Two Parallel Journeys To Freedom

This blog post is Part 8 of a series entitled "From Fear To Freedom" by Pastor Jeffrey Dean Smith of Donelson First in Nashville, TN. 

Message Date: March 31, 2024

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Halleluiah. Jesus is alive. The stone has been rolled away. Our Savior is victorious. The penalty for sin and death has been paid for ever more. The head of the enemy has been crushed. The Father is exalted. Jesus is our King, and He is seated at the right hand of our Creator. The blood shed was shed for all. The cross, though grotesque, is too the jewel of life that is given to all – to all who will receive Him as Lord. The Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace is exalted under which every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

It's Easter y’all! Easter is such a unique celebration for us as humans. It reminds us of a wonderful time of year – leaves return to the trees, grass becomes green, there is a warm breeze in the air, brackets continue to get busted… We are in week 8 of our study, “From Fear to Freedom,” where we have been meticulously studying the life of one of the greatest leaders to have ever walked the planet – Moses.

As I began my time of study for this week, I naturally paused to consider taking a reprieve from Moses as this is Resurrection Sunday. But while studying, I began to understand the parallels that these two men – Moses and Jesus – personify. And the more I studied, the more I found the similarities of the complete embodiment of obedience that defines the lives of these two men. So, I want to draw your attention to these comparisons as we assess the lives of two very unique men of God. So let’s begin. First, as I studied, I immediately concluded:

1. Both men spend time in their personal wilderness. Both Moses and Jesus experienced times of extreme personal wildernesses. Jesus’ wilderness was 40 days. For Moses, it was 40 years. And in doing so, they too dealt with significant and noteworthy pain. First, consider Moses:

Exodus 2:11-25

40 years have lapsed since Moses was drawn from the water until the time when he goes out “among his own people.” We too know that Moses was 40 years-old at this time. Stephen, a New Testament martyr, confirms this:

When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. Acts 7:23

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus too finds Himself alone in His own wilderness:

Matthew 4:1-2

God often allows His people to go through great times of testing in preparation for His Holy work.

I am reminded of David who, before taking the throne of Israel as their second King, too finds himself in his own wilderness:

Deliver me from my enemies, O God; be my fortress against those who are attacking me. Deliver me from evildoers and save me from those who are after my blood. Psalm 59:1-2

You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress my God on whom I can rely. Psalm 59:17

There is too Noah, while building an ark, must have received relentless ridicule over his decision to do the Father’s will and build a mammoth size boat 450 feet x 45 feet x 75 feet. Daniel spent time in a prison surrounded by lions. Joseph was falsely accused and condemned to a prison having done nothing wrong. So very many people in the Bible, God’s people, faced insurmountable personal wildernesses in preparation to obediently follow God’s leading. I wonder if you today find yourself in such a place. Not necessarily spending 40 years tending to sheep as did Moses until he was 80 years old; not seeking shelter in a cave, as did King David before assuming the throne of Israel; and not being tempted by the great deceiver for 40 days as did the Savior of the world…

Nonetheless still a very real and painful and uncertain personal wilderness of your own – wondering; confused; fearful? If so, let me remind you to claim this truth for yourself today on this Easter Sunday:

God will never lead me to a place, no matter how dark, and desolate, and dire, where He does not walk step in step with me on my personal wilderness journey from fear to freedom.

If this is you today, remember the words Jesus spoke to His disciples on the eve He was to be crucified:

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:18-20

Moses and Jesus fully understood the very many emotions that accompanied a season of wilderness. Too…

2. Both men are rejected by their own people. Moses has just killed a man. And look again at what happens the very next day:

Exodus 2:13-15

In this one moment, Moses becomes alienated from both the people of his birth, and his adopted Egyptian household. Too, Scripture tells us that some of Jesus’ family does not even believe in Him:

For even his own brothers did not believe in him. John 7:5

This is a hard one for us as humans with which to come to terms. After all, God created us in families to be with our families and to enjoy community with our own people. If this is you, one who has been rejected by another for any reason, but specifically for the line of character and obedience you have drawn as to your personal convictions to the ways of Scripture, I encourage you: Stay the course!

I have found that there are times in my walk with the Lord that require of me a realization that those around me, and possibly those extremely close to me, will not fully comprehend the magnitude of the loyalty I am to take in living a fully devoted life to the Lord. It is in these moments you and I are to recall that we do not journey alone. 

My devotion to Christ requires of me complete loyalty, at every cost, to the ways of the Father. Even a seemingly lonely journey is one I do not journey alone.

