Magic Eye Poster
Easter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsSticky Statement: Your blindness to the presence of what's true is not proof of its absence.
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1. ENGAGE: The Hidden Reality
The Optical Illusion
In the 90s, there was a craze for Magic Eye posters.
To the casual observer, they looked like a chaotic mess of colors and static—like a printing error or a glitch in the paper.
But the image was always there. It wasn't added later; it was woven into the fabric of the poster the whole time.
You just lacked the perspective to see it.
I remember the social pressure of the Magic Eye posters.
You’d stand in the mall with a group of friends, and everyone would start shouting, "Oh! I see the dolphin! Do you see the dolphin?!"
And you’re standing there, staring at what looks like a pile of digital confetti, lying through your teeth saying, "Oh yeah... totally... a dolphin."
Meanwhile, you’re pretty sure it’s just a prank the 90s played on us to see how long we’d stare at a wall.
The Necessity of a Teacher
To see the hidden reality, you can't just stare harder.
You have to follow a specific process.
And for most of us, someone had to teach us how.
You could eventually figure it out on your own, but it would take forever—
and honestly, some people never did get to see it.
They just gave up and called it a scam.
The technique for those posters was counter-intuitive:
You had to hold the image close to your face and don’t try to focus on it.
Then you had to relax your eyes and let all the colors blur together.
Basically, you had to pretend you’re looking through the image like it’s a small window with something behind it.
You have to look like you’ve completely lost your mind.
You have to let your eyes go crossed and get that "nobody’s home" expression on your face.
It turns out, that’s exactly the state of mind you need for a breakthrough.
You then rotate it back and forth slightly and move it in and out until you can just start making something out.
Then, it should start coming into focus.
Once it "pops," you can't un-see it.
2. TENSION: The Static of Reality
The Misinterpretation
Most of us treat our daily lives the same way.
We look at the "static" of our circumstances—the stress, the noise, the broken plans—and we say, "I don't see anything meaningful here."
We assume that because we can't see a clear picture, a picture must not exist.
The Autopsy of a Dream
This gap between what we see and what we wanted to see creates a massive amount of internal tension.
It leads to the five saddest words in the human vocabulary: "But I had hoped that..."
I had hoped the job was permanent.
I had hoped the relationship would last.
I had hoped the plan would work.
When our hopes die, we usually start walking away and heading back to the familiar.
[TRANSITION]
This is the fundamental truth we have to grapple with:
Your blindness to the presence of what is true is not proof of its absence.
When we can't see the picture, it’s usually because we are staring at the wrong things in the wrong way.
And as we turn to the text today, we see that the Teacher has a specific pattern for helping that image "pop."
3. THE PIVOT: The Pattern of the Disguise
The Hearing (Mary Magdalene)
Three weeks ago, we saw a woman in a garden.
She was blinded by her own Grief.
She looked at the Author of Life and thought He was the gardener. The image didn't pop for her through sight; it popped through a Sound.
The second He called her name, the static cleared.
The Touching (Thomas)
Two weeks ago, we saw a man blinded by Cynicism, Thomas.
He was a "facts-only" person staring at his own logic.
He didn't need to hear a name; he needed to feel a foundation.
For him, the image popped through Touch—the second he was invited to reach out and feel the scars.
The Scent (Simon Peter)
Then there was a man blinded by Shame and guilt.
He didn't recognize the figure on the shore until the image was triggered by a Scent.
The charcoal fire on the beach mirrored the night of his greatest failure.
That scent was the bridge that let the truth back in.
[TRANSITION]
Every one of these people was looking right at the Truth and didn't see it.
Go ahead and turn to Luke 24 in your Bible or app.
While you're turning there, let’s look at the "static" that had been building up in Jerusalem.
4. TRUTH: The Progressive Reveal
The Context of Chapter 24
Before we get to the road, the chapter begins with an empty tomb and a question: "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"
The news is dismissed as an "idle tale."
Jerusalem is a mess of rumors and heavy-hearted confusion.
The Mystery of the Road
That is where we find two travelers leaving Jerusalem after witnessing the Easter weekend events.
They are on a seven-mile hike away from the biggest disappointment of their lives.
They aren't blinded by grief, doubt, or shame; they are blinded by Confusion.
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13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.
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For these two, seven miles is roughly 14,000 steps in the wrong direction.
They were putting distance between themselves and the place where their dreams died.
They are dissecting the tragedy of believing that Jesus was the one who was going to save them from Rome.
They have all the data—the report and confirmation of the empty tomb—but they are just seeing the static.
They are stuck on what they wanted, and how what happened didn't match up to their expectations.
