cumulative grade?”  The remaining students began to offer sounds of confirmation towards Carlos.  The postures and attitudes of the other students were in full agreement with Carlos, with mirrored tones of aggravation towards the professor. 

The professor waited for the students to quiet.  He took off his glasses, looked down, and chuckled.  He then responded, “It’s because the answer to the quiz was never the quiz.”  He then paused and said, “Instead, the quizwas the quiz.  The test wasn’t about who knew the answer.  The test was always about who was honest enough to admit that they didn’t know.”  

​In an extended and viciously awkward space of silence, the professor then said, “Everyone please open…”

click here for Part 5