Seeing Jesus with Paul Miller

Paul, Jon, and Liz continue their conversation about Jesus, reflecting on one of the ways Jesus loves: receiving what other people bring into his life.
"Selfless openness is simply being willing to let other people intrude into your world. With Mary Magdalene in the garden, Jesus stays in the background. He's the receiver of what's going on. Jesus receives Mary's tears quietly. He leaves space for her. Then with Pilate, Jesus receives his verbal abuse and mocking, which gets worse as the trial goes on. And in the footwashing, he receives the disciples' pride by washing their feet. He absorbs it."
"We can potentially be very productive, but we miss opportunities to love all the time."
"It's easy to see the seeming 'disorganization' as a problem. Like, Jesus could have benefited from a really good travel agent or team manager. 'He's not able to come help your daughter today, but you can book an appointment using our online form.' But, by design, he's responding to real life unfolding around him. That's something we can learn from him, too."

Paul, Jon, and Liz continue their conversation about how Jesus lived as a human, looking at the footwashing scene in John 13.
"Though footwashing was everywhere in the ancient world, it's only in John's gospel where we read a detailed description of the process of footwashing. And this account only exists because of the incarnated Son of God taking each step to do it. It's breathtaking: that the humility of the Son of God comes through in the very description of footwashing itself."
"John wrote his gospel 60 years after the footwashing, but John had been so shocked by it, that he remembered every move."
"When Jesus washes the disciples' feet, the room is filled with awkward silence. You'd think Jesus would talk as he goes, to get his point across, but it's so like Jesus to leave space. He's so riveting that his silence helps John remember what happened."

Paul, Jon, and Liz continue their discussion about what Jesus is like as a person, looking at the rest of his conversation with Pilate.
"Jesus' authority is so real that he doesn't roll over when talking to Pilate. There are times he stays silent, like at the Jewish trial, but he's actually very active through his passion."
"Jesus talks about what holds him steady, what his ballast is, and it's his communion with his Heavenly Father."
"Jesus talks about his communion with his Father all through the Gospel of John. And it's just good for us to know, because we tend to put Jesus in a deity box and not see that we are looking at a fully human person. Jesus is showing us a whole new way of being human: you can love a bully, like Pilate."

Paul, Jon, and Liz begin a two-part conversation about Jesus and Pilate, looking at how differently Jesus navigated this conversation than his Resurrection announcement with Mary.
"Usually if a conversation begins with mocking, it can spiral into a serious quarrel, or it can just become immature with a lot of insults. Jesus diffuses the situation, as an act of kindness to Pilate. 'I'm not a threat to you, Pilate.' He's so calm and quiet."
"What you're seeing is Jesus' communion with his Father. Pilate is technically the one in charge, but Jesus is the one showing hospitality to Pilate."
"If anybody should be relaxed, it's the person in power. But you can feel Jesus' power in his stability and quiet. We like to talk about Jesus' meekness and mildness, but here Jesus also shows his power, his mastery of his spirit and mind, and he's willing to use battle-commander language. Pilate is discovering the mettle in Jesus; Jesus is like no one he's questioned before."

Paul, Jon, and Liz begin a new series about Jesus, called Unexplored Wonder, in which they look at familiar stories and draw our attention to the way Jesus lived as a human. The series begins with the Resurrection Announcement.
"What so struck me is how much Jesus leaves space. I think that's partly because I tend to fill space. And I should explain what I mean by that. When you're talking, you're filling space, relational space. Jesus leaves space, and lets Mary emerge as a person. What's beautiful about the resurrection announcement is that we get to know both Jesus and her."
"Jesus is able to make the actual announcement by mentioning her name, not his. It's pure poetry!"
"If there's any moment in all of cosmic history and any person who had the right to put the spotlight solely on himself, this was it. But Jesus does the opposite and centers on the person in front of him."