No matter how much they talk it through, the picture won't come into focus.
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15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
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They are walking with the very person they are mourning.
Why didn't they see Him? Mark 16:12 says He appeared in "another form."
Just like he appeared as a gardener to Mary.
Here he is another traveler on the road from the events of the weekend.
If he would have just told them who he was, they wouldn't have been able to understand the teachings, they would have just continued on their false ideas of who the Messiah was supposed to be...the war hero who would kill all of Rome.
Kinda of like when someone tells you what the Magic Eye poster is supposed to be.
They tell you what you are supposed to see, but until you see it for yourself, you don’t truly see what is there.
You haven't internalized it. So you will never understand it.
They had to be slowly walked into realization of the truth of who Jesus was and what he had done.
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17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.
18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
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Jesus asks Three questions.
The first is: What are you talking about?
I love the irony in verse here in Luke. verse 18.
Cleopas basically looks at the Creator of the Universe and says, "Have you been living under a rock?"
And Jesus—who has literally just spent three days under a rock—just listens.
It’s the ultimate "Undercover Boss" moment.
Jesus wants them to talk through what they saw, and then he will walk them through what the truth is.
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19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,
23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”
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The second question Jesus asks, is “what things?”.
He is drawing out their feelings and their expectations.
They tell him of three things:
Jesus was WAS a great prophet.… WAS....but The religious leaders turned him over to Rome and he was tried and crucified.
They had hoped that he would be the Messiah that would come and defeat Rome and give the people of God back their purpose and hope.
There were reports that his body was missing and reports of angels saying he was alive. (but implying that they really didn't believe the reports...)
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25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
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Jesus teaches them the "technique" for looking through the static of their pain to see the 3D image of God's plan.
He shows them the tragedy wasn't THE END; it was the BEGINNING.
He walked them from the very beginning.
From Creation, To the Fall, to the theme of redemption that runs through the Old Testament history books, through the psalms and the prophets.
He traced the scarlet thread that shows up in ever book of the bible and points to Jesus.
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28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,
29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.
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Jesus wasnt pretending.
He was waiting for an invitation.
If they didnt invite him, he would have kept going.
But they did invite him in.
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30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
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The Recognition in the Breaking
They didn't recognize Him by His face.
They recognized Him by the way He served them.
They recognized Him in the breaking of the bread.
Once they realized that what he taught them really did point to him, they were able to see him for who he really is. The Messiah.
The one who had to suffer and die in order to redeem sinners.
And that hope, that truth, lit a fire in their hearts.
They had to tell someone.
They had to tell someone right then.
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33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
For these two disciples, they took a 7 mile walk and finally understood the truth of the risen Christ.
they finally recognized Jesus.
They had seen the image in the Magic Eye Poster.
5. APPLICATION: Auditing the Blindness
Identify your static today:
Are you like Mary and too heartbroken to see the Savior and only see the Gardener?
Are you Too guarded and disbelieving like Thomas to believe Jesus without touching the Scars?
Are you Too ashamed and guilty like Peter to smell the Charcoal and recognize that Jesus wants to welcome us in with open arms?
Or are you too confused and heart broken, like our travelers today to recognize the Stranger on the road?
[TRANSITION]
We have to start listening to the truth already stirring in your heart.
Remember: that Your blindness to God’s presence is not proof of His absence.
He is walking with us.
We just may not be able to see him at the time.
6. INSPIRATION: The Turnaround
The moment the travelers see Him, they stop retreating.
They run seven miles back to the city they just fled.
Recognition of who Jesus is always leads to mission.
Its a turning point, when you see the picture.
When you understand who Jesus is.
7. ACTION: The Road Prayer
This week, I want each of us to
Verbally invite Jesus into your day:
Pray "Stay with me and teach me, show me who you are, Lord."
I want you to Read Luke 24:32 out loud every day:
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32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
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And most importantly, we want to allow our eyes to be open to the scriptures, and to God’s leading on our lives.
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Today we are going to celebrate Communion.
Communion represents the Easter events.
The breaking of his body and the shedding of his blood for us.
For you. For me.
When the two travelers broke bread with Jesus, they realized who he was.
Its the same for us today.
Whenever we celebrate communion, we are called back to remembrance of who he is, and what he did for us.
At this time Id like for the board members who are helping serve to come forward along with Debbie.
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The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament,
which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again.
It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.
The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit.
It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.
All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ.
We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.
In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
As Debbie plays, would you come and receive the cup and the bread.
Take the bread, and eat it, and remember that it represents the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, to preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life.
Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.
Take the cup, and drink it and remember that it represents the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, to preserve you blameless unto everlasting life.
Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.
Lets Pray
