Easter Celebration! Palms! Tyler Smith shares his Easter Book

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Special guest Tyler Smith shares insights into his beautifully illustrated Easter book, "Palms," which recounts the final week of the Savior’s life, from His triumphal entry to His ultimate victory over death. Together, the hosts and Tyler reflect on the sacred symbolism of Jesus Christ’s hands and how His infinite grace invites us to find hope, healing, and redemption, even in life’s darkest moments.

This episode weaves stories of faith, the gospel, and spiritual growth, reminding listeners of the love of Jesus Christ and His role as the light of the world. Whether discussing the significance of the triumphal entry, the sacrament, or the resurrection, the message is clear—Jesus is our guide, our redeemer, and our hope. Let this conversation inspire you to embrace His light and consider how your own hands can serve others in His name.

Experience the joy and power of Easter through this meaningful discussion, and let the Savior’s light illuminate your spiritual journey. Be reminded that nothing can dim His power, and through Him, all things are possible. Join us as we celebrate the gospel and the eternal hope found in Jesus Christ.
Link  to the Book Palms by Tyler Smith: https://a.co/d/9PcZYpH

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Tyler Smith’s new Easter book
04:30 - Triumphal Entry
08:40 - Last Supper
15:15 - Jesus Christ in Gethsemane
20:10 - Avoiding Darkness with Christ
22:16 - Judas Betrays Jesus
26:50 - Jesus Condemned Before Pilate
27:08 - Jesus Carries the Cross
33:55 - Jesus Healing Miracles
35:46 - Calming the Storm
37:02 - Resurrected Jesus
38:43 - What Will You Do With Your Palms?
41:00 - New Names of Christ
43:55 - Jesus Christ, God of Hope
45:06 - Jesus is the Gasoline
47:20 - Create a Name for Jesus
47:48 - Closing

Transcript

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Milo. My, my son, Milo last night was praying and we've been going through some of the names of Christ in our own family scripture study last night. In his prayer, uh, he talked about Jesus being the light. I. And he said, it's the strongest thing in the world. Jesus is the light. And we can be the light too. And he's, he's just going to his prayer. And I'm like, little, you know, little preacher in his prayer. But I thought about that. It's the strongest thing. Um, nothing can, can put out the light of Jesus. And you see that happening in the garden Gethsemane. All right. I'm so blessed to be here today and we're blessed to be here today with a good friend Tyler Smith. Tyler was on the episode before where we talked about his adoption, but here is today. Here he is with us today to talk about his book, his new Easter book that's coming out, uh, this April in fact. Any day now, right? I sure hope so. Any day. That's what they tell me. It's an Easter book called Palms, which is about the last week of the Savior's Life. The thing that's unique about it that I love, it's an illustrated book. Tyler's an amazing illustrator, and it talks about the events of the last week of the Savior's Life and Palms. How did you come up with that title? Yeah, so, um. One day I was, I was getting ready in the morning and a lot of times when I'm getting ready in the morning, I like to listen to general conference talks. Um, and I was listening to one that was more focused on Easter, since it was Easter season, and it was from President Nelson. And I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of this, this Palm Sunday, um, let's not just remember the palms that. Like, welcome the Savior into Jerusalem. Mm-hmm. But let's, let's also remember the palms that had nails driven through through them, and that as he hung on the cross there. And I just remember thinking about that and thinking like, that is such a cool image to think about. Mm-hmm. Like, like both the palms that they're worshiping Jesus and they're, they're excited for him to come in, but then at the end of the week, they're driving nails through the palms of his hands. And, and that whole week just leads to this, this really, you know, important event that, that we celebrate at this Easter season. Obviously ending with, with his resurrection. And the whole time I was just thinking about all the different ways that Jesus uses his hands and, uh, his palms. And later that day, I, I, I mean, I was listening to Elder Rasman give a talk about the same kind of imagery. And then I was reading my scriptures and I was reading about how, um, the people used their palms to, to beat the savior Mm. During that last week. And, and all of that just kind of together just made me think of, of all these different events and I thought, I wanna, I wanna do something that, that looks at his palms throughout that entire last week. So that that's where the idea came from. I love it. So today what we're gonna do is we're gonna go through some of the images that Tyler created for his book and talk about'em so that we can review kind of the last week of the Savior's life that Easter week, and really kind of hopefully sink the purpose in of what this week is all about. Really our redemption, our salvation, and we we're okay with Easter egg hunts, right? I, I think you have Easter egg hunts. I, I'll probably have an Easter egg. Yeah, absolutely. We're, we're okay, right? Yeah. Uh, we're okay with the Easter bunny. No, no offense. But we're going to, uh, talk about the true meanings of Easter. Kind of like