3. Both men are mistreated. In Exodus 2, we find Moses embarking on his own mini-exodus. He leaves the palace to walk around and see his own people:

Exodus 2:11

Paul writes this about Moses in Hebrews:

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Hebrews 11:24-25

This leads us to answer an extremely important question: When did Moses know God was calling him to a unique journey to lead His people from fear to freedom? Of course we don't know the exact day. Scripture does not give us extreme clarity as to the exact moment this happened in the life of Moses. But I do believe it was while Moses was still living in the palace before he kills an Egyptian. For we see here that Moses’ heart is already aching for the people of Israel. This is why Paul confirms for us in the book of Hebrews that Moses was already assuming the role of helper to these people mistreated by Egypt for 400 years. Now, the unfortunate misstep of Moses cannot be overlooked. Moses takes matters into his own hands, and he kills an Egyptian. Luke, the writer of the book of Acts says it best:

Acts 7:20-27

Luke makes it clear that Moses believed he was to be the rescuer of God for these people. It is clear that God’s Spirit has already been stirring the heart of Moses. However, one quick take-home for each of us is this:

An act of sin, no matter how personally justified, is never acceptable to God. Just because there is an injustice among man does not give me the right to act in a way of injustice.

Moses’ heart was being stirred by God for something great. However, Moses stepped ahead of God in this process, and it cost him 40 years! Now consider Jesus… The week before the death of our Savior, Jesus enters Jerusalem the week of Holy Week. Jesus fully knows what the week ahead will hold. As a matter of fact, He has been preparing His disciples for the mistreatment that will come His way in just a matter of days:

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Matthew 16:21

Actually, while on their journey into the Holy City at the beginning of this final week of Jesus’ life, Jesus says this to His disciples:

They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” Mark 10:32-34

And, after His arrest, Jesus could have easily stepped ahead of God. Look at Mark 14:53-61:

They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together. Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.

Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even then their testimony did not agree.

Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
Mark 14:53-61

Jesus could have ended it all right then. But He did not. He knew God had a plan and He chose, rather than to supersede this plan, to stay the course through obedience. Both Moses and Jesus purposefully chose this mistreatment. I’ve thought this week about exactly this as I have asked the question, “How?” How could Moses having experienced all of the pleasures of living 40 years in a life immersed in privilege and royalty… How could he leave the rooms of gold and marble and the meals of rich meats and fine wine and step into a world of slavery and beatings and death? Too, how could Jesus leave a heavenly palace, a place of perfection, a place of no pain; exchanging a seat of divine royalty for a life of betrayal and rejection and the ultimate mistreatment of having his body nailed to a tree to die? How?

Both of these men knew exactly what they were doing. And they did so because they knew there was a supernatural call on their lives to do the will of God… and they understood the mistreatment that would come from answering such a call! You see, Church… Whether a purposeful decision, as was the case with Moses and Jesus, or a passive one to simply live different than the world…

Choosing to live an obedient life to the Lord will place me at odds with the world.

It just will. And to expect otherwise is foolish at best. Jesus said:

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. John 15:18-19

All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. John 16:1-4

Let me offer another parallel in the journeys of these two men:

4. Both men intimately immerse their lives into the lives of others. This is exactly what we see Moses do right before he kills a man. Look at Exodus 2:11:

Exodus 2:11

I presume that when Moses sees “his own people… at their hard labor,” his heart breaks for them. And though his method was wrong, his mindset was that of loving these people; caring for these people; taking care of these people. And this is exactly what happens in the very next act of Moses once he flees the Pharaoh to live in Midian:

Exodus 2:15-19

Midian cannot be pinpointed to one specific area due to the fact that the Midianites were a nomadic, or roaming, people. So it is not exactly clear as to where these people were living during this time. It is estimated that the Midianites had settled at this time east of Egypt and the Nile River in what is now Saudi Arabia. If this is true, it is very possible that Moses traveled up to 500 miles to flee the Pharaoh. For whatever reason, the Lord does not reveal to us the specifics of this journey. What He obviously wants us to know speaks to the very heart of who this man is. After all, Moses has just murdered an Egyptian. However, we read in the very next paragraph in Exodus that Moses’ first act after leaving Egypt is to rescue seven ladies who are involved in a potentially stressful and harmful encounter with shepherds. We read nothing about how Moses left his home of 40 years. Did he say, “Goodbye” to his Egyptian mother? Did he stop by his Israeli mother’s home to give her a kiss before fleeing? Did he even take the time to pack?

