As mentioned in a previous post, I read the book, His Final Hours by Jeffrey Marsh recently and there were some amazing excerpts that I found very interesting and wonderful. This book is about Christ's life and His Atonement. I find it very fitting that I am studying the New Testament currently and that we are just finishing Christ's ministry in class. As Easter is approaching I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to grow closer to my Savior and focus on His life. I would recommend this book to all, it is only 115 pages or so and it is really great.
His Final Hours-Excerpts
The centerpiece of the plan of salvation
Each individual who tastes the sweet gift of forgiveness and experiences the inner peace made possible by the Atonement understands why the week of the atoning sacrifice is more important than all others. Even if a person has never heard of the Savior and does not know anything about him, it is nevertheless true that Christ’s final hours affect everyone. That is why every other event and every other moment pale in comparison to Christ’s marvelous sacrifice. It is the most transcendent of all events, “the most important single thing that has ever occurred in the entire history of created things; it is the rock foundation upon which the gospel and all other things rest.”
An invitation to join in the work
The Savior invites us to become saviors with him: “For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men.” The word ‘saviors’ in the verse is plural and not capitalized. It refers to the volunteer corps of latter-day Israelites who would help God accomplish his work. And that is our privilege. Imagine! We can, at God’s invitation, under his direction, and with his authority, help him accomplish his work. What an incredibly opportunity.
The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper Introduced
The Last Supper is called last because it was the last supper Jesus had as a mortal and, more important, because it was the final Passover to be recognized by God. A new ordinance had been introduced to take its place. And just as the Passover had pointed hearts and minds forward to the “great and last sacrifice” for the preceding four millennia, so the emblems of the sacrament would now point hearts and minds back to the events that occurred that night. The Passover signified deliverance from death; the sacrament signified new life. Truly the “hopes and fears of all the years” were met in him that night at the last Passover and the first sacrament of the Lamb of God.
The Garden of Gethsemane
The word Gethsemane comes from the Hebrew gath, “press” and shemen, “oil.” Gethsemane was a small olive grove with an olive press. Olive oil, used for healing, nutrition, light, and anointing, was extracted when the olives were subjected to immense pressure.. Here, in Gethsemane, the weight of all mortal sins-past, present, and future-pressed upon the perfect, sinless Messiah and the healing “balm of Gilead” was extracted from his soul. His name, Jesus the Christ, refers to his role as the Anointed One, for he was anointed before he was born to be the redeemer of all mankind. His atonement empowered him to pour oil over our wounds to heal us and give us “the oil of joy for mourning.” In Gethsemane, this place of pressing, Jesus was pressed down by the weight of the sins and sufferings of the world until his atonement blood, which provides us with healing, oozed from every pore. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows… He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” The olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane today are gnarled and twisted, as if bearing witness of the agony that took place there for us.
The First and Second Births Compared
The sacrifice of Christ, which provides second birth for all, has some significant spiritual parallels to the process of our first birth. Like the Atonement, childbirth is a miracle. The mother enters into a partnership with God in becoming the caretaker of the soul. It is a sacred experience, but it involves excruciating pain and travail. The sacrifice involves the presence of the Spirit and the shedding of blood and water. “Just as a mother’s body may be permanently marked with the signs of pregnancy and childbirth, [so the Savior] said, ‘I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.’ For both a mother and the Savior, those marks memorialize a wrenching sacrifice, the sacrifice of begetting life-for her, physical birth; for him, spiritual rebirth.” Everyone is mortality experiences the first birth. Everyone can experience a spiritual rebirth and must do so to enter the celestial kingdom.
The depth of the Savior’s suffering
Christ’s soul was “exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.” Had he been mortal and not a God, he would have been crushed by the immense depression and pain. His suffering was so great that he “fell on his face” on the ground.
There is no loneliness, grief, pain, or sin the Savior does not fully comprehend. He felt the pain of all these that he might know how to help those who suffer or who are tempted. His suffering filled him with mercy and empathy, and he knows how to compassionately succor us in the challenges we face. We can cast our cares upon the Lord because he is already familiar with them. Because he has carried our burdens, our hearts do not need to carry them anymore.
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| image: Carl Bloch |
The Atonement
He took upon him our infirmities that his bowels might be filled with mercy. “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” He knows how to sympathize with us in a highly personal way. His understanding of precisely how to help us could have come in no other way. He completely comprehends our personal circumstance, including all the trials we individually face-every heartache, sorrow, illness, and challenge. His empathy “is not merely a matter of detached intellectual familiarity. He helps us, hand over hand, because He understands personally that through which we pass. No wonder we should acknowledge His hand.”
