Generous teachers sometimes assure their students that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Personally, I'm not so sure. It seems to me that I have heard some pretty stupid questions over the years. I'm quite sure that I have asked some very stupid questions along the way, as well.
In this episode from the first days of the early church, the disciples asked a stupid question. Or, at least, they asked the wrong question. They asked Jesus, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" (v. 6).
In order to understand their question, we need to see it in context.
The first bit of context is the political reality of the day. At this time, the nation of Israel had been reduced to a part of a Roman province. Long gone was the heroic age of Joshua, the golden…