We do not know any of these details. What we do know is that in the very next passage, Moses is intimately immersing himself into the lives of 7 ladies in their time of need – ladies he does not know. We will soon see Moses doing exactly this on an even larger scale with the leaders he places in positions of authority throughout the nation of Israel, and specifically, to the one who will become his right-hand man, Aaron. This is the same way in which Jesus, throughout the entirety of His 3 year ministry, spent His time… intimately communicating with, leading, empowering, and loving on people in need.

In John 4, Jesus visits with a Samaritan woman who has come to draw water at a well. Six days before Jesus is to be crucified, he visits two sisters, Martha, and Mary, in their home. He dines with a chief tax collector in Jericho named Zacchaeus. He too spends time with a woman who was condemned by religious leaders to die. Throughout the entirety of His ministry, Jesus goes to the people. He walks with people, He has intimate conversations with people beachside; He dines with people; He cries with people. Jesus spent his life intimately engaging with people fully knowing that mostly all would eventually turn on Him. What really speaks to me Church about these moments, one after the other, examples from two men who obediently followed the call of God to “go” to the world…and did so with the full intentionality of making the lives of others better.

Moses’ heart broke for his own people. And he made some very difficult life-choices so that he could be used by God to help the oppressed of his time. Jesus… well, He made the ultimate life-choice… He gave His full life, completely, to make the lives of every human better – every human who, as the Bible states…

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame. Romans 10:9-11

One final thought today from our study of Moses that runs directly parallel to the life of Jesus and the Easter story:

5. Both men experience rejection from the very people whom they love. Look one final time at how Moses’ act toward his own people is received:

Exodus 2:14

Moses was trying to do what was right – to love his people well. We see how that went! We too are going to see throughout this study that many of his people continue to complain at him and question his leadership. You know…Intimately immersing my life into the lives of others can often be painful. The risk of rejection is always a possibility when I choose to love others. 

Next week we are going to see that Moses embraced the call on his life to leave Midian and place his life at risk to stand before the world’s most powerful empire. He too did the same with the people of Israel. What did he get in return? The Pharaoh hunted his very life and the people of Israel complained to him almost all the way to the Promised Land. Too… in His final night before being arrested, Jesus dined intimately with those closest to Him whom He poured into, mentored, encouraged, held accountable, and loved unconditionally for three years.. After dining with them, he performed a most intimate act:

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13:2-5

Imagine… the Savior of the world washes their dirty and dry feet…after this act of intimacy, they all deserted Him.

Mark 14:43-50

Carol Scates, the Parent Engagement Specialist from Hickman Elementary, stopped by the church this week to share of a challenge they are having. Some of you may not be aware that we have been given a wonderful relationship with this public school 1 mile from our campus. They call us, and we jump in to help whenever they need something – food, clothing for children, housing for displaced families, and more. Well she explained that some of the items we have donated to them are just sitting in her office. She makes the items available to families, but some of them are most likely too embarrassed to come into her office and request help. So she asked, “What about going to them?” What about giving gift cards to help people where they most need it… rather than waiting for the families to come to us, we instead go to them with the monies they need to help pay their bills and buy food. So… this week we took her a stack of $20 Kroger gift cards with which to bless these families. Now, will we ever see any of these families at Donelson First? I have no idea. But… know this…

I am not to position myself to be intimate with people so that they, in return, do what I want. I do so because this is how I love others best… Intimate; expecting nothing in return; with an understanding that the world may still choose to mistreat me.

So very many parallels between these two men…Both men end their time on planet earth knowing, over the course of life, they have done the will of God… no matter how difficult the task. Both men were the recipients of tremendous persecution. Both men were hunted for their lives. Both men had a mother who trusted in God. Both men were rejected by those under their leadership. Both men intimately spent time with God. Both men had hearts truly sensitive to the Father. Two parallel journeys to freedom…Moses pursued the will of God, stood before Pharaoh, and led God’s people to a new life. Jesus pursued the will of God, stood before Pontius Pilate, and led all people to a new life – eternal life. Today, as we celebrate Easter, we do so remembering that it was obedience that led Moses from an Egyptian palace to the Promised Land. And it was ultimate love that lead Jesus from the cross to an empty tomb.

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Jeffrey Dean Smith is a husband, father to Bailey & Brynnan, author, and the Senior Pastor at Donelson First in Nashville, TN. If you are in Music City, meet Jeffrey and enjoy iced tea on the front lawn each Sunday at 10:30a.