Mormon Life - Atonement tag

Improving sacrament reverence

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:07:00 -0600

source: deseretnews.com

For leaders who want to improve sacrament meeting reverence, consider pointing congregations to the Last Supper. Reverence is a matter of the heart and not a to-do list. When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints allow the spirit of the Last Supper to sink deeply into their hearts, reverence for God’s sacrament meeting will blossom.

A "sacrament" from the Latin sacramentum means to "set aside for a holy purpose." It is "a spiritual covenant between God and man," according to Elder Bruce R. McConkie in “Mormon Doctrine.”

As parents and leaders remind those within their stewardship to set themselves aside for holy purposes, the desire to draw closer to Jesus Christ during his sacred sacrament will become the prime motivation.

Reader Voices: Unemployment and the Atonement

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:22:00 -0700

source: deseretnews.com

His eyes were near tears. His voice wavered. He had been unemployed for some time. And, as the ward employment specialist, I was there to help him.

Today was a down day. He looked at me. "You got to give me hope." he plead.

I sighed and told him, "I can't give you hope. That's beyond my power."

Book of Mormon Lesson 3: The Vision of the Tree of Life

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:05:00 -0700

by Ted L. Gibbons
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Lehi had a remarkable dream about the tree of life - a dream filled with symbols easily applied to the life of a disciple. Learning what they mean is invaluable.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

It is not the book's dramatic crises, its history, its narrative that are so important, but its power to transform men into Christlike beings worthy of exaltation.

(Spencer W. Kimball, Conference Report, April 1963, p.67)

INTRODUCTION:

The Lord has often taught his servants by means of inspired dreams. Some of the most remarkable revelations in the scriptures have come in the form of dreams. Consider the following accounts and try to identify the person who had the dream from which each is taken. Then try to identify the meaning of the symbols in each dream.

Rolling stone that filled the earth (Daniel 2:34)

A ladder (stairway) ascending into heaven (Genesis 28:12)

Seven fat cows (kine) (Genesis 41:2)

Unclean animals lowered from heaven in a great sheet (Acts 10:11-15)

Eleven bowing sheaves of corn (Genesis 37:7)

An iron rod (1 Nephi 8:19)

In 1 Nephi 8, the prophet Lehi had a remarkable dream filled with symbols that are easily applied to our own lives. If you have one available, look at a picture of Lehi's dream and identify the symbols contained therein. Can you name the symbols and their meanings?

• A dark and dreary waste

• a large and spacious field

• a tree

• the fruit of the tree

• a path

• an iron rod

• a river

• a great and spacious building

Each of these symbols will apply to the life of a disciple. Learning what they mean is worth a great effort!

1. THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF LIFE IS THE LOVE OF GOD AND IS THE MOST DESIRABLE OF ALL THINGS. 1Nephi 8:4-18; 11:8,9,22,23; 15:36; Alma 32:42; Alma 36:24.

How does Lehi introduce the dream to his family? What is Lehi's major concern as he begins to recount his dream? (1 Nephi 8:1-4) It is as though Lehi had had an experience something like this: I had a dream and saw four doors in heaven, one of gold, one of silver, one of brass, and one that appeared to be a black hole. It was making a sucking sound. The whole family went though the gold door, except you son. You went in the black hole. I'm concerned about your spiritual welfare.

Where is Lehi when his dream begins? (8:4-8) What does this dark and dreary waste suggest to you? (Could it be life without the fruit of the tree or the love of God?) What does Lehi see in 1 Nephi 8:10? This seems to be desert imagery. Lehi, who was certainly a desert traveler is describing a wilderness in which he finds an oasis, with water and a fruit tree--a date palm, perhaps. The fruit of the tree represents the love of God (see 1 Nephi 11:22-25). What is the greatest manifestation of the love of God? (John 3:16)

The fruit of the tree of life is described in the scriptures with eight different phrases. Find and mark these descriptive phrases in your own scriptures. The phrases follow:

A. Sweet above all (8:11)

B. White to exceed all whiteness (8:11)

C. Desirable above all other fruit (8:12)

D. Beauty . . . far beyond . . . exceeding of all beauty (11:8)

E. Precious above all (11:9)

F. Most joyous to the soul (11:23)

g. Pure above all that is pure (Alma 32:42)

H. Greatest of all the gifts of God (1 Nephi 15:36)

What do all these phrases have in common? They are all superlatives. They refer to something that is better than anything else like it. They teach us that this is the best fruit we could possibly eat. What will happen to us as we partake of this fruit which is the love of God? (1 Nephi 8:10,12) Can you remember an experience when you have experienced this in your own life?

Once we have partaken of the fruit, what is the natural response? (1 Nephi 8:13-17; see also Alma's attitude in Alma 36:24--to share; to invite others to partake also.) The most beautiful sunset I have ever seen I saw while driving alone on the Mogollon Rim in northeastern Arizona. I stopped the car and got out and gaped. I remember how desperately I wanted my wife and family to see it. But I was alone . . .

