Easter in Exodus

In this sermon, we walk the seven-mile road to Emmaus alongside two disciples who are wandering away from Jerusalem—and away from their devotion. Like many of us today, they were fueled by confusion, cynicism, and the weight of unmet expectations. They were walking with the risen Christ, yet their eyes were kept from recognizing Him until He opened the Scriptures to show them a much larger story.

We dive into the "Easter Eggs" hidden within the Book of Exodus—3,500-year-old shadows and symbols that point directly to the person and work of Jesus Christ. From the burning bush to the parting of the sea, we see that the story of the Resurrection didn't start at the tomb; it was written into the fabric of history long before the first century.

Key Highlights

• The Divine Name: Discovering why Jesus’ claim of "I AM" in the Gospels was a direct echo of the burning bush in Exodus 3.
• The Passover Lamb: Understanding how the "First Supper" in Egypt explains the "Last Supper" in Jerusalem.
• The Tree of Life: How God took a tree to turn bitter water sweet in the wilderness, prefiguring how the Cross transforms our bitterest sufferings.
• The Greater Joshua: Seeing Jesus as the ultimate warrior who defeats our greatest enemies: Satan, sin, and death.

Conclusion

The sermon concludes with a call to stop stepping over the "Easter Eggs" in our own lives—those moments of divine intervention we often write off as coincidence. Whether you are currently drifting away from your faith or feeling "storm-tossed" by life’s circumstances, this message serves as a reminder that God has a plan for your suffering and an anchor for your soul.

It is time to stop walking away from devotion and start turning back toward the one who has won the victory on our behalf.

Call to Action

• Reflect: Look back at your own story. Where has God planted "Easter Eggs" of His grace that you’ve ignored?
• Repent: To repent simply means to turn around. If you’ve had your back to God, turn your face toward Him today.
• Surrender: Step out from under the banner of your own effort and find rest under the banner of Jesus’ lordship.

Transcript

My name is Travis and I'm one of the pastors. And I'm going to teach from the scriptures.

If you brought a Bible, we're going to start in Luke 24. If you don't have a Bible, you can take the one that's in front of you. In one of the baskets behind one of the chairs. But we're going to start in Luke 24, chapter 13, which says, now that same day, which should cause you to ask the question, well, what?

What day? It's the same day the women discovered an empty tomb. It's the same day as Easter Sunday. It's the same day that Jesus rose from the grave. That day, that same day, two of them were going to a village called a mass about seven miles from Jerusalem. What you need to know about Jerusalem is Jerusalem is the center of religious devotion, and these guys are walking away from it.

So not towards a devoted place, but away from a devoted place. And I know all of us know what that's like. Sometimes we're here at church doing all the things that we normally do, but our hearts are drifting. We're walking away from a place of devotion. Could be that you're too busy, could be too angry. Could be that you're too scared.

You're too cynical, too confused. I don't know why you're wandering off, but many of us do. These two guys, we're specifically walking away because they were confused and carrying some disappointment. And they're walking in. They're talking with each other about everything that had happened that weekend. And as they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself.

Out of the grave, came up and walked along with them. But they were kept from recognizing him. And Jesus, in an incredible way, starts to draw them out with questions. He asked them, hey, what are you guys talking about? And they stood. They stopped, walked. They stopped. They stood still, faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopatra, asked him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened here in these days?

Are you born in a barn?

Again? What? What things? Tell me about these things. About Jesus of Nazareth. You know him? He's like, yeah, I do. And tell me about this guy. Well, he's a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people, the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him.

But we had hoped that he was the one that was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it's the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but they didn't find his body. And then they came and told us that they did find an angel who said Jesus was alive.

Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found the women were telling the truth. And then Jesus said to them, how foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things? And then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.

These guys are obviously struggling to put the pieces together. This happened. Well, then this happened and then you wouldn't believe it. This happened, but they're still not putting it together. Something probably about the disappointment has kept them from seeing straight. And Jesus leads them through a Bible study. I love it. Jesus is like, hey, open up your Bible.

