Seeing Jesus with Paul Miller

Paul, Jon, and Liz explore the beauty of submission and why Jesus, fully submitted to his Father, became more vibrant and free.
"The modern word that is almost anathema to our culture is submission. Jesus' primary driver for his entire life was his submission to his Father, and he would not call us to do anything that he himself had not done."
"Jesus didn't get flatter by submitting to his Father. He became vibrant."
"Jesus appears to be in bondage since he is so submitted to his Father, but he's freed to love an incredible variety of people. And his brothers, who appear free, are actually in bondage to other people's opinions."

Paul, Jon, and Liz continue their conversation about Jesus and how he loves. In the podcast, they reference a chart on the four ways Jesus loves that you can view here.
"When Jesus sets up a boundary, it's because people want him to do something that, in the world's eyes, would be way more glorious or easy. He'll put up boundaries to keep to his mission that's actually much harder and more painful. The boundaries he sets up keep him on track to not what the world wants, or even what his friends want, but what his Father wants."
"We talk sometimes about having our loves rightly ordered, but we also need our fears rightly ordered."
"The act of gentle intrusion is fading away. People are so fearful of triggering someone. What keeps them from loving is their risk assessment, with the result that people's lives are narrowing around the self."

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."