Over two thousand years ago, a man walked the earth whose influence and powerful example of love and service have
been the insipiration of millions upon millions since. So important was His birth that cultures all over the world
now mark time in relation to that pivotal event. His coming was prophesied by prophets who came before Him; His virtue
and glory were boldly declared by prophets who have come since. He was called, "Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty
God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (
Isaiah 9:6). He was the obedient Only Begotten Son of the Father, who submitted Himself willingly to the will of the Father to be a
propitiation for our sins. It was He who declared in agony of soul that only a God could bear, "Father, if thou be willing, remove
this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done".(
Luke 22:42) He suffered and bled at every pore as the full weight of the sins of the world pressed down upon him in Gethsemane,
and later declared of that pain:
For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent. But if they would
not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of
pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit - and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and
shrink- Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. (see D+C 19)
Betrayed with a kiss, by one of His closest associates, He was brought before the most solemn mockery of justice the
world has ever known and ultimately condemned to die, though the most powerful officiating officer of the law in the case
could find no fault in Him.
He walked the lonley road to calvary, the weight of the cruel cross beam bearing down upon His beaten, trembling,
and bloodied body; a crown of thorns upon His brow in mocking tribute to His claims of Divine authority. In so doing
He fulfilled the prophetic declarations uttered hundreds of years before by Isaiah:
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces
from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he copened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he
openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:3-7)
Arriving at the place of execution, nails were driven through His hands, wrists and feet and He hung there in slow suffocation
for hours amidst the jeers and taunts of His persecutors. Bearing the heavy burden of the penalty for the sins of
the world upon Him, the Father withdrew from Him, allowing Him to have the ultimate victory Himself, but causing Him in that
moment to exclaim, "My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?" (
Mark 15:34) Mustering the breath for a personal prayer, He uttered the oft quoted words of supernal mercy: "Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do" (
Luke 23:24). Looking upon the disciple whom He loved and seeing his dear mother by His side, He counseled lovingly: "Woman, behold thy
son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!" (
John 19:26)
After a time of further suffering, having accomplished the mission He was sent to fulfill on this earth, He turned
His eyes heavenward and declared: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit...It is finished" (see
Luke 23 and
John 19). Then he died.
His name is Jesus Christ.
He did it for you.
He was taken by those who loved, followed and revered Him as their Lord and Savior. And He was buried amidst tears
of utter despair.
Their Lord was gone. Their leader, their truest friend and companion in life - their Messiah - was dead. Uncertainty
and fear crept in. What were they to do?
On the morning of the third day, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and several other women
(
Luke 24) were the first to the tomb, and finding it empty and the stone rolled away from the entrance, were perplexed.
Angels appeared to them and declared:
Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified,
and the third day rise again.(ibid. verses 5-7)
(
sources for all of the details cited below may be found by comparing Luke 24 with John 20)
At first the Apostles were dubious when the women told them all the things they had seen and heard, but Peter and
John went themselves to the tomb and saw that the door was indeed open and the burial linens were neatly laid aside.
They left Mary Magdalene by herself at that point and returned to their homes wondering about the meaning
of these things. Another person of whom they had not been aware, however, was also in the garden and asked
Mary: "Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?" To whom she replied, thinking it was the gardener, "Sir, If thou have
borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him and I will take him away." (
John 20:15-16) At that point Jesus, speaking only her name, revealed His true identity and she turned to look with awe upon
the resplendent sight of her risen Lord. She rose to embrace Him, but He cautioned her, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended
to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father;and to my God, and your God."
(ibid. verse 17) It was she who bore the good news to His dispairing and confused Apostles.
Two other disciples, as they were walking on the road to Emmaus, were visited by Jesus, but at first they did not
recognize Him because their eyes were restrained from that priviledge. Jesus tarried with them and strengthened
them, and when He broke bread with them over the meal, they recognized Him, and he vanished. When all of the Apostles but
Thomas (and Judas who was lost) were gathered in secret. Jesus appeared to them in that place hidden from the world
saying, "Peace be unto you", confirming the testimony of Mary that He had indeed risen from the dead. Seeing that they
were afraid, and understanding their fear to be linked to the belief that they were seeing a ghost, He declared
the reality of His physical resurrection from the dead, and said:
Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle
me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (
Luke 24:38-40)
As a further witness of His physical reality, He ate food with them and then He declared to the Apostles the
great role that they would play as His special witnesses to the world:
Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power
from on high...as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. (
Luke 24:46-49 and
John 20:21)
With those words of counsel He breathed on them and invited them to receive the Holy Ghost; a gift of which Peter
later testified on the day of Pentecost (
Acts 2 see verses 37-38 in particular). A short time after this initial visit, doubting Thomas would also come to see Him and
be led to declare of Him without hesitation, "My Lord and my God" (
John 20: 28).