I'd love to show you the things concerning myself. And when I walk you through the books of Moses and the prophets, what's happening here this weekend will make a little more sense. So he leads them through this Bible study. At the end, he breaks bread with them. When he breaks bread with them, their eyes are opened and they're like, dang it, I wish I wouldn't have said those things about Jesus, and I wish I wouldn't have asked.

Those were dumb questions.

And then right about the time they're like, That's Jesus we're talking to. He gone. They don't see him again. But this is what they say when he goes, we're not our hearts burning within us. When he talked with us and opened the scriptures to us. And I'm believing this morning that the risen Jesus wants to do something very similar, with us.

He's obviously active and working. People are getting saved, watching a TV series and popping up from their couches and yielding to Jesus as Lord. He's alive and he's on the move. And I want to attempt this morning to have the Bible study that they had in hopes that Jesus would talk to us through his word, in hopes that Jesus would show us things concerning himself in the Old Testament, in hopes that our eyes would be open to a bigger story, that we'd be able to look past our disappointments, that we'd be able to look past our circumstances, the things that we're facing that are right up in our faces, and that hope would

arise in us and our hearts would would burn. That's what we're going for, because I know that every one of us came in this morning a little confused, a little anxious about the future, some of us more than others. We all came in carrying disappointment, and it's clouding the lens of life. And we all have come in here, every one of us.

Even if you're new to church, we've all come in here needing to be reminded that God has a plan when we're suffering and things aren't going according to our plan, we need that reminder. And all of us come in here needing to hear from Jesus and wanting a heart that burns and wanting to move towards devotion, not away from it.

So we're all here in need of hope, an anchor for our souls because we're storm tossed. So good news. I think Jesus wants to do this. So we're going to start where he started. It says that Jesus, starting with Moses, showed them things concerning himself. Moses wrote the first five books of your Bible, but there's one book that features his life prominently.

It's the book of Exodus.

If you haven't read the Book of Exodus, you've probably seen the movie maybe The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston, right? Maybe you saw Christian Bale play Moses in the Ridley Scott version. Maybe all of us have seen the Prince of Egypt and we sang our way through this animated story. But this is the story, and this is the book of the Bible.

We've been studying as a church for the last year. These writings are 3500 years old. These writings are 1500 years older than Christ himself. So that's a wild thing, right? To be walking and pointing at these scriptures and saying, oh, there I am. Oh, that's about me. That's the equivalent kids of looking at old. You're used to rifling through photos with your grandparents and them saying, oh, that's me.

And you're like, wow, there are you're a lot skinnier and you have hair like that thing. So Jesus is doing that. But the equivalent of it would be like, there I am in, in King or Arthur's Court. There I am depicted not in photographs, but in oils, like Jesus is literally walking and talking with them about the second book of the Bible and saying, oh, you have that points to me.

Oh, and there I am. And if you were to see this in the Book of Moses, it would help you make sense of what you've seen this weekend. And so we're going to do it. We're going to do that. I'm calling it Easter and Exodus. But what I wanted to call it was Exodus. That's what I pitched to our staff.

I walked into our staff meeting and I was like, I got it. We're going to call it Exodus. And our staff is getting younger, which unfortunately means I'm getting older and my ideas aren't cool anymore. And the staff was kind of like, could we could we not? We invite our friends to this service, and if you could not bring like shame upon our dojo, that would be helpful.

Said. And I'm like, no, it's amazing. Well, we'll we'll do this. And they're like, yeah, let's not let's not do that. Have you, have you had your your teenage child tell you, could we not could you just not is anyone has that been said to you yet. Tears. That's so condescending. My daughters are like could you not two things.

