Easter: Victorious Resurrection

By Reverend Dr. Claude B. Hall

Easter Victorious Resurrection may be read as a devotional or as a text for Bible Study or Sunday School. The themes of the book center around Lent and Easter but also include some Old Testament chapters that lay the foundation for the coming of Our Savior as the Good Shepherd.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664213647

Reverend Dr. Claude B. Hall

Reverend Doctor Claude B. Hall received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tennessee Temple College, a Bachelor of Divinity Degree from Temple Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Religion at Bob Jones University. Dr. Hall also received post-graduate training in Clinical Pastoral Care. Dr. Hall and his wife, Mary Lou, are both retired from the ministry now and are living at Cross Keys Brethren Village in New Oxford, Pennsylvania.

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Copyright © 2020 Reverend Dr. Claude B. Hall.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1362-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1363-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1364-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020923391

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/11/2020

CONTENTS

Psalm 23

The Lord’s Prayer

Living in the Present

The Intimidating Giants

A Miracle That Led to the Crucifixion

When the Parade Passes By

Will You Let Me Be Your Servant

Gethsemane

What Shall I Do with Jesus?

The Words from the Cross

The Sound of a Familiar Voice

Do You Love Me?

The Resurrection

The Ascension of Christ

Reference Notes

About the Author

PSALM 23

In the Bible, God’s people are symbolically referred to as sheep. Jesus, in John 10, refers to Himself when He says, I am the Good Shepherd. In the Gospel of John, it says, He knows his sheep by name. (John 10:3). In the old dispensation¹ the sheep died for the shepherd. In John 10, however, Jesus clearly affirmed His sacrificial life and death for His sheep, His true disciples. (John 10:11-15, 17-18). The good shepherd dies for his sheep and takes up his life again. (John 10:17-18). His death was followed by His victorious resurrection.

Throughout the Easter story, references are made to His lambs, His sheep, His flock. The very first shepherd was Abel. Abraham and Moses were also shepherds. King David was probably the best-known shepherd in the Bible. He wrote Psalm 23, which is a beautiful description of how the Good Shepherd cares for his sheep.

Psalm 23 contains only 118 words. Some of the greatest pieces of literature are very brief. The Gettysburg Address consists of only 166 words. The Ten Commandments contains 297 words. The Declaration of Independence contains only 300 words. Despite its brevity, the 23rd Psalm is one of the most prized of all literature, written during David’s more mature years.

The 23rd Psalm is sometimes called the Psalm of the Crook. It lies between the Psalm of the Cross and the Psalm of the Crown. The 22nd Psalm pictures the Good Shepherd dying for the sins of the flock. The 24th Psalm pictures the child shepherd as a king in glory who will reign over the flock. In Psalm 23, the word crook refers to the shepherd’s staff and portrays the living Shepherd leading his flock through life’s journey.

All the blessings of Psalm 23 are based on the opening words. The first word is lord, a personal name for God. The second word is the verb is. He does not say that the Lord might be my Shepherd or that I hope he is my Shepherd. He made the positive assertion that He is my Shepherd.

David declared that he had an intimate and personal relationship with the Shepherd. He uses seventeen personal pronouns in the Psalm. In the Hebrew, the word shepherd means a friend, a guide, and a companion. Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice; and I know them, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish." (John 10:17). As the shepherd does for the sheep, the Lord does for us.

The shepherd would start out early in the morning, carefully looking out for the welfare of the sheep. The sheep are then moved from place to place till the sheep became hot and tired. The shepherd constantly looked for green pastures and stilled waters. The green pastures and stilled waters were a place of rest, refreshment, and satisfaction.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,

Behold I freely give

The living water, thirsty one,

Stoop down, and drink and live.

Of that life-giving stream

My soul was quenched, my soul, survived

And now I live in Him. ¹

The Scripture says, he makes me lie down in green pastures. To lie down means the sheep are not afraid of an attack of a wild beast. Should a sheep wander off, the shepherd finds him and gently picks him up into his arms and restores him to his flock. A sheep was dependent on the care and presence of the shepherd. He restores our soul.

The last invitation in the Bible says,

The Spirit and the bride say, Come!

And let the one who hears say, Come!

Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelations 22:17).

The sheep are refreshed at the green pastures and still waters and they day-by-day follow the shepherd. The sheep can see only ten to fifteen yards ahead. The shepherd was not like a western cattleman who would drive his animals. Instead, he leads his sheep. Sometimes the path of a shepherd became rugged and perplexing, but the sheep would have no fear, for the shepherd goes before. The shepherd’s leading reminds me of the hymn He Leadeth me! O blessed thought! O words with heavenly comfort fraught! Whate’er I be, still tis God’s hand that Leadeth me. ²

The shepherd leads in paths of righteousness. He will lead us to correct paths of morality and Christ’s likeness, which develops character. The sheep is a helpless animal and cannot defend itself. The shepherd carries a