the true meaning of Christmas, right? You gotta get to the nitty gritty, and that's where we can find real meaning and power in our lives. The redemption power that comes from Jesus Christ. And so if you're watching on a podcast app, you can listen along and we'll describe some of the images that, but if you, if you wanna see the images, you can go over, hop over to YouTube, uh, walk him with the Savior podcast. You know, my interview with Tyler Smith and his Easter message, uh, he has a previous interview where we talked about your adoption of your children, which was very, or your first child, which was really inspiring and I appreciate that interview. Today we're gonna talk about the artwork about the last week of the Savior's life. So let's start with the, your first image in the book is The triumphal entry. Yeah. And tell us a little bit about how you painted this image and what it represents to you. Yeah. So this, this was the first one I ever did. Um, and what I wanted to try to convey was just the excitement that if there's one moment that. I wish I could go and be present at it's this moment. I want to be surrounded with people that are just praising the Lord and just like so excited to see him coming through and, and I want to be in that crowd and just, and just be like, just filled with the joy and excitement that I, I imagine that they're feeling at this moment. Um, there's, there's one verse that has become one of my favorite verses. And I don't remember exactly it said, I'm not quoting this. That's okay verbatim. But, uh, but essentially the describes and Pharisees come to Jesus and they're like, Hey, get these people to stop cheering so loud, like they're causing this commotion. We gotta stop this. And Jesus says, uh, if I tell them to stop, then the, the rocks along the road will burst into cheers. Like, that's the excitement I wanna feel. You know, when, uh, when thinking about Jesus and when celebrating this event. I want, I wanna be so excited that if, if I try to contain the excitement I'm feeling, the rocks will just start cheering and like, you know, praising the Lord. Because, because of the energy that that's around. So, um, so that's what I was thinking as I was, as I was doing this, the most exciting event I think, um, that, that you could be present for, um, as he's walking through the streets of Jerusalem and, and as people are. Throwing their, their clothes and their palm leaves and everything in front of him as they're celebrating the return of a triumphant king. You know, coming from, from th Such a cool moment, I think, oh, a hundred percent. Now I, I feel your energy and your passion for Jesus Christ.'cause sometimes we get into and, and a, like, we'll sing a song, especially in, in a class of youth. It's like, you know, I know that my redeemer lives or. You know how great thou art and, and we sing like we're dead. You know? And I'm like, if we could have this image in our hearts and our souls, if this could come out of us, like I think it would if we truly more powerfully experienced the savior in our lives, like, man, I wish we could sing like that. Mm-hmm. Every Sunday, sometimes we show up at church and we're kind of in that depressed mode. Mm-hmm. It was like, we're here to worship the greatest. The most powerful and most impactful person in our life. Yeah, exactly. Like could we really sing like the triumphal entry? Yeah. Every Sunday, every time we sing a hymn about the savior. Mm-hmm. Could it seem like the triumphal entry? Yeah. Like that mindset. Yeah. And I, I think when you have experiences that help you feel that, that excitement that comes from truly worshiping Jesus Christ. Mm-hmm. Then it becomes easier. And I wonder sometimes, like you mentioned, our, our students sometimes. Yeah. Like, just sing like they're dead, you know? Yeah. Um, I, I wonder sometimes if they have had experiences that have helped'em to really feel the excitement that comes from Jesus Christ. Because not all students sing like they're dead. You know, not, not everyone does that at church, not, you know, and, and sometimes I wonder if it's it, it's because they actually understand who he is to us. Hmm. And, uh, I think when you really understand, I think it makes you want to just shout for joy mm-hmm. And tell everyone that you can about it and just, you know, not, not that there's not the times where, where you're there to, to be healed and where you're there. Mm-hmm. Because you're, you're going through some really hard things too. But, um, but I think sometimes we, we don't always celebrate the joy that comes from Christ as much as we could. Absolutely. Let's go to the next picture. Here we have the. Sacrament breaking bread. How would you describe this piece person? Excuse me. How would you describe this picture to somebody that doesn't get to see it right now? Maybe so for this one, I was just trying to imagine what that last supper might have been like. Um, and obviously Jesus is using his hands here to break the bread. Um, and, uh. I think about that. Um, there's one of my favorite stories in the New Testament is John six, um, where Jesus teaches the people that he's the bread of life. And I love that story. It's pretty long. I think it's 71 verses or 72 verses. Um, and at the beginning of that story, you have 5,000 people following Jesus and. He performs this miracle that a lot of us know about, where he takes just a few, you know, loaves of bread and a few fish and, uh, and feeds all 5,000 people with 12 baskets left