One, that's so disrespectful and two, it almost guarantees that I'm going to keep doing what I said I was doing. I was like, yeah, I can and I will, and I'm gonna. So we're going to call this sermon Exodus. Because I think it was a great idea. Like, oh, so in my pitch to them, I was like, no, this makes total sense.

Jesus is pointing out to them Easter eggs in the Book of Exodus. That's what's happening. And that's why it should be called this. Could you just not?

Easter eggs. I'm not talking. For those of you who saw the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston, we're not talking about literal plastic eggs in hidden in the grass. We're talking about hidden items placed in a movie, a television show, a visual performance that are really made for the close watchers, like things planted that you would miss unless somebody points them out.

And I'm like, well, that's it. He's going through the book of Exodus going, that's an egg, that's an egg. And did you notice, too, that one of the first Marvel movies, or I should say, the first Marvel movie I saw, in the theaters was Avengers End Game. And if you know nothing about the Marvel Universe, you can put together that the first movie you see shouldn't be called End Game, but it was the first one I'd ever seen in the theater.

And I saw it in Mumbai, India. We arrived in Mumbai, India, and they were like, I know how we'll welcome the Americans. Surely they want to see this much anticipated film. And then I get there, and I have to tell them, I've never seen a marvel movie in the theater. And they're like, there's no way. I'm like, yeah, way.

I went to the first Iron Man, but I fell asleep, watching it. And so they looked at me and they were like, you haven't seen Iron Man 2 or 3? And I was like, no, but I totally know that there's two Princess Diaries and a third slated for production, like. And Anne Hathaway is coming back. Let me say it again.

They got in Hathaway to do Princess Diaries number three. They were losing respect for the USA by the second.

Avery and I didn't do the best job as ambassadors. Another thing that was wild, we had to before we watched the movie pledge allegiance to India. Like, that's what goes on the screen, and you have to stand. And I didn't know what was happening. But I pledge allegiance to India, because, like you, you know, you get in a crowd like this, and you're not going to not sing, even if you don't believe this stuff on the screen.

You're like, well, I better say this stuff because everybody's saying this stuff. So I was saying some stuff in Hindi. I didn't know what to sit down. Avengers Endgame, and then what they do in their movies, which is amazing. They do an intermission like a play, so you never miss any part of it. You go to the snack bar and the snack bar has got some Moses.

No, I'm not mumma Mamo. So some of you were like, you're already here already at the country club. In your mind, not Momo's is Somos, which is a beautiful little Indian like Hot Pocket. Anyway, just different. It was different. Okay, that's not it. What is it? Is that I had to watch a 20 minute recap of 21 films to get ready to prepare for endgame.

When I told them I have not seen one Marvel movie, they say, watch this recap. It will prepare you to watch the end. You need to catch up your 21 films behind. So when I watched this 20 minute recap, I find out two things one, there's like these jewels, right? They cut it, they take all the stories and they tie them into one bigger story.

Or in, sorry, stones don't come up to me at the end of this and be like, actually, they're primordial Infinity stones. The whole point of this is that I don't care, bro. Like, I don't care about the comic books. I care more about the Princess Diaries. That's the point of what I'm trying to say to you. But the the these jewels, stones weave their way through every film, and they have a way of taking these stories and tying them into the bigger story.

Their Easter eggs. And then I realized when I was watching the recap, that every film has the creator, Stan Lee, in a cameo. So now that he's dead, they still put him in through CGI. But Stan Lee, the creator of these comics that we love, the designer of these stories, actually makes a cameo. But I wouldn't know it because I don't know much about Marvel.

But Marvel fans know it and they see it, but they spot these things along the way. And I'm thinking, the Bible's a lot like this. The Book of Exodus is a lot like this. There's these things that tie every story in your Bible to a much bigger story of God's plan. And you better believe that the writer, the creator, the designer has written himself in in cameos.

Jesus is in the book of Exodus, and Exodus points to Jesus. So there's personal appearances. Christ is prefigured by types, shadows, and symbols, and I just want to show you a few of these eggs. So, okay, I think in looking at, what we're celebrating this weekend will come clear the first egg, I think where Jesus would have started his Bible study with these guys is by talking about the divine name.

