4:13 Podcast: Behold and Be Held - Easter Reflections [Episode 396]

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, hey, 4:13ers. This is a wonderful weekend, and I'm so glad you're hanging out with me and KC. This is Jennifer. And it's Good Friday, or it's about to be, depending on when you're listening. Or maybe we've just experienced it and now we are experiencing the celebration of resurrection.

So wherever you are in this beautiful Holy Week celebrating Christ's resurrection, we're so glad you're celebrating it with us. We do want to behold the Lamb today, and we know that what we behold, we will be held by.

We have got just a special time for your heart today, because we have a singer, Layne Victoria, with us, and she is going to lead us to the heights of worship and take us to the depths of gratefulness as she sings over us "Behold the Lamb."

So let's get this Easter reflection started, KC.

KC Wright: Welcome to the 4:13 Podcast, where practical encouragement and biblical wisdom set you up to live the "I Can" life, because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

Now, welcome your host, Jennifer Rothschild.

Jennifer Rothschild: Well, hey, friends. So glad you are with us. KC and I are in the closet. We just wanted to pop in and give some Easter reflections because we want you to be spending time with your family.

KC Wright: Yes.

Jennifer Rothschild: Maybe you're doing Easter egg hunts, maybe you're at a service for Holy Week for Good Friday. Whatever it is you're doing, thanks for letting us pop in.

Layne Victoria is a singer-songwriter, and she is going to sing over you just to prepare your heart and allow you just to experience the gratefulness of the beauty of Easter and what it means to behold the Lamb.

But speaking of lambs, because you're a pastor, KC, Easter is like the Olympics for you. It's a big weekend.

KC Wright: Okay. Yes, Easter is the Super Bowl for any pastor.

Jennifer Rothschild: It is.

KC Wright: I'm here to tell you, I'll never forget this past Christmas service. You know, you're driving home and you're like, "Oh, we got through that Christmas service." And my daughter, who I call the Holy Spirit with a hair-do, she goes, "Easter's next." And honestly, you start planning for your Easter service in January.

Jennifer Rothschild: You really do.

KC Wright: You really do.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah, yeah.

KC Wright: I'll never forget my very first Easter as a lead pastor. I've always been your college pastor, your youth pastor. But now I'm like, oh, wow. Lord help.

Jennifer Rothschild: I'm in charge.

KC Wright: Well, I always say Jesus is the Great Shepherd.

But I had in my mind -- we had vision of our parking lot turning into a small carnival, because it's all about families and kids.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

KC Wright: And so we had the bouncy houses and the snow cones and all the things, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Aw, that's fun.

KC Wright: And the photo booth and all that. But we wanted a petting zoo. And -- okay, let me rephrase that. I wanted a petting zoo for the kids.

Jennifer Rothschild: KC did, yes.

KC Wright: So I went to Orscheln's -- or Tractor Supply now. Or whatever.

Jennifer Rothschild: Right. One of those places.

KC Wright: A farming store.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah.

KC Wright: I bought a bunch of bunnies and chickens and ducks.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay. Ones with heartbeats and feet?

KC Wright: Real ones.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, my gosh.

KC Wright: Because I pictured a little fenced-in area, and the kids can come up. And then, by the way, you talk about some cute pictures. Picture these kids now in their Easter outfits holding bunnies and ducks and chickens. Nothing is more cuter.

Jennifer Rothschild: You're right. That's adorable.

KC Wright: But me being the sanguine personality, I'm like, "Let's do this." There's no business like show business, right? And so, you know, you -- an extrovert always does that. Then you have to have a reality check.

Jennifer Rothschild: That's why you and I work together.

KC Wright: Perfectly.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes. Because I could finish the gig. I can almost tell you how I know it ended.

KC Wright: So souls were saved, baptisms happened. The Easter photos happened, everyone left with gifts. And we're leaving the church parking lot, and I'm like, "Hold on. What are we going to do with all these chickens? What are we going to do with all these chickens?"

Jennifer Rothschild: KC.

KC Wright: And so, praise God, I had to sit in that parking lot for a while and text some church members. And I found homes for the chickens. Which, by the way, are still alive, producing eggs for our church family.

Jennifer Rothschild: Okay. Well, see, that's the gift that keeps giving.

KC Wright: And then I found a home for the ducks. And that rabbit, that bunny, that came home with us. Elly twisted my arm. We had Leo for a long, long time.

Jennifer Rothschild: I remember Leo. I did not realize that Leo's origin story was the petting zoo.

KC Wright: And I'm here to tell you parents, if your kid is begging for a rabbit, don't do it.

Jennifer Rothschild: Say no.

KC Wright: Don't do it.

Jennifer Rothschild: Just say no.

KC Wright: Are they cute? Are they adorable? Do they make the best photos? All the yeses. But they are so nasty.

Jennifer Rothschild: And they -- yes.

KC Wright: Yeah, they are so nasty. And that cage, oh, needs cleaned and -- ooooh.

Jennifer Rothschild: Ugh.

KC Wright: Anyway, they belong in the great outdoors.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes, they do, where God created them to be. Yes. Little Bunny Foo Foo -- we all know the song -- he doesn't live in your living room.

KC Wright: But, you know, as parents, we end up taking care of the pets --

Jennifer Rothschild: Of course.

KC Wright: -- not the kids.

Jennifer Rothschild: Of course.

