What Does Resurrection Sunday Mean to Me?

by  David M. Brown


A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I remember what my life once was like.  I was born and grew up in a great Conservative Jewish home living first in North Miami Beach, Florida, then Atlanta, Georgia and for some time in the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C.  I also found myself living in the Holy Land, the Land of Milk and Honey, the State of Israel also known as the Land of Israel and the Jewish State.  Living the life of a devout Conservative Jew, I believed the last of the names listed but today, I know it is also the land where my Personal Lord and Savior, My Messiah and the True Son of God was born, ministered, died and rose again.

You surely recognized the title of this commentary or testimonial as calling tomorrow Resurrection Sunday.  Why?  Well, as many people have asked over the years, where does the idea of the bunny and easter eggs come into the story of Jesus Christ's life, ministry and death and resurrection?  Easily said, these are not symbols of His life.  They are simply symbols of the time of the year, Spring.

I will be the first one to tell you that I would never have believed that Jesus Christ died and rose again and still would not if I remained in my old life.  I would say this as well, I am not even sure if I would be alive today if I did not come to accept Him as my Lord and Savior.  I feared death because I had no idea what was in store for me afterward.  I have heard about Heaven and Hell but I was never sure what any of this meant.  I have heard of pergatory and being in limbo, but once again, had no idea what any of this meant until I read Dante's poems and stories in American Literature classes in my first year in college.

Then, I felt that it was absolutely necessary to pick up the Holy Bible and begin to read.  Read I did and read I do each and every day.  Way back when, I would spend hours and days in Hebrew School reading from the Torah and the Siddur (Jewish prayer book) but I still did not find a lot of the answers that I was looking for.  In neither of these great books did I ever find the mention of the Precious Name of Jesus Christ.

When I came to my decision to accept Jesus Christ into my life, I learned from my first pastor that there were many signs in my prior life that led me to the day of my conversion.  I did not see them until he and I talked for nearly three hours.  Wow!  I learned that he knew more about my life than I knew about my life.

So, today, as I have done over the last ten years since my conversion into the life of Jesus Christ, I come to gather my thoughts, dwell in His Word and come to an understanding that without knowing and accepting Jesus Christ, I would still be asking the same questions and definitely continuing to fear death and even fear itself.  I would still be lost and wondering what was to come in my life after death, if anything without Christ.

Dwelling in the Word, the Holy Bible and knowing Jesus Christ, I have the greatest understanding of what my life is to be and how I am to lead it.  Understanding the story of the Resurrection is so important that knowing without it, we would not have a Christmas.  Without the Resurrection, we would all be wondering, what happens to us after death?

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.  And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen.  Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."  And they remembered his words and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest, Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.  But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.  Luke 24:1-12 English Standard Version

So, just as was foretold in the Scriptures, Jesus Christ had risen again.  He has Risen!  He Has Risen Indeed!  Jesus is Alive!  He is with us!

So, Resurrection Sunday means to me that I have eternal life because I have accepted Jesus Christ into my life, into my heart and into my mind.  He is truly the Son of God, the Messiah!  And, there is no turning back!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

The Return to Nazareth: A Christmas Story: Bible Series 2010

Now it is time for Mary, Joseph and Jesus, their son to return to Israel. Matthew 19-23, NIV, Life Application Bible: "After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

So, goes the story of Jesus Christ's birth. We will now continue in the days forward to look at the ministry of Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior to mankind. There is a great deal of discussion and debate what it is that Jesus did as a young man as well as what happened between the years that separated the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is understood that there was 400 years that separated the two Testament's. But, we do know that Jesus did walk the earth as you and I do today but that He was God's Son and that He preached God's law and that He was God Himself in human flesh.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Alex and Dave.

The Escape To Egypt: A Christmas Story: Bible Series 2010

The Escape to Egypt
"When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." (Matthew 2:13) This had to be frightening to both Joseph and Mary even though they knew that their son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah and the King of the Jews was with them. Why would anyone in their right mind want to kill the Son of God? The Son of Man? He had not even taken His first steps yet or even spoken His first words. It was certainly as if the people in high positions throughout the land knew who He was and what He was to be. King Herod said that he was the only king of the land and that there was no other. But when he was approached by the three kings of the orient, and they told him differently, he was angry and he wanted the child killed.

"So, he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet. "Out of Egypt I called my son."" (Matthew 2:14-15). Here the prophet spoken about is Hosea and this is from Hosea 11:1 which says: "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." What is interesting here is that in the Old Testament in the Book of Hosea, many will tell you that this references the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt during the era of Moses. It is said that God had such a love for His people Israel that He was actually talking about sending them out of Egypt into the Promised Land. This is all great, but this is also one of the prophesies of Jesus' life when He was a child. He was sent into Egypt and as was said from the angel of the Lord, Joseph and Mary and their son Jesus was to stay in that far off land until they heard from him.

"When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (Matthew 16-18). During the time that the northern tribes of Israel were taken by the Assyrians, Rachel, a wife to Jacob could be heard crying and weeping. The weeping was very bad in this case as was the case when the young children were put to death by Herod. Another amazement of similarities between Old Testament and New Testament times.

(Note: When it comes to the weeping and to the order of having children killed, I can only think back to my studies of the Holocaust. I did a lot of research as I lost family during the period of World War II and when I was in Israel, I could only weep when I found family names of those killed during that awful period in Jewish history. I was at Yad Vashem, which means the Hand of God, the Holocaust Museum in Israel).

Tomorrow, I will be bringing another part of the Christmas Story to you and it will involve Jesus' return to Nazareth with Joseph and Mary.

Thanks for reading our blog and enjoy the continued Bible Series and soon there will be some of Alex's music posted here.