He visted with the disciples several more times and continued to be the head of the Church after He departed into
heaven, "working with them, and confirming the word with signs following"(
Mark 16: 20). He was seen by over five hundred people after his resurrection (
1 Corinthians 15:6). He was seen by his other sheep (
John 10: 16), who he declared would hear his voice and there would be one fold and one shepherd (
3 Nephi 15: 17, 21). He was seen by the Prophet Joseph Smith and his counselor Sidney Rigdon who declared His divinity and the reality of His
resurrection:
And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which
we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that
he is the Only Begotten of the Father - That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created,
and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. (
D+C 76)
He has been seen by others who hold this supernal experience close to their hearts while declaring boldly of
His reality to all the world.
He is Jesus Christ, our Great Redeemer, our Only Hope of salvation in the Kingdom of God, the beloved Only Begotten of
the Father who laid his own life down to become the offering for our sins. He alone paid the price for sin that we could
never pay ourselves. He alone conquered that "awful monster...death and hell" (
2 Nephi 9: 10, 19, 26) so that one day we could all stand before Him in a glorified, resurrected body and be "judged according to the
deeds which have been done in the mortal body"(
Alma 5: 15). He it was who declared:
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without
me ye can do nothing...If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered; and men gather them and cast
them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall
be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruitl; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath
loved me, so I have loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have
kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you,
and that your joy might be full. (see
John 15)
Oh how wise we are when we accept His invitation and keep His commandments that we might abide in Him! How blessed our
lives are when we would make room for him and let him in! The nearer we are to Jesus and our Father in Heaven in
our lives, the greater our happiness in this life and in the world to come. The greater and more numerous the obstacles
are that we place between ourselves and the redeeming power of Jesus' Atonement, the greater our unhappiness in this life
and in the world to come. What life, what Joy, what glory we have in Jesus! What greater gift could our Father in heaven have
offered us than the gift of Eternal life provided through his Son? How much we have to be thankful for if we have availed
ourselves of the saving grace of Jesus through faith in His name and obedience to the principles and ordinances of His
Gospel!
How poignant are the words of the beloved Hymn He Died! The Great Redeemer Died penned by Isaac Watts:
He died! The great Redeemer died,
And Israel's daughters wept around.
A solemn darkness veiled the sky;
A sudden trembling shook the ground.
Come, Saints, and drop a tear or two
For him who groaned beneath your load;
He shed a thousand drops for you,
A thousand drops of precious blood.
Here's love and grief beyond degree;
The Lord of glory died for men.
But lo! what sudden joys were heard!
The Lord, though dead, revived again.
The rising Lord forsook the tomb.
In vain the tomb forbade him rise.
Cherubic legions guard him home
And shout him welcome to the skies.
And to those who have not yet invited Jesus Christ to fully abide in their lives, he has promised - and
I testify from personal experience that what he has promised is true:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh with I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame
and am set down with my father in his throne. (
Revelation 3:20-21)
Let Him in! He paid the price for you so that you might return to Him and to your Father in Heaven. He has said, "Come
unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price." (
2 Nephi 26:25). Always remember that "...he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto
the children of men; and he invitedth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come
unto him, black and white, bond and free, make and female; and remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew
and Gentile" (ibid. verse 33).
If you desire forgiveness in this life and the world to come; If you desire to know with a surety that Jesus Christ is
indeed your Savior and Redeemer; If you desire to know the true nature of God's greatest gift to the world, He has told us
how to start:
Ask and He will give it to you,
Seek Him and you will find Him,
Sincere, humble, and heartfelt prayer is the first step to a journey of faith that will lead us and those we love
safely back to an Eternal Home. Call out to your Father in the name of Jesus Christ. Invite Him to take the helm!
Have faith. Repent of your sins, acknowledge your weaknesses. There is no dark corner of your life He can't see,
and He wants a relationship with you even still. He sees your heart. All your hopes. All your fears. All your longing to be
better than you are. He wants to make more of your life than you could ever make of it yourself. Claim the mercy and forgiveness that
He has won for you through the shedding of his own precious blood! Be baptized in his name by one having authority and
receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Be cleansed and sanctified through these ordinances and receive
a new heart that causes you to sing the song of redeeming love (see
Alma 5). Then continue faithful to the end...
And He will be with you always, even unto the end of the world. (see
Matt. 28: 20)
If you would like to learn more about Jesus Christ and the Church He has restored to the Earth, and begin a personal
relationship with God, click here.