The Book of Exodus is all about a God revealing himself, a God making himself known. And of course, Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Came to show us what the fathers like in the very beginning of the book of Exodus. Maybe you know the story, but Moses walks up on a burning bush. He's in the back of the desert.

He walks up on a burning bush. The bush is burning, but it's not being consumed. So it catches his eye and he's like, crazy? What's crazier is the bush starts to talk to him and knows his name. What's even crazier than that is what the Bush says. You, as an 80 year old man, will lead my people out of centuries of slavery in Egypt.

Moses has a bunch of questions about this, as would we. But one of his first questions is, hey, when I go trying to tell Pharaoh this crazy plan, and when I go try to tell the Israelite people this crazy plan, who should I tell them sent me? And God answers, tell them I am sent you. Tell them, Yahweh sent you.

And Moses is like, okay, like last name that I am, I am that I am. That's it. Go tell him. Go tell him I am sent you. So Moses goes to Pharaoh and says, let my people go. And then Pharaoh says, who says? I am, I am, says, and Pharaoh says, doesn't ring a bell. I don't know that guy.

And no, I won't let him go. This name, Yahweh I am, would become so precious in time to the Jewish people that they weren't allowed to say the name. It was too sacred to be uttered, and they were too nervous that it would be misused or taken in vain. So the divine name in rabbinic tradition had like a protective fence around it by the law.

Just saying don't use it in daily life because we don't want you to misuse it. Don't use the name. Enter Jesus and you probably can see what might go down here. Jesus is getting grilled by a group of religious leaders who won't say the name. They won't say the divine name. He's getting grilled by these guys and they're like, hey, we think you're demon possessed.

And Jesus is like, no, I'm not. Promise. I'm from God. And Abraham. Your father would have been pumped for me to be here. This is how he says it. Your father, Abraham, rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day. He saw it, and he was glad. And his opponents are like, really? Because you're not even 50 years old and you've seen Father Abraham.

Very truly I tell you, Jesus answered before Abraham was born, I am at this. They picked up stones to stone him. But Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. Are they upset here that Jesus is claiming to be a time traveler? Is that what has them ready to kill him? You shapeshifter going. Get out of here!

Don't you claim to time travel on us? You didn't know Abraham? Is that what has him upset? No. This is a claim to deity I am. I am. And this has him ready to kill him. They eventually would when they come to arrest Jesus. These are the words he utters again. And guards fall to the ground when he says the divine name, and when he's before Pontius Pilate on trial, he says it again I am.

This is a claim to deity, that Jesus is God in the flesh. And I think this is probably the first Easter egg that he pointed out to these two guys in this Bible study. I'm the image of the invisible God. I am. Easter egg number two. I think Jesus would have pointed out the Passover lamb. Many of us are familiar with the Last Supper.

Again, even if you haven't read the book, you've seen the picture. Everybody's on one side of the table and Jesus is enjoying a meal with his disciples. You've seen this before, but the Last Supper doesn't make any sense until you understand the first supper and the first supper. The supper they're celebrating here is a Passover Seder, and when you understand the Seder, they're celebrating.

What Jesus has done comes into incredible focus. So you got to go back to Exodus to understand the Passover. Moses says, Pharaoh, let my people go. Pharaoh says, not a chance. Nine plagues come and go. Pharaoh is still saying, no. The 10th plague comes and it's the death of the firstborn, meaning the firstborn. Male and animal will die in every home, both Hebrew and Egyptian alike, unless you take the substitute that Yahweh provides, unless you trust Yahweh.

Judgment is coming to every home. So those that trust in the divine name take the substitute. It's a lamb. But it's not just any lamb. They're asked to grab a lamb that's pure without blemish. They're asked to take a lamb that's personal. You had to bring the lamb into your home and let your kids name it and play with it.