Because the Savior “descended below all things,” he now has power over all things. Although Jesus never committed sin, he overcame all sin. In Gethsemane, he was subjected to more pain, temptation, and sorrow than any other moral has ever experienced, and he rose above it all. He knows how bad things are in our world, but he calmly reassures us: “In me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
The Arrest
When Christ announced to the soldiers “I am.” He was telling them he was Jehovah. It may have been the Spirit accompanying his declaration that caused all of them to fall to the ground… It was as if the Savior were saying to the soldiers, “I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself.” No armed mob, no band of soldiers could take his life. It was a freewill offering, offered only when he willed it.
Tried before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin
Blasphemy, which is falsely claiming the power of God, was the most serious charge in Jewish law. “One of the greatest ironies in history occurred, for Jesus, the divine Son of God, the one person who could not have been guilty of falsely assuming the power of God, was found guilty of blasphemy!...The only person since the fall of Adam who had power over physical death was condemned to die!”
He took upon him our infirmities that his bowels might be filled with mercy. “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” He knows how to sympathize with us in a highly personal way. His understanding of precisely how to help us could have come in no other way. He completely comprehends our personal circumstance, including all the trials we individually face-every heartache, sorrow, illness, and challenge. His empathy “is not merely a matter of detached intellectual familiarity. He helps us, hand over hand, because He understands personally that through which we pass. No wonder we should acknowledge His hand.”
Because the Savior “descended below all things,” he now has power over all things. Although Jesus never committed sin, he overcame all sin. In Gethsemane, he was subjected to more pain, temptation, and sorrow than any other moral has ever experienced, and he rose above it all. He knows how bad things are in our world, but he calmly reassures us: “In me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
The Arrest
When Christ announced to the soldiers “I am.” He was telling them he was Jehovah. It may have been the Spirit accompanying his declaration that caused all of them to fall to the ground… It was as if the Savior were saying to the soldiers, “I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself.” No armed mob, no band of soldiers could take his life. It was a freewill offering, offered only when he willed it.
Tried before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin
Blasphemy, which is falsely claiming the power of God, was the most serious charge in Jewish law. “One of the greatest ironies in history occurred, for Jesus, the divine Son of God, the one person who could not have been guilty of falsely assuming the power of God, was found guilty of blasphemy!...The only person since the fall of Adam who had power over physical death was condemned to die!”
Second appearance before Pilate
Even Pilate’s offer to have him chastised, meaning beaten with a whip, did not appease the bloodthirsty mob. So Pilate pointed out that it was common for him to release one prisoner at Passover and made an offer: “Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas (a murderer), or Jesus which is called Christ?” The chief priests “moved the people” and “persuaded the multitude” to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The people cried out all at once “Barabbas.” It is ironic that Barabbas (whose name in Aramaic means “son of the father”) was released from prison, but the true Son of the Father was condemned to death. Even this event bore witness of Christ’s atoning sacrifice: a sinful son of the Father was freed from death when the true Son of God was condemned. Similarly, we have broken the laws of God and are consigned to spiritual death, but the death of the Firstborn of the Father sets us free from the grasp of “this awful monster…, death and hell.”
He is scourged and mocked
He was scourged with a whip embedded with pieces of metal and jaded bone. The scourging alone was enough to take the life of most men. But the Savior was not yet ready to offer his life.
Enduring Irony
Injustices happen to all of us. But the events leading to the crucifixion of the Savior were filled with incredibly tragic and undeserved events. He endured more irony than we will ever experience. For example, Christ created the earth for us, placed it in an orbit that would sustain life, and gave it to us so that we might become like out Father in Heaven, yet when he was born on the earth, there was no room anywhere for him. He created the universe that surrounds us, including perhaps millions of planets like ours, yet some who study the heavens deny the very existence of a divine Creator. The “Big Bang Theory,” for instance, claims that the patterned and orderly universe began with a chance and random explosion rather than an intelligent and divine Creator’s hand-as if an explosion in a print shop could produce an orderly, complied dictionary! Christ has the brightest mind and keenest intellect-the Light of Christ enlightens every mind on earth-yet there seems to be little room in the intellect of many in today’s world for him and his teachings.
Statements on the cross
Lucifer always wants us to doubt who we are. He knows that hearts filled with doubt cannot exercise faith.
Darkness prevailed
Elder Bruce R McConkie wrote: “All of the anguish, all of the sorrow, and all of the suffering of Gethsemane recurred during the final three hours on the cross, the hours when darkness covered the land. Truly there was no sorrow like unto his sorrow, and no anguish and pain like unto that which bore such intensity upon him.”
