First, the religious leaders asked Him about His authority. He responded by saying that he would only answer their question after they answered one of His: By whose authority did John the Baptist preach? Jesus referred them to what they already knew: if John was a prophet of God, then they would recognize Jesus’ authority, since John did. If they rejected John, Jesus wasn’t going to give them anymore information. So the determining factor for getting an answer was “What are they doing with what they already know?”

Second, the Pharisees and Herodians asked Him about taxes. Jesus asked for a coin, which they produced. Jesus pointed out that since they were using Caesar’s money, they had obligations to Caesar. Then He pointed out that since they bore God’s image, they also had obligations to God. So the determining factor here was that Jesus used the question as an opportunity to bring spiritual conviction to the asker.

Third, the Sadducees asked him about marriage in heaven. Their misunderstanding of Scripture caused them to think that the resurrection was a silly notion, because it could result in a woman having 7 husbands. The question was designed to mock Jesus’ teaching. Jesus pointed out that they “err[ed]…because [they knew] not the scriptures, neither the power of God.” The determining factor here was to use the question as a chance to teach Biblical truth to those who misunderstood it. So what’s the deal? Sometimes Jesus answered it, sometime He didn’t. He was sensitive to the situation. If the person already knew the answer, Jesus left them with their prior knowledge. If there was a way to turn the question on the asker, Jesus did it. If the question came because of a misunderstanding of the Bible, Jesus corrected them. You’ll have to evaluate your questions along the same lines.

Here’s a couple more verses to consider. In Matthew 7, Jesus says not to cast pearls before swine. In other words, if the person is obnoxious, belligerent, or rude, you are not required to respond. Truth belongs to those who are willing to accept it. In 2 Timothy 2:23, Paul tells Timothy not to waste time on “foolish and unlearned questions.” Those are questions that are crude, ungodly, and ignorant. They come from people who aren’t interested in an answer, but merely want to cause problems. As I said, you’ll have to exercise spiritual discernment to recognize these people, but when you do, don’t feel bad about ignoring their question. I tended to handle these types of questions in my classes by referring the person to a book or recourse. That showed that an answer did exist, and if they really wanted an answer, they could go find it. If not, it was their problem, not mine.