And then four days later, you had to kill it. Then once you killed it and your kids are in counseling, you had to take the blood and smeared on the doorpost. And then what your kids are like, what is going on here? Like, this is what Yahweh says. You know, we got to do this. The blood had to be applied.

Then the lamb had to be completely consumed, meaning you couldn't take it. In part, you had to take it in whole. And then this needed to be done in faith. This meal you were supposed to have this meal with your shirt tucked in as if to say, God's going to do what he said he's going to do, and we're going to be ready for it to happen.

So the Bible has a ton to say about this meal and how it was commemorated. And if you want a story to live on, pair it with a meal, because this is what the Jewish people have done and it's genius. So they would continue for centuries. It's now been 1500 years, and Jesus and his disciples are still celebrating it, saying, do you remember when God provided a substitute and we were set free?

Do you remember instead of us taking judgment, Yahweh provided for us, and it's at this meal. By the way, it's the week of Jesus's death they're celebrating. This is his last meal with his followers. He takes the meal, he takes the bread, and he says, this is my body broken for you. And then he takes the cup and says, this is my blood shed for you.

And their minds are going, what in the world? He's the substitute. He's the firstborn male. He's the one who's going to take God's wrath so that we could be set free. Jesus is going to lead a cosmic exodus that won't just affect one people group on the face of the earth, but every tribe and tongue will go free.

If they trust Yahweh. And that's why Jesus's cousin, he's known him his whole life. And Jesus walks up and John the Baptist says, behold, my cousin, no, behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. And Peter, who is at this supper, writes to the early church and says to them, Christians, you're those ransomed by precious blood, like that of a lamb without spot or blemish.

And Paul would write to the church and say, Christ is our Passover Lamb. He is the sacrifice that will end the sacrificial system. He is the substitute. And I think Jesus says he's walking along with those guys, says, oh, that's an egg. Don't step over that. This whole thing points to me. Passover is a preview, and it points to me egg number three, the tree and bitter water.

So after the plague of the firstborn, the Hebrew people leave Egypt, but they don't leave Egypt and walk right into the Promised Land. They leave Egypt and walk right into the wilderness, and they've got a whole new set of problems. It's not the Pharaoh, but they're thirsty. It's been three days without water, and they begin to complain like sweet Moses, thanks for bring us out here to die.

We could have done that in Egypt. For three days. They traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Mara, they couldn't drink it because the water was bitter. And that's why the place is called Mara. So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, what are we to drink? And Moses cried out to the Lord. And the Lord showed him a piece of wood, and he threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.

Hidden here is egg number three. People are suffering. They're thirsty. Moses crying out to God. God shows him a piece of wood. That's how your translation says it. But it's actually a tree. God shows him a tree. He takes the tree, applies it to bitter water, and that bitter water becomes sweet, something the group can drink. Many commentators believe this is a picture of the cross.

This is a glimpse of what Jesus will do through the cross. That the tree of Christ, once applied to bitter situations, will make them something you can drink. That the tree of Christ applied to bitter situations will transform your circumstances. And if I handed this mic off to us today, people would be able to testify to that saying that's true, that's what's happened.

I've seen it. I've seen the most bitter things in my life be touched and transformed by the cross of Christ, because Christ suffered. He drank a cup so that the suffering we taste in this life would be something we don't do alone, and we do with the promise of God's glory and good being revealed in this situation. As a pastor, I have a lot of people come to me and ask me, hey, why do bad things happen to good people?

And I know it's a huge question and honestly, I don't know why seems to be the question that never goes away. But I also know as a pastor that the worst thing in the world happened to the best person at the cross, and even a Roman torture device turned out for our good and his glory. So I'm trusting that someday we're going to sort this out and this is going to make sense to us.

Even the bitter things can be made sweet when touched by the cross. Bread from Heaven Easter egg number. I'm not sure you need water, but eventually you need something to eat, right? So the first they're complaining we're going to die of thirst. Now we need to eat and there's over a million of us. What's going to happen? Moses cries out.

