I realise that opinions differ as to what constitutes a good question and what constitutes a bad question: what helps you to dig into the passage and discover its meaning may not work for me.
But nevertheless it’s worth taking time to think about this. Here are my comments on the questions in Something to do (4).
Q. Why do we think the disciples still don’t recognise who Jesus is?
This is a good question. It’s in the present tense, which makes the whole thing more real; and Why do we think..? will relax people and make them more willing to share.
Q. Why do we think the Pharisees are so against Jesus?
This is another good question: once again it’s in the present tense and it’s the kind of question that allows a Why do we think..?
Q. Extrapolate from this passage for your own lives.
This is a bad one. It sounds like an exam question, and it uses your, which reinforces the teacher-and-students feel: our would improve it. But how many people in the group are going to know what extrapolate means? (Not me – and I wrote the question!)
Q. Who heals the woman in verse 29?
This is almost certainly a bad question. Of course, I don’t know what passage this is part of a Bible study on, but the answer is almost certainly going to be Jesus. So it’s embarrassingly easy: the group are probably going to clam up.
Q. Do any of you know where Paul says something similar in one of his letters?
This question is bad, too. It uses you, so it’s got a teacher-and-students feel again, and is perhaps a bit patronising.
Q. How do we think the Christians in Ephesus might have felt when this letter was read out?
This is a good question: it gets the group to think about the letter’s message and then to think about the possible reaction of the first hearers. The we is important: you would turn this into a bad question. If I’m allowed to be picky I’ll say that the question would be even better if it was in the present tense, to make it more immediate: How do we think the Christians in Ephesus might be feeling as this letter is being read out?