KC Wright: But anyway, yeah, I've got lots of Easter memories. But I will tell you -- you know how much I love Christmas. I love Easter even more.

Jennifer Rothschild: Oh, I do too. Well, it's the pinnacle of our faith.

KC Wright: It is.

Jennifer Rothschild: Yeah. It's where it all matters. And that's why I think, KC, it's so important for us just to take a minute and really behold the Lamb, behold him.

And part of the reason I wanted us to behold the Lamb -- well, I mean, those were the words of John the Baptist -- right? -- when he's baptizing and he sees Jesus walking up. And, like, with this astonishment in his voice, he says, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." And I think what we need to realize is all Jesus had done at that point was walk up. We think, well, when he died on the cross, he took away our sins. No. His whole reason for existence here incarnate was to take away the sins of the world.

That's what he's done for us, y'all. That's why we need to behold the Lamb.

And, you know, I was thinking, KC, because -- I was part of a Bible study called "The Names of God." It'll be out in August of this year. It's a Lifeway product with many authors, you know, like Kristi McClelland, Kelly Minter --

KC Wright: Wow.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- me, several others. Okay. And I got to teach on the Lord of Hosts, which meant I also used Psalm 46. Well, there's this verse in Psalm 46:8 that says, "Come behold the works of the Lord." And then it goes on to list how he makes desolations in the earth, how he cuts the spear in two, he breaks the bow in half, he burns the chariot with fire, like, he explains the works of the Lord. But the first part of that verse says, "Just come behold the works of the Lord."

And as I really studied that, I thought we have to conscientiously fixate on, focus on, behold the works of the Lord, behold the Lamb, because what we behold, we will be held by. Like, what we attach our gaze to, what we fix our mind on is going to hold our attention. It's going to hold our very souls --

KC Wright: So good.

Jennifer Rothschild: -- our very essence, you know, when you think about it.

So in college I was a psych major, so I'm always loving psychology theories. And this whole concept of beholding something so that you will be held by it, I mean, psychology proves it out. There's this thing called the mere exposure effect. Okay.

So this originated in the '60s. And what it asserts is that the more that we're exposed to something -- okay? -- the more we like it. So in other words, familiarity is going to breed preference. So that means you just keep repeating your exposure to something and it's going to increase your desire for that thing. All right?

Now, here's the dark side. That is also going to apply to unvirtuous familiarities. Like, whatever you behold, you're going to be held by. So just think of the negative side of that, what that means. We all know what that means.

And so that means we've got to keep just increasing our exposure to God's works, to God's Son, to God's truth. We got to behold the Lamb. Because what we behold, we will be held by. It's like we just need to get enamored by Jesus, you know, just captivated by him, and then he will hold our hearts.

And so that's what the purpose of Easter is. Yes, we behold the works of the Lord, that the power of God raised Jesus from the dead. Yes, we behold the works of the Lord, that God himself became man, sacrificed himself for us so that we could know him. Yes, we behold the works of the Lord, we behold the Lamb.

And the fact that Jesus, the Lamb of God, he was the only one who could carry our sins and who could bear our sins. And that means, our friends, when we behold the Lamb, we are going to be held by the truth; therefore, we don't have to carry our sin anymore. We don't have to bear the heavy load of our sin because Jesus did it for us.

So as you're contemplating that, I'm just going to ask KC to pray over us just a brief prayer that we will behold the Lamb. And as he gets to the end of that prayer, you're going to begin to hear Layne Victoria sing over us to let the eyes of our heart really behold the Lamb.

KC Wright: Father, we love you so much. I pray that we would all keep our eyes locked on you, the author and the finisher of our faith. That we would fall more in love with you like never before. That we would be like Paul, who said, "For my determined purpose is to know you." That is beholding you and being held by you.

Lord, we love you. We thank you for Easter. We thank you for Resurrection Sunday. We thank you that we can boldly say, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Because when death stung death, it stung itself to death, right?

Jennifer Rothschild: Yes, Lord.

KC Wright: Father God, we thank you that you defeated death, you defeated hell, you defeated the grave, and we behold you today. We love you, we praise you, we glorify you. We thank you that you're our risen King, our risen Savior. We love you, Jesus. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Jennifer Rothschild: Amen.

Layne Victoria (Singing):

You spoke the world in motion, breathed life into the void.
You speak from on your throne and all nature knows your voice.

The Word made flesh among us, Creator cloaked in rags.
Fulfilled the Father's purpose, the plan of ages past.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, all praise unto the Lamb.
Saints and angels crying worthy, all praise unto the Lamb.

Pure hands that hold all power on a cursed Roman cross.
And in that sacred hour, we thought all hope was lost.

But you trampled death and darkness, put every foe to shame.
You rose to life victorious and all shall know your name.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, all praise unto the Lamb.
Saints and angels crying worthy, all praise unto the Lamb.

One day we'll stand in glory, behold Him face to face.
We'll tell the wondrous story, by his stripes we're saved.

We'll join the song of heaven, O crown the King of Kings.
The gates of hell will tremble at the sound of the redeemed.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, all praise unto the Lamb.
Saints and angels crying worthy, all praise unto the Lamb.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, all praise unto the Lamb.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, all praise unto the Lamb.

This Gospel won't be silenced, your kingdom stands through time.
We trust our Rock the Lion, all honor be to Christ.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy,

The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, all praise unto the Lamb.