Lehi teaches us that one of a father's responsibilities is to invite family members to partake.

2. THE ROD OF IRON IS THE WORD OF GOD AND LEADS US IN A DIRECT COURSE TO THE TREE OF LIFE. (1 Nephi 8:19-24,30;11:25;15:23,24; Hel.3:29,30)

What does Lehi see in 1 Nephi 8:19, 20? What does the rod of iron represent? 1 Nephi 11:25; 15:23-24) What are the sources of the word of God? (Scriptures, prophets, the Holy Spirit) Read 1 Nephi 8:19-20 and identify the three things the rod of iron can do for us.

A. It extended along the bank of the river. It serves as a protection to keep us out of the river of filthy water.

B. It led to the tree. It directs us to the love of God.

C. I beheld a strait and narrow path which came along by the rod of iron. The rod keeps us on the strait and narrow path while we journey to the tree.

How does the word of God (the rod) keep us on the strait and narrow path as we journey to the tree? (See Helaman 3:29)

If someone chooses to leave the rod and the path, what other roads does the dream indicate that they might they then walk?

A. Forbidden - 1 Nephi 8:28

B. Strange - 1 Nephi 8:32

C. Broad - 1 Nephi 12:17

How we might recognize that we are following forbidden, strange, or broad roads. What are the consequences of choosing to follow other paths than the strait and narrow?

3. THE MISTS OF DARKNESS ARE THE TEMPTATIONS OF SATAN AND ARE DESIGNED TO BLIND OUR EYES AND HARDEN OUR HEARTS. (1 Nephi 8:23,31;12:17)

What does Lehi see in 1 Nephi 8:23? What do the mists of darkness represent? What is the effect of the mists of darkness on the children of men? (1 Nephi 12:17) What does John 12:35 suggest about the danger of these mists?

Why would Satan want our eyes to be blinded? What are the things in the dream he does not want us to see?

A. The tree. Why would Satan not want us to see the tree and the fruit? What experiences in peoples lives may cause them to be blinded to the love of God? Why would failure to perceive the love of God cause us to harden our hearts?

B. The rod of iron. Why would Satan not want us to see the rod of iron? When you cannot see the tree, what must you do to make sure you are still moving toward it? What are the mists of darkness of today that cause people not to heed the word of God, the Spirit, the prophets or the scriptures?

C. The river of filthy water. Why would Satan not want us to see the river of filthy water? How does Satan today blind people to the consequences of letting go of the rod and leaving the strait and narrow path? How is Lucifer able to get people to ignore the obvious consequences of straying from the path and breaking the Lords commandments?

Compare the words that describe those who hold to the rod and those who let go. Those who let go of the rod wandered (1 Nephi 8:23,32) They also went forward feeling their way. (1 Nephi 8:31) Those who held to the rod, meanwhile, were pressing forward. (1 Nephi 24,30) We are taught that they caught hold and went forward clinging. (1 Nephi 8:24,30)

The gospel gives us direction and something firm to hold on to. What evidence is there that many people wander aimlessly in their lives without anything firm to hold on to? Elder Featherstone spoke of this firmness in his talk in October Conference. He said:

Doesn't it make you deeply grateful to belong to a church with apostles and prophets at the head--knowing that one link will always hold, one light will never go out? As the world moves deeper and deeper into sin, this wonderful Church stands like a giant granite boulder.

Aren't you proud that the Church teaches us the truth? We don't have to wonder about earrings for boys and men, tattoos, spiked hair, the four-letter words, and obscene gestures. We have prophets who model the standards. They teach that the Ten Commandments are not outdated. The word of the Lord has thundered down through the generations: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (Ex. 20:7). Profaning God's name is a great offense to the Spirit, and to do so is Satan's great ploy to mock our God. . . .

Beloved youth, aren't you thankful to God that the apostles and prophets never waver on sin? No matter how strong the winds of public opinion may blow, the Church is immovable. "God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife." (Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, Conf. Report, October 1999)

4. THE GREAT AND SPACIOUS BUILDING REPRESENTS PRIDE AND THE VAIN THINGS OF THE WORLD THAT ARE DESIGNED TO DRAW US AWAY FROM THE PATH (1 Nephi 8:25-34; 12:18)

What does Lehi see in 1 Nephi 8:26? What does the great and spacious building represent? (1 Nephi 11:36; 12:18) If the tree, the rod and the river are obscured, what are people left to seek in the dream?

Mists, of course, cling to the ground. Perhaps this is the reason for the building being in the air, high above the earth. (1 Nephi 8:26) Those who cannot see horizontally through the mists can always see the building. (1 Nephi 8:26,27,33) Perhaps the following verse offers some additional understanding about the building being in the air.

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (Eph. 2:2, emphasis added)

Note that the attraction of the building is so strong that it even draws some of those who have already tasted the fruit of the tree (see 1 Nephi 8:28) which is the most desirable above all things. (1 Nephi 11:22)

What counsel does Lehi give to help us avoid the great attraction of the building? (1 Nephi 8:33.34) Note: The word heed does not mean to