His Death
The Father withdrew His spirit from His Son, at the time he was to be crucified. Jesus had been with his Father, talked with Him, dwelt in His bosom, and knew all about heaven, about making the earth, about the transgression of man, and what would redeem the people, and that he was the character who was to redeem the sons of earth, and the earth itself from all sin that had come upon it. The light, knowledge, power, and glory with which he was clothed were far above, or exceeded that of all others who had been upon the earth after the fall, consequently at the very moment, at the hour when the crisis came for him to offer up his life, the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, and cast a veil over him. That is what made him sweat blood. If he had had the power of God upon him, he would not have sweat blood; but all was withdrawn from him, and the veil was cast over him, and he then pled with the Father not to forsake him. ‘No.’ says the Father, ‘you must have your trials as well as others.’
We cannot stand by and listen to those cries without its touching out hearts…He had the power to save, and He loved His Son, and He could have saved Him…He looked on with great grief and agony over His Beloved Child, until there seems to have come a moment when even our Savior cried out in despair: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles…His great heart almost breaking for the love that He had for His Son. Oh, in that moment when He might have saved His Son, I thank Him and praise Him that He did not fail us… I rejoice that He did not interfere, and that His love for us made it possible for Him to endure to look upon the sufferings of His Only Begotten Son and give Him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. Without Him, without His sacrifice, we would have remained, and we would never have come glorified into his presence…This is what it cost, in part, for our Father in heaven to give the gift of His Son unto men.
This deprivation had never happened to Christ before-never. Yet thereby Jesus became a fully comprehending Christ, and thus He was enabled to be a fully succoring Savior. Moreover, even in the darkest hour, while feeling forsake, Jesus submitted Himself to the Father…reflecting his deep, divine determination.
When he had atoned for the sins of the world, Jesus died of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, having totally submitted to do all the will of his Father. He requires that same offering of us. To be born again and obtain a remission of sin requires us to offer a broken heart and a contrite spirit-a willingness to submit our will to the Father’s.
Statements on the cross
Lucifer always wants us to doubt who we are. He knows that hearts filled with doubt cannot exercise faith.
Darkness prevailed
Elder Bruce R McConkie wrote: “All of the anguish, all of the sorrow, and all of the suffering of Gethsemane recurred during the final three hours on the cross, the hours when darkness covered the land. Truly there was no sorrow like unto his sorrow, and no anguish and pain like unto that which bore such intensity upon him.”
His Death
The Father withdrew His spirit from His Son, at the time he was to be crucified. Jesus had been with his Father, talked with Him, dwelt in His bosom, and knew all about heaven, about making the earth, about the transgression of man, and what would redeem the people, and that he was the character who was to redeem the sons of earth, and the earth itself from all sin that had come upon it. The light, knowledge, power, and glory with which he was clothed were far above, or exceeded that of all others who had been upon the earth after the fall, consequently at the very moment, at the hour when the crisis came for him to offer up his life, the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, and cast a veil over him. That is what made him sweat blood. If he had had the power of God upon him, he would not have sweat blood; but all was withdrawn from him, and the veil was cast over him, and he then pled with the Father not to forsake him. ‘No.’ says the Father, ‘you must have your trials as well as others.’
We cannot stand by and listen to those cries without its touching out hearts…He had the power to save, and He loved His Son, and He could have saved Him…He looked on with great grief and agony over His Beloved Child, until there seems to have come a moment when even our Savior cried out in despair: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles…His great heart almost breaking for the love that He had for His Son. Oh, in that moment when He might have saved His Son, I thank Him and praise Him that He did not fail us… I rejoice that He did not interfere, and that His love for us made it possible for Him to endure to look upon the sufferings of His Only Begotten Son and give Him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. Without Him, without His sacrifice, we would have remained, and we would never have come glorified into his presence…This is what it cost, in part, for our Father in heaven to give the gift of His Son unto men.
This deprivation had never happened to Christ before-never. Yet thereby Jesus became a fully comprehending Christ, and thus He was enabled to be a fully succoring Savior. Moreover, even in the darkest hour, while feeling forsake, Jesus submitted Himself to the Father…reflecting his deep, divine determination.
When he had atoned for the sins of the world, Jesus died of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, having totally submitted to do all the will of his Father. He requires that same offering of us. To be born again and obtain a remission of sin requires us to offer a broken heart and a contrite spirit-a willingness to submit our will to the Father’s.