over. And the people know this is a miracle. Right. And this is, this is an awesome event. Yeah. And he goes throughout that chapter, so you have, you have the bread at the beginning that he's breaking and, and feeding so many people with, and then he teaches them about, um. The, the manna that came from heaven through with the children of Israel. And then he says, I am the bread of life. And that's where people start getting really uncomfortable. Like, wait a second. Like, what's going on here? And then he, he goes even further. He is like, anyone who wants to have eternal life must eat of my flesh and drink of my blood. Yeah. And they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hang on. I don't like this. You're weird, man. Yeah. This is creepy and weird. And then, and then I think it's verse 66. It says that from that point, many of his disciples no longer followed him. They go away and he turns to his disciples and he says, will ye also go away? And Peter says, where will we go? Thou has the words of eternal life. Um, I think about that often because, um, with this, with this experience, this is what I was thinking about. So many people have left Jesus at that point. Um, because they didn't understand what it meant to be the bread of life. Mm-hmm. And so now this is, I don't know how much time has passed from that moment to this moment, but it couldn't have been very much time at the very most three years. Right. Yeah. From that time to this time. Yeah. And they're having this experience where they're in this, this upper room and they are, they're partaking of the sacrament for the first time and he is breaking bread and he's helping them see like. This is in remembrance of my body. And then he, he passes the cup of wine. This is in remembrance of my blood. And we know that later that night he's gonna go to the, the Gar Gethsemane. He's going to feel all of our pains and, and sins and trials and everything that we've gone through. And, and then he's going to be crucified on the cross, and he's going to go through all these, these events. In three days, he's gonna be resurrected. But in this moment, I think all these questions that people had of, what does he mean? He's the bread of life. What do, what do you mean we have to eat your flesh? Like, what, what are you talking about? All those questions kind of go away in this moment because now, um, now they understand what he's talking about. And 2000 years later, you know, we go to sacrament and the most sacred hour of our week and we eat bread. And we drink water to remember his sacrifice. And I don't know a single person, and I'm not saying there's not any, but I don't know a single person that leaves the church today because they're like, oh wait, this represents his body, not represents blood. That's creepy and weird. I'm out. You know? Yeah. I don't, I don't know if that happening. And it just makes me think about, um, for this picture in particular, it makes me think about, um. How, when I have questions or doubts or things that don't make sense, if I just hang on and just stick with Jesus. Mm-hmm. And remember what Peter said, where would we go? Thou has the words of eternal life. Mm-hmm. Then all of them are going to make sense and be answered someday. And if it's in the upper room, as you're particularly at the last Supper with the savior and having that incredible sacred experience with him. Um, that's worth any amount of waiting that you have to, to do to, for, for your questions to be answered. So that's what I was thinking as I was doing this one. What a message. It's all gonna work out. It's all gonna make sense. Jesus is gonna provide a way and a means, and it's gonna make sense, and it's gonna be healing. It's gonna be beautiful, it's gonna be significant. All the pains, all the. Misunderstandings are gonna make sense with Jesus Christ. What a great message. Yeah. And because of that, bread of Life is one of my favorite names of Christ. Yeah. Because every time I hear that, that's what I think of, it's gonna make sense. Yeah. I think of Sacrament as a time to just go sit with the savior, and I feel like sometimes we think about, we have to remember his blood, his death, and all that. I like the image of just sitting with the savior. I like and imagine the savior sitting next to me on the pew in the, in the chapel. Mm-hmm. And it, it changes the meaning when I go through that mental mindset of Jesus is sitting with me. And then like, what, what is the message of him today for me? And when I ask that, you know, as the bread and the waters being, you know, passed, et cetera, et cetera. But as I get to experience him and just think, what, what is his message to me? Mostly the number one answer. I love you. What is it? Yeah, good. I love you. Just like, Hey, you're okay. Let's move forward. Mm-hmm. Maybe something didn't go well this week. Let's just move forward. It's gonna be okay because I'm with you. I'm on your team. Awesome. And when I'm on your team, it's gonna be a victory. Just, I love it. Yeah. The next painting is Gethsemane, and I just love your work here of how you paint a Gethsemane. You have this image of Christ ens shrouded with darkness. Mm-hmm. But then around Jesus, you have a little bit of light. Tell us about your imagery and what came through as you painted Gethsemane. Yeah, so a lot of these, uh. My reference images that I was looking at came straight from the Bible videos because I, I just think that they're simple. Um, and they, they're trying to