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Amy-Jill Levine is professor of New Testament and Jewish studies at Hartford International University. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi, and the forthcoming Jesus for Everyone: Not Just Christians; she is also coeditor of The Jewish Annotated New Testament and coauthor of several children’s books. A member of an Orthodox synagogue, Levine speaks frequently to Christian audiences.

Evil uses people’s anxieties, fears, and prejudices to twist good intentions into cruel deeds.

Would Peter resist having his feet washed by another disciple?

I grew up in the era of evangelistic T-shirts. I was too shy to wear any myself, but I had friends who did. “WWJD?” “Cross-trained.” “Made to worship.” “Be still and know.”

One of the T-shirt slogans I saw often was “Jesus is the answer.” Kids would sport the slogan in bright, colorful letters, hoping to strike up conversation with peers who weren’t Christians. Their faith was earnest, and I respected it. But every time I read the words “Jesus is the answer,” I wanted to ask, “What’s the question?” What question is Jesus the answer to?

Martha hears Jesus’ promise, but she has a brother whose body is starting to decay.

Millennial pastor Brandan Robertson aims in this book to help Christians “to begin a conversation about our own privilege and how we might utilize it as a tool to lead us into a more faithful obedience to the way of Jesus by working for the common good of our neighbors.” He grounds this conversation in scripture, interpreting privilege through the kenosis hymn quoted in Philippians 2:5–11.

The light of the world illumines those who are open but is opaque to those who claim powerful position.

Maybe immortality is about more than not being dead.

Water dominated the imaginations of our ancestors in faith, whose stories often called for either a canteen or galoshes.