I love the story of the experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. It’s full of imagery, truth, and blessing for those who were there and for us. On this mountain we see Moses appear one more time. That alone should make us pause and start to ask some questions.
 
Moses, the one through whom God led Israel out of Egypt, now stands with Elijah and speaks with Jesus. What does one talk about when talking with a couple of dead prophets? The impending departure of Jesus, of course.
 
One thing we can learn from this is that the Exodus was only part of a larger story. Some scholars would say it was a “signpost” to things to come. Even though God did mighty things with Israel in that time, a deeper rescue was still needed; a rescue of all humanity, not just Israel. Humanity needed more than freedom from Pharaoh. We needed freedom from sin, death, and the powers holding creation under bondage.

This is why Jesus came in the first place.
 
But the way He came wasn’t exactly what everyone expected. His path to liberation didn’t avoid suffering. He brings it by walking straight to the cross. His departure will be the culmination of rejection, bloodshed, death, and then resurrection. The true Exodus isn’t achieved by crushing enemies from a distance, but by Jesus giving Himself for the life of the world.
 
This is an important point because we often think of freedom as the escape or absence of all cost. Jesus models something much deeper. The way of redemption is the way of surrendered obedience. Through Him we are free not to serve ourselves, but so we can serve others as we follow Him.
 
Jesus fulfills the meaning of the Exodus Rescue. He is the true Deliverer and the Lamb whose blood secures our redemption. Through Him, God brings His people out from the old kingdom of this world and into the life of the Kingdom of God. Instead of rescue from the slavery of Egypt, we are rescued from the slavery of sin and death.
 
Following Jesus is more than escaping the bondage of sin, though. It also means a life where we are free to walk in a new life following His way; we no longer belong to Pharaoh, fear, sin, or self-rule. Obedience to Him is not an attempt to earn our rescue, it’s what life looks like after He has already set us free.

As yesterday, take a look inside and see where you tend to define freedom as escape from cost rather than surrender to Christ? How does Jesus’ cross-shaped rescue reshape the way you understand obedience?

Father, thank you for rescuing me, for rescuing all of humanity. Teach me to follow your ways as someone set free to belong fully to God, not as someone who is in debt. Show me your glory as you did on the mountain. Amen.