In the Spirit World
Any plan of salvation claiming to come from God would have to include provisions for all of his children. Why would he preclude any of them? The performance of proxy (vicarious) ordinances for deceased loved ones is essential to salvation. The Prophet Joseph Smith said that the work done in temples is the “most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel.” Our ancestors are depending on us to do their temple work. They cannot do it for themselves.
A testimony from the Spirit World “I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart. I believe in faith, and repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, but that is as far as I can go. I look to you as our head in this great work.”
The resurrection and reunion with the Father
Can you imagine what it must have been like for God, who had to leave his Son alone without his Spirit on the cross three days earlier, now to greet him? What must this reunion between the Father and Son have been like? How great was their anticipation to see one another and be with one another again? When they met, how long would they have embraced? How long would it have been before the Father spoke? And what could he have said to his Beloved Son to express his immense love? Can you picture… the reuniting of the Father with his Son? That is precisely what the Atonement makes possible: a reuniting with the Father. Because of what Christ did for us in his final hours, it is now possible for all mankind-everyone who so desires-to return to the Father’s presence. The reunion in the resurrection will include families and friends, but most important, it will be a reunion with our Eternal Father. Our Father in Heaven, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, looks forward to our return. He stands ready, with open arms, to greet us.
The reality of Christ’s resurrection
In the resurrection, the blessings of God will be so great that we will no longer worry about any of the trials we endured in mortality: “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there by any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
I know that my Redeemer lives lyrics
I know that my Redeemer lives;
When comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives, who once was dead;
He lives, my ever living head.
He lives to bless me with His love,
He lives to plead for me above,
He lives my hungry soul to feed,
He lives to bless in time of need.
He lives to grant me rich supply,
He lives to guide me with His eye,
He lives to comfort me when faint,
He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.
He lives to silence all my fears,
He lives to wipe away my tears,
He lives to calm my troubled heart,
He lives, all blessings to impart.
He lives, my kind, wise, heav’nly friend,
He lives, and loves me to the end,
He lives, and while He lives I’ll sing,
He lives, my Prophet, Priest and King.
He lives, and grants me daily breath,
He lives, and I shall conquer death,
He lives, my mansion to prepare,
He lives, to bring me safely there.
He lives, all glory to His name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same;
O the sweet joy this sentence gives,
“I know that my Redeemer lives.”
He lives, all glory to His name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same;
O the sweet joy this sentence gives,
“I know that my Redeemer lives!” Thou hast done wonderful things
The blessings of the Atonement eclipse everything we have ever seen, heard of, or imagined in this life. It is the greatest of all the gifts of God. Partaking of it will make us happy and fill us with a desire to share that gift with everyone we know. There is simply nothing on this earth or in all human history to compare with what Christ did for us in his final hours. “To ignore him, is the great form of ingratitude. To fail to obey him is the greatest of all mistakes. To follow him and to serve him is the greatest happiness.”
Thou hast done wonderful things
“Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden…For he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doesth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth 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, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”
Thou hast done wonderful things
“Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden…For he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doesth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth 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, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”
Besides opening the door to eternal life, the Savior is the source of spiritual strength. He is our eternal Hope and our immediate Help.
I Stand All Amazed lyrics
I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
[Chorus]
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!
I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.
I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.
Becoming Perfect
And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.
To be like Christ! What an ambitious goal! What a lofty ideal! The Savior had a pleasing personality, he was kind, he was pleasant, he was understanding, he never went off on tangents, he was perfectly balanced, No eccentricities could be found in his life. Here was no ostentation and show, but he was real and humble and genuine. He made no play for popularity. He made no compromises to gain favor. He did the right thing always, regardless of how it might appeal to men. He drew all good people to him as a magnet.
You will find your greatest example in the Son of God. I hope that each of you will make Him your friend. I hope you will strive to walk in His paths, extending mercy, blessing those who struggle, living with less selfishness, reaching out to others.
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.
Becoming Perfect
And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.
To be like Christ! What an ambitious goal! What a lofty ideal! The Savior had a pleasing personality, he was kind, he was pleasant, he was understanding, he never went off on tangents, he was perfectly balanced, No eccentricities could be found in his life. Here was no ostentation and show, but he was real and humble and genuine. He made no play for popularity. He made no compromises to gain favor. He did the right thing always, regardless of how it might appeal to men. He drew all good people to him as a magnet.
You will find your greatest example in the Son of God. I hope that each of you will make Him your friend. I hope you will strive to walk in His paths, extending mercy, blessing those who struggle, living with less selfishness, reaching out to others.
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