And there's bread that falls from heaven. Manna, a flaky bread falls. But I also think an Easter egg falls because Jesus mentions this story once again. He's fighting with religious leaders. And they asked him, well, what sign are you going to give us so that we can believe in you? What will you do? Our ancestors eight manna in the wilderness.

As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. And then Jesus declared to them, oh, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me, and you still do not believe. He's saying I am your sign.

At this the Jews began to grumble about him, because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. They said, and they were like, This is Jesus. This is the Son of Joseph we know as Mom and Dad. How can he say now I came down from heaven? Nobody stalks, didn't deliver you. Something else happened. Stop grumbling amongst yourself.

Jesus answered, I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the man in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

And this, this thinned the crowd radically. Bread has for us fallen on hard times. There was a time, I think, that time was called Covid, where everyone had a sour dough starter and everybody was into bread because we were like, hey man, if we're going to die, we're going to bake something before we do, and we're not going to cut carbs, we're going to take them in.

But as time went on, we were like too many cocktails and too much bread, and now we're all trying to fit back in swimsuits, right? So we have a mixed relationship with carbs. The rest of the world does not.

Bread is life and they want something to stick to their ribs. And bread is sustenance and bread is provision. And Jesus is for us that daily bread, that one who sustains us. The last two Easter eggs come from the same story. Joshua defeats the enemy is a little nod to Jesus, and Moses with outstretched arms on the hill is a nod to Jesus.

They both come from this story. In Exodus 17, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites. So the Israelites, they don't just have issues of food and water, they now have enemies attacking them at rough. Edem and Moses said to Joshua, choose some of our men to go out and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I'm going to stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.

So Joshua was on the valley floor fighting the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses and Aaron and her went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning. But whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses his hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and sat on it.

And Aaron and her held his hands up, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the amalekite army with the sword. This is their first military victory. And then the Lord said to Moses, write this on a scroll as something to be remembered, and make sure that Joshua in particular hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.

And Moses built an altar right there, and said, the Lord is my banner. This is the first time in the Bible we read about Joshua. He'll feature kind of prominently. He's up and coming at this point, but he'll get his own book pretty quick here. He'll take over for Moses. And this is also the only the first time in the Bible that someone's commanded to write something down so that it will be remembered.

Write this down. And in particular, make sure Joshua gets it. Because one day, one day, God will deal finally and decisively with this enemy. So what does this have to do with Jesus? And what are the eggs in here? These are a little more obscure, but when you read in numbers 13, you read something really interesting. It says the name of the men Moses sent to explore the land.

And then he says, Moses gave Joshua, son of nun, the name Joshua, or Joshua. So Joshua, his name is not Joshua. Initially, it's Joshua. Joshua means Savior. And so here's the scene. Joshua meets Moses, the man of God, and he says, I'm Savior. Quite a name, right? I mean, I've met I've met an ace. I know a maverick.

Titan is a name people use. Saint is being used. 2021. Over 2000 people named their son Messiah. Those are some big shoes to fill. So. Right. So high. Savior Moses goes. No, you're not. And he changes his name on the spot to Yeshua, which means the Lord saves. Listen, young man, you're going to fight. But lesson number one before you battle is that the battle belongs to the Lord.

You're not the Savior. It is the Lord who saves. And now Yeshua is fighting in the valley and is victorious. And then it says, write this down because Yeshua will will deal decisively and finally with our enemy. Here's the idea. The Greek Aramaic transliteration of the Hebrew name Yeshua is Jesus. Jesus. The Hebrew name was Yeshua. He's the greater Joshua, the one who would come and deal decisively with our enemy, that Satan, sin, and death would be blotted out through his victory.