focus on all, like getting rid of all the clutter. Mm-hmm. And just say, what, what would this have looked like? And just go as simple as they can. So this one specifically comes from, um, one of the, the Bible videos that the church produced. Um, what I was thinking here is just, yeah, like, I guess you mentioned the darkness. Um, it needed to be dark, not just'cause it's nighttime, but because, you know, he's probably feeling really overwhelmed with darkness. But what I love about Jesus is that no matter how dark it feels like it's going to get, or how dark. How dark of a place I feel like I might be in sometimes. One thing I know about Jesus is that he's the light and, uh, Milo, my, my son Milo last night was praying and we've been going through some of the names of Christ in our own family scripture study and I love it'cause he is only four, but like, he'll pick up on those names and he'll remember them and he always includes them in his prayers. And so, um, last night in his prayer, uh, he talked about Jesus being the light. And he said, it's the strongest thing in the world. Jesus is the light. And we can be the light too. And he's, he is just going to his prayer. And I'm like, you little, you know, little preacher in his prayer teaching us about Jesus being the light. But I thought about that. It's the strongest thing. Um, nothing can, can put out the light of Jesus. And you see that happening in the garden Gethsemane. Um, all this darkness, all this pain, all this suffering. But he never gives up. He just keeps going. And, um, and as you're, as you're watching, I mean, he, he didn't wanna do it. Like he says, father, like, remove this from me. Yeah. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. I love that about Jesus.'cause then when he appears to the ne fight, the very first thing he says is, I drank the bitter cup. In, in some ways it's like my prayer was unanswered. You know, that's a good one. I asked God to take away this cup and he said no. Yeah. And so, so I drank it because that's who I am. And, and yeah, I, I. I've asked that question before, like when I feel like I'm having unanswered prayers. Well, Jesus did too. And, and look how he handled that. And, uh, I never thought of it like that. Yeah. Maybe, maybe that's not the right way to think about it, but it kind of gives me hope when, when I feel like my prayers are, the answer's no, I'm like, well, what? Like, why? You know? It's like, well, Jesus got an answer that was no too. And, and because, because his answer was no. All of the. All, you know, humankind can now be saved in the Special kingdom. Yeah. You know, because that prayer, the answer was no. Yeah. That, I mean, thank goodness it was no. Right. Because if it was, I, I don't know if there was another way, but it had to happen. But what a, what an interesting idea that Jesus gotta know. Yeah. I mean, the greatest in the universe. Yeah. Gotta know. So it's okay if I get a no sometimes too. I get a lot more No. Than Jesus did. We can trust him. I, I'm thinking as I look at your painting and this darkness and the, and the light around the savior, it reminds me that in the dark there is a light. And that Jesus Christ, no matter how dark it is, if we keep working at seeking the Savior's light, we can find him. We can find him in the darkness, and then the light begins to flow. From him, the hope, the encouragement, the love flows from him. So if we're wandering around in the, in the darker areas, right? It's like, wait, where's, where's he at? Mm-hmm. Turn towards the light, turn towards Christ, come to Christ. And maybe it's just look to Christ and find out that he's right with us all along. Yeah. Can I share one more thought with that? Absolutely. So I was talking to a, a guy on my ward, um, the month or two ago. Mm-hmm. And he was, he's dealing with some pretty difficult repentance. Mm-hmm. And as he was in my office just talking with me, I was, I was trying to figure out like, what can I do to help you see the light that Jesus offers? Mm. And, uh. He actually taught me something really valuable in this moment because he was so ready to repent and he was so willing to change and to do anything that he could, um, regardless of the, the circumstances or the consequences that might come. And, um, and, and he said something that I thought was really cool because I, I told him like, Hey, you know, there may be some severe consequences that you have to go through as, as you're going through this process. And, and he basically said like, I don't care what consequences I have to face because I've tried to find happiness in other places. And he said, I know my life's not gonna be easy as I try to make my life right with the Lord. But he said, what I've learned is that when I'm trying to be with, with the Lord, when I'm trying to be with Jesus, then. Life's not easy, but I avoid all the extra darkness that I don't need when I'm, when I'm trying to be with them. And the, the experiences I go through when I'm trying to be with him are things that help me grow and to become like a, even, even if they are hard or if even sometimes I feel like in some ways you still feel dark, but you don't feel the darkness that comes when, when you're. Away from him, if that makes sense. Mm-hmm. It just, I love that. I thought it was cool. I don't need the extra darkness. I don't need the extra darkness. Yeah. Let's, let's avoid the extra darkness. Let's look to Christ. Now, speaking of darkness, you've got the, uh, what is going on in this painting? Yeah. So this is, uh, Judas betrayal. Mm. So dark moment. Yeah. Um, I, this one. I was just trying to imagine what, what it must have been like, because I've always thought, I guess I kind of just grew up thinking that Judas was always just like this evil, evil person, right? And he was like always planning on betraying Jesus and like all these things were happening. And I don't know that that's an accurate picture. No, I don't think so either. Yeah, because. I mean, Jesus isn't going to just call someone to follow him that is evil from the very start. Right? Yeah. I, I think he was misguided, obviously, and I think, uh, I think he made some really, um, bad mistakes and it all led up to, to this moment. Um, and in this moment, I mean, he's, he is doing a really horrible thing. Um, and, uh. That's why there's all that darkness still around him. Um, but I wonder what's going on in his mind. Maybe he thinks he is doing the right thing. Maybe maybe he felt extra betrayed by Jesus because he wasn't doing the way that he thought. Um, I don't know. And I, and then I don't really necessarily want to be in the same mindset as Judas and like really understand it. But, um, but as I was thinking about this, this picture. Um, I guess in a way it's, it's still done in, in a way that is trying to intentionally show that Judas is wrong and that he's not doing the right thing. Um, and I wish there was a way that I could maybe show the conflict that's maybe happening there. Um, but I, I don't necessarily know how to do that. Yeah, yeah. But that, those were the thoughts of that internal conflict. Yeah. I kinda wonder if he was thinking. You know,'cause there's this idea that a lot of the Jews thought, oh, the Messiah's gonna come and save us from the Romans. Yeah. I wonder, I wonder if Judas is like, this guy's a fake, he, he never delivered us from the Romans. And, and I think this might be it. Yeah. You know, and I just wonder if he was thinking and, and gave up. Yeah. On Jesus Christ. Yeah. Turned his back on him in that moment when he, he felt like, look, this isn't gonna work. And maybe, maybe that's an attack that we all have mm-hmm. From SE is that Jesus isn't gonna save us. Mm-hmm. And it, he can save a Tyler Smith man, Tyler Smith's amazing, but he can't save John Kirkman, you know, and that's the attack of Satan, right. That he's really not gonna save us. Yeah. So give up now. Quit now. And I wonder if that was some of the mindset of. Judas and, uh, very relevant for me and you is, is do I really believe that Jesus Christ can save me and I in my darkness, in my moments where I'm, you know, unpleasant or not the best? Can Jesus Christ save me? Do I believe that? And I have to come to terms with and allow Jesus Christ to see all of the darkness in me and there's a realize that he still loves me. Moments. And so, um, maybe, maybe we each have our own little moments of Judas. Yeah. And kind of our own. Yeah. I also sometimes wonder if. He thought he knew better. You know, like, I think we all struggle with that too. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, right. God, I got this figured out. Yeah. I do it my way. Right. Like, I know that he needs to deliver us. He's being real slow about it. So, uh, so I'm gonna just force his hand, like I'm throw him in front of the Romans and, and in front of all these people and, and he'll call down the legions of angels and he'll, you know, he'll, like, I, I don't know if that's what he's thinking. Yeah. But sometimes I wonder if he's like. Are you thinking, Jesus, like, I'm gonna make Jesus, I'm gonna make him force him to play his hand the way that I want him to play it. And you know, Jesus is gonna do what Jesus is gonna do. Yeah. Um, and, uh, anyway, sometimes I wonder if that's what's going on too. And that's a, that's a temptation that we need to avoid too, is thinking that we know more than, than the Lord does. Absolutely. Absolutely. So this is PIAs pil and, uh, and Jesus. As the Jews are all gathering and, and, uh, and this is where they're about to shout, like that they want him crucified. Mm-hmm. Um, so that, that's what's going on in this picture. Let's go to him carrying the cross. Yeah. What were you feeling as you painted this? I mean, that's going back a ways, but Yeah. Um, so this one. I have a hard time with, uh, with like doing a, a good job of, of the pain and the agony that he was probably feeling in this one and the next one. But, um, so I tried to include like the, the marks from the whips and I tried to make him look frail and, and weak. Um, as he's holding this cross and he is walking towards. Towards Calvary and I, I tried to draw the, um, the other crosses in the background as he's walking there. And then the rest of it, I made it really muddy, um, just because it's, it's not a happy moment right now. Um, and I don't know. It is, it's not something that was my favorite to do because. I would rather a lot of times focus on like that triumphal entry and focus on the joy. Focus on like the celebration. Yeah. But I also know that there have been times in my life where I felt this way and, uh, I think of one moment in particular, um, where I was in a really dark place. Um, and I remember questioning everything that I've ever known and just wondering like. Is this, is this even real, like, is, is any of this that I believe even true? Mm-hmm. And, uh, and at that point in my life, um, I was at BYU as a student at BYU at the time. Um, there was one night where I just felt so alone and so sad and so overwhelmed with the things that I was going through. And I, at the time, I, I was living at home, but I didn't wanna be home very often. Mm-hmm. Because most of the time it's when I felt alone. So I would stay, um, on BYU campus as long as possible. And oftentimes I was one of the last ones to leave, I think. Um, so this one particular night, it was late and I was just walking around campus, just kind of feeling overwhelmed and, uh, I ended up in the, um, in the Joseph building, Smith building, and I was up on the fourth floor just all by myself. And I, I sat on down on this couch and I'm just praying, I'm like. I'm not sure if this is even real and just praying and asking heavenly father for help and just to know that, that he knows me and that he's hearing my purse. And I looked across and there was this, this painting that I actually think is an ugly painting to be honest, but it's one of my favorite paintings now because of that similar message that I was trying to portray with this one. I wasn't necessarily trying to make this beautiful. I was trying to make it ugly. Um, because that's how I felt about the painting I was looking at too. And in that painting it's um, it's a bunch of people gathered around Jesus as they're pulling his dead body off the cross. And I have never seen a painting make him look more dead mm-hmm. In my entire life. In the painting, there's a bunch of angels all around that are helping, and there's the disciples that they're pulling, um, his body off and there's a bunch of people crying all around. And I just remember looking at it and, and just thinking, wow, Jesus looks so dead in this picture. And in my mind, I'm kind of thinking that's how it kind of feels right now for me a little bit. Um, and, and I have this really clear impression that I knew was from the spirit. Coming to my mind and, and it just said, um, if they only understood what was happening in the background of that moment, they would've been filled with joy. I thought about that because in the background of that moment, I mean, Jesus is in the spirit world. He sent out missionary work. He is, he's going to be resurrected from the dead three days later. And the greatest thing that ever happened in the history of any, any timeline is happening right there in that moment. And uh, and if they only understood, they wouldn't have filled the joy. But, but at the time, I mean, I, I feel like I could relate with them like. Seeing his dead body there and wondering like, what were we wrong? Like, he was supposed to save us like this, this guy that we're pulling off the cross is very dead and we're still in a pretty bad situation. Yeah. Um, and, and so just that idea of like, he, he, all of them, they would've been filled with joy if they'd only understood what was going in the background. And it's just, I had that thought. Then the spirit whispered to me again. If you only understood what was going on in the back of your life, you'd be filled of joy too. And uh, and that was such a cool experience for me. And, and so sometimes our relationship with Jesus can feel a little ugly, can feel a little like, like sad and bleak. And you might be wondering like, is this real? Like, I thought this was the guy that was gonna save me, but here I am feeling like I'm looking at his dead body. And uh, and if we only understand what's going on in the background, then we can know that, that he has a plan for us and it's powerful enough to save us and that can fill us with joy. My sister, my sister's insightful comment is just like, think celestial. If we had the, if we had the, you know, 10,000 foot view and the panorama view of your life, someday, we'd look back on these moments and go, you're gonna smile and laugh and celebrate this moment. Yeah. It is hard to do though. Yeah. Seriously. So hard to do. This was such a dark day, and for those such as his mom, uh, being there watching him carry lacrosse, being crucified, I just cannot fathom what his mother was going through and his friends, his dear friends. Right. Watching that would. That'll be so hard. The most traumatic experience of life. Yeah. So now we get to the cross and we've kind of talked about Yeah. I was kind of lumping these two together. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so let's just get to your, your resurrection picture. Yeah. So this actually isn't the resurrection. It's a little flashback. Oh, this is a flashback. Yeah. Inhaling the lineman. Yeah. The way the, the book goes, it's like. There's the, it starts with the Palm Sunday. It goes through some of the events of the week, and then, um, and then it talks about, so with, with his palms, then what did he do throughout his life? Oh, okay. And so this one is, is just one of the examples of him healing somebody. Okay. Um,'cause I think about all the times that he used his hands to go heal somebody. Yeah. And, you know, it's, there's a lot of color. It's, uh, I tried to have the light behind Jesus again right there. Um, and I mean, red oftentimes symbolizes like sin or, or, you know, death or something like that. Yeah. Um, and so you see this guy that is coming to Jesus looking to be healed. And what I love about all the accounts of Jesus healing people is he, he will often heal them physically. Yeah. But, but what I know about Jesus, that he prioritizes spiritual healing. Mm-hmm. And so I imagine this man getting up from this experience with white robes on Ooh. You know, and, uh, that's interesting. And at least inside. Yeah. That's, I don't know if symbolically. Symbolically, yeah. Um,'cause I imagine that what Jesus is about to do is he's about to heal him, and then he's about to say that sense of forgive. Yeah. Yeah. And. Man, they both feel good. I bet. Yeah. I mean, I know the sins feel good healing physically. I, I mean, yeah, that's right. What a, what amazing experiences Jesus had with so many people, healing them physically and spiritually. Let's go to your, uh Oh yeah, I love this. How would you describe this painting to somebody that can't see it? So this one's in calming the storms on the sea. Mm. Um. It's also, he's also in the water. So I was kind of combining two stories. He's calming the storm, so he is also like walking on the water. Okay. Um, and the waves are, are swirling all around him. And, and it's dark and gray and there's blue, but then he's just out there in the middle arms outstretched. And uh, and you can tell by the way that his clothes are, that the wind's blowing all around him. Mm. Um, but he is not scared. I. You know, like he, he has power over the winds and the sea and, and everything. And so, um, to me, I think about how Jesus is in control no matter what situation he is in. Yeah. And I would be very scared mm-hmm. If I were in this situation. Yeah. Um, but you don't have to be because. Jesus has things in control if you wanted to look to him and to focus on him and to trust him instead of looking at the waves and focusing on the waves and the, the scary things. Oh, love it. Let's go to now, uh, this is a resurrected Jesus, right? I'm guessing you. Yeah. Yeah. This is resurrected Jesus. And tell us how you panties him with these two ropes and then his palms up so that we can see it. Yeah. So this one I'm thinking more. Future facing Jesus coming as a resurrected being. Okay, so you have the white robes underneath, but then you have, um, this, this red robe over him, um, which we talk about with symbolism of the second coming, him coming in in a red robe. Um, and it's similar to what I was mentioning earlier, like the red often symbolizes our sins or our, the blood that. He's taken upon himself. Um, and so, so him appearing, and I just imagine this day, and I, I hope I'm around, but, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I imagine this day of him just appearing in every knee bowing and every tongue confessing that, that he is the Christ and, and just coming in power and glory and just knowing with absolute surety that, um, this is our savior and redeemer. Yeah. What an amazing event that will be to have the privilege of falling at his feet and greeting the savior as a, uh, the, the, the second coming savior. The savior comes to, you know, save the world, change the world, literally usher in the millennium. To be able to be in his presence in that moment would, is gonna be phenomenal. Yeah. And, um, what do you hope to accomplish with this book? For people to, to feel and experience. I mean, the main thing that, that I wanna accomplish is I want to share my belief about Jesus. Mm-hmm. Um, and if anyone reads it or anyone enjoys it, great. But, uh, but it's, it's a way that, that I can feel like I'm sharing what I know and believe with others. And I hope others, you know, will look at it and be like, like, wow, he is someone that I can trust. Or like, wow, look at, look at what he's done for me. Or look at all these events and, and, and ponder and think about, um, who he is to them. Because every single one of us have a personal relationship with him. And, um, and this is one way of me expressing mine, um. If it helps others to find that personal relationship with him in their own way, then that would, that'd be awesome. I, I hope that happens. Yeah. Um, and then just to, to then go forward, um, the last part of this book is just to say, then with my palms, what will I do? Like this is what Jesus did with his. Mm-hmm. Um, so what will I do with mine? And so I hope that, that people will think about. Um, what, what then they can do with their hands to go serve others, to go, um, try to minister and to, um, help people that are, are feeling down and maybe not sure what direction to turn. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and I think about how Jesus talks about how he has us gring on his palms and it talks about how we are his hands. Uh, and I hope that people feel more of a desire to go be his hands and to go out in the world and, and help people come to know Jesus by the way that they live. And is that, that's the Christian message. Uh, Christ doesn't want us to just sit there and, uh, you know, praise him and stay in our home and do nothing. Yeah. I mean, some people they have to because of their health. We we're not talking about that. We're talking about can we live for Jesus, not, he died for us. So that we might live for him and to live for him to share his light with others. You know, as you were talking earlier about the name of Christ, I've had this idea in the back of my mind and, um. You were talking about how your son is celebrating the, the name of names of Jesus Christ. Mm-hmm. You're talking about the names of Christ, and I was thinking, you know, the names of Christ, really? We get those from scripture. Mm-hmm. Mainly, but there were names given from, you know, Jesus himself. He, he loves the idea himself as I am Jesus Christ. I think if you were to ask him his favorite name, I, I think that's it. He introduces himself. A lot is I am Jesus Christ. Mm-hmm. So I think that's kinda like one of his favorite names. And then, and then you have some where, you know, writers, uh, Isaiah a wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, right? Mm-hmm. We have some of those in scripture. You have, um, other scriptures were, were, uh, writers and, and prophets have, you know, used words to describe the savior and we therefore call them. His names of Christ, like the rock or something like that. Mm-hmm. So I was thinking, okay, well what if, what if we wrote the book, you know, and we're, we're writing a book about Jesus Christ and what, what new names could we give him from our technology today or our, our world? Right? Because in their day it was rocks and fish and bread and, and, uh, light was so important. And, and light is always important, right. But for them, you know, uh, lighting a lantern made a huge difference because walking them across in those dark paths mm-hmm. You know, you needed a lantern. So I'm just thinking, what could we come up with new names of Jesus Christ like, like Jesus is the wifi, right? I mean, like you ever try living without wifi? I do remember the days of dial up internet and uh, I'm grateful for wifi. Yeah. And when we don't live with wifi, we're like at a loss. Yeah. You know, I, I know this'cause I was just on a cruise and I didn't have wifi for four days because I didn't wanna pay$900 to have wifi for four days on a cruise ship. Uh, but you know, you're, you're just kinda like, ah, something's missing. I wanna, I wanna check my. Some scores. I'm gonna check something now. You know, it just a little bit of disconnect. Mm-hmm. And, uh, without Jesus Christ, there is disconnect. Mm-hmm. Something's amiss, something's wrong. Um, something's missing in my life when I don't have Jesus Christ. Um, any, any ideas coming to your mind? Oh, man. I know this is tricky because like, well, if I, okay. I, I do have one that's coming to mind that. Has been my favorite name of Christ over the last six months, but it's not necessarily a creative idea like that. But, um, I, I can think of a few more creative ones as well. Um, but Elder Anderson, I'd never heard Jesus Christ call this before until his last general conference talk. Um, but he called'em the God of hope. And, uh, I, I love that name for Jesus. He's the God of hope. Um, I, like I said, if you're thinking about like, like creative ones, you know. Um, like I, I think any of those technology ones that you can think of, um, like, you know, he's, I like, I like the wifi one. That's pretty good. Um, but, uh. Maybe he's like the gasoline or something, you know, like he's, he's what gets the car running? Like, I, I don't know. Like they weren't, uh, they weren't trying to drive around in, in cars without gasoline back in days in the right scriptures. No, he is definitely the gasoline. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and, um, funny story, uh, not too long ago, we were driving back from four hours away and, and, you know. There's a lot of space in between the towns down there in southern Utah. We're driving back from St. George, and we are just past a small town, and my wife is driving and she goes, oh, no. You know, our little gate says one mile left. Oh no. I look up at that moment it says 53 miles to the next town. That's what this like, literally, oh, I got one mile. I'm like, look over to the sign. 53 miles we're gonna die. And I'm like, oh no. What do we do? And long story short, we were able to, um, within a mile, I. Uh, found a spot in the road where, you know, there's a divider where I know the police are only supposed to use that U-turn and it says, no U-turn. But I was like, Mr. Officer, if we don't use in this, you know, in my mind I got a good excuse and we flip a U-turn and luckily it was just two miles back to the town and we were able to get gas. But in that moment. My, you know, everybody's heart sinks. I'm imagining pulling over on the side of the highway trying to figure out, okay, I gotta run to the other side of the freeway. Mm-hmm. To get to hijack my way back the other way. Like complete chaos when you run out of gas. Yeah. I think that's kind of how his life is without the savior. Yeah. I like that. Things are gonna turn to chaos. You're gonna get stuck on the side of the highway. Yeah. You're gonna be hitchhiking hoping somebody else picks you up. Yeah, that's true. And, and gasoline, it's like, hey, you need to fill up. Mm-hmm. We need to fill up on our Jesus. Mm-hmm. We need to touch base with him. Yeah. So we can keep driving down the highway of life. Oh, I love it. That's good. That's good. I like it. Jesus is the gasoline. He's the wifi. See, I'm like new. New names. Yeah. Right. We say sometimes people say, oh, Jesus has 170 names. I've heard different numbers. What have you heard? Oh, yeah. At Buds. Yeah. Right. Yeah. There's 170 names of Jesus in the Bible. I wanna create another five. Oh, you know? Mm-hmm. And, uh, I think this is gonna be one of my Easter activities, is to have teenagers come up with names of the savior from the things that we use in today's world. I love it. Yeah. That's great. But anyway, Hey, so great having you talk about Easter gets me so excited. Oh, me too. I can't, I'm excited to celebrate this year. Excited, excited to have some Easter messages, some Easter talk. Um, let's talk about Jesus. Rejoice in Jesus, preach of Jesus, podcast of Jesus. And let's all come Jesus. Thanks everybody for joining us this week on Walking with the Savior Podcast. Have a great week.