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."

Jon recently returned from a trip to Asia, where he was training church leaders, many from the persecuted church. In this episode, he shares some observations from his travels with Paul and Liz. "A recent trip to Asia really brought a lot of eye-opening clarity to me. It wasn't necessarily designed this way, but it ended up that I had multiple opportunities to work with the persecuted church broadly in Asia. I've had that opportunity over the past few years, but I think as I get to know people on the ground more personally and hear their stories, there are some common observations and themes I'm just beginning to notice and really appreciate." "Suffering brings a lot of clarity." "There's no middle ground when the environment is extremely intense. You're either in Christ or you're not. You're either for Jesus or you're not. You're either a Christian or you're not. It not only brought clarity for them, but also a tremendous amount of hunger. It's really been, indirectly, a kind of poke to my own heart…"

Paul and Liz talk with seeJesus Arab World Trainer "Mafdi" about what we can learn about discipleship from someone who lives in a country ruled by a King. "Every believer has things in their life that are 'footwashing' – where you have to do humble tasks that someone might have shoved in your face, or they're just difficult to do and they're every day. Seeing them as something my King is asking me to do changes those tasks. And we know he told the disciples after the foot washing, 'if I, your Lord and master have washed your feet, so you are to wash one another's feet.' " "It's an honor for me that the King is asking me to do something for him." "If the King asks me to do something for him, I will joyfully say, 'Yes, sir.' With a big smile on my face. It's an honor for me that the King is asking me to do something for him. Like if someone asked me to help with something while I'm busy doing something for the king, I'd say. 'I'm sorry, but I'm doing so-and-so for the King.' "

Liz and Jon interview our Student Ministry Director, Robert Row, and Mid-Atlantic Coordinator, Christian Graham. "I do think the tide is turning, and there's a shift in the middle of the coming generation, in the younger half of it. I wouldn't describe them as an anxious generation anymore. I'd describe them as a generation that's bringing revival to the country, to our country. I can't speak to it necessarily around the world, but I know it's happening here." "We have to be ready, because this generation is bringing revival in some really beautiful ways." "It seems that evangelism has been based on how much knowledge you have, so that you can answer all the questions that come at you. But we're really training students to study God's Word by asking good questions and then to enter into these interactive studies. Jesus is the King of question-asking, and before he even says a word, you have wise men and shepherds, who come experience this Messiah laying in a manger and then go tell others."    

Jon and Liz interview Jill Miller, seeJesus' Adaptive Curriculum Writer, about her new Bible study, Advent, and her children's book, Tully's Christmas Mess. You can view these new books and past advent podcasts and blog posts here. "It was December 26, and I put the tree away after it fell down again. Paul said, 'Why are you putting the tree away? It's only the day after Christmas.' I said, 'Hon, she did what she could.' I love that verse!" "Jesus adapted the majesty that he came from, so we can get a grip on it, a tiny grip." "If you only know the nativity moment of the Christmas story, it is like coming in at the end of a movie - you miss all that that stuff that helps you feel the climax of the moment. But the Advent Study, as we move through Isaiah and then the story leading up to Jesus' birth, we actually have a drum roll. It starts out really soft, but as it goes through the story, it gets louder and louder when Jesus comes. Then, we have the cymbals!"

Paul, Liz, and Adam Barker, our A Praying Life Ministry Director, sat down to share ideas about how to lead a good prayer meeting -- whether an "official" meeting or any gathering of Christian friends who pray for one another. "I watched my dad over the years leading prayer meetings. There were so many little things he did, but it seemed there were two aspects that were really key. First was the people there and what was on their hearts. The second was drawing people into the larger work of God. If you get too heavy on either side, the meeting gets unbalanced." "A good prayer meeting brings love and prayer together: people are listening to one another before prayer and listening to one another during prayer." "Sometimes, you have to stop and celebrate as opposed to rushing on. Being curious, remembering past requests, drawing people out. There's this huge exercise of love behind a prayer meeting, which hopefully helps the people praying learn to love too. It is just just lovely when that happens."

Paul, Jon, and Liz continue their conversation about discipleship, looking at the relationship between sin identification and beauty formation. "Sin identification and beauty formation are mirrors of one another. The beauty of Christ, which God is by his Spirit forming in us, is where we're going. And sin is the missing of the mark right where we are." "Beauty formation actually has an end goal: getting ready for heaven." "We are his workmanship. Our salvation begins this process of God working in us the beauty of Christ. He's the artist working on us, and the result is that we then become artists ourselves."

Paul, Jon, and Liz reflect on the landscape of discipleship, contrasting the boredom of plains with the beauty of high peaks. "One quality of all the high points is perfection. You see it in Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount's 'Be perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect.' In other words, when you do these things, do them really, really well." "Beauty is one of the church's best apologetics." "Really, perfection is a whole style of the New Testament. Like, we're really in this for real. Toyota and Honda really struggled when they brought their plants to America, because they could not reach the perfection the Japanese machinists could reach in terms of clearances on the parts. Americans couldn't get any closer than two 1/100ths of an inch of perfection, and the Japanese got to one 1/100th. Every good trade has these perfections in it. Where are these perfections in Christianity, in our faith? That's what you see in the high peaks."