It's the Lord who saves, and he saves through Jesus and his atoning death dealt with our sin, but it's his resurrection that dealt with death. If he's still in the grave, then we're still in our sins. But he rose victorious over Satan, sin, and death. Yeshua's coming this this warrior will fight for us. But he's not just the greater Joshua, he's the Greater Moses.

This is what the Bible says. So I think Jesus is doing this Bible study, and I think he's saying, oh yeah, that Joshua, you know. Yeah, sure. Oh yeah, that that points to me. But also look up the hill. Look up the hill at what's happening to Moses. Here's the silhouette. Moses holding the staff, growing weak and holding the staff.

And then two friends, one to his left, one to his right, rush up the hill to hold his arms. This is the silhouette. This is the scene. And we know also that the greater Moses would die on a hill, and it's not his friends to his right and his left trying to hold his arms up. It's two thieves.

And it's not two friends coming to him in his hour of need to support him. It's nails holding, his arms outstretched. And you better believe that if his arms falter and if he fails, the battle is lost. But our champion endures. This is the scene. This is the silhouette. This is the thing that I think helped these guys make sense of the suffering they saw that weekend.

Death could not hold him. The veil tore before him. Death is defeated. Christ victorious over Satan, sin and death. He is who he says he is and he'll do what he said he's going to do. And here's what I'd love you to do. As we close worship team. Would you guys come?

All 47 of you beautiful people. Come on. You get to take the robe off, and I get to take the tie off in, like, three minutes. Let's go.

Here's what I'd love for you to do. I'd love for you to stop ignoring the Easter eggs in your life. It's not just the Bible story that's full of Easter eggs. Moments where God intervenes. Your life is full of Easter eggs, and we step over them. It's not a coincidence. There's something to it. If you look intently. That friend in junior high who invited you to youth group, or that grandma that's prayed for you your entire life, that moment where you knew God was speaking to you.

That moment where you knew you deserved punishment and God spared you. You have these stories and they seem crazy. I think with Chris and Nitya they were like, and then we were human like. And it was like, oh my gosh, we thought we instigated this, but God's been at work the whole time. Maybe yours aren't as cool. Maybe yours just involve like a parking spot at the mall.

But you know, like, no, I know in my knower, this is God in my life. Would you not step over those and write those off? Would you look intently? Would you look with eyes that aren't clouded with cynicism and disappointment and go, oh no, I think even my suffering is something put here by God meant to draw me to himself.

The other thing I'd want to invite you to do is receive Jesus as like a banner over your life. I don't know what flies above your life. You could think that it's success, or status, or hobby or family or maybe a position that you hold is that that thing will ultimately come down you. Your arms will falter and the battle will be lost.

Life is when we bring ourselves under the banner of Jesus's lordship. You're under a banner right now. That banner is death and sin. If you don't think you're under that banner, prove it by trying to get out from underneath it. You will not wiggle out from underneath death. And it's hard to stop doing the things that you've told yourself a thousand times.

I'm going to start do. I'm going to stop doing. It's not even that the Bible told you. You want to stop and you can't because you're under a banner and the only way out is to step in and under the victory that Christ has won and receive him as Lord over your life. These two guys, they're walking away from Jerusalem.

They've turned their back on religious devotion. They're stepping over Easter eggs. They finally stop. Their hearts burn within them. And then the story says that they don't just keep going. They run back into Jerusalem. Repentance. It means turn around. And right now you've got your back towards God, in your face, toward sin. Repentance is turning your face towards God in your back, towards sin.

And it happens constantly in the Christian life, not just once would you stand with me?

Spirit of God, would you search our hearts? Spirit. God, would you reveal Jesus to us? And Spirit of God, would you save and set hearts ablaze? We recognize, Lord, that we've been stepping over Easter eggs, ignoring them on purpose because we know that it means that we'll have to surrender to you, and we just rather keep running. But we stop right now, and we recognize these things have been placed in our lives to thank you for walking with us and kindly asking us questions.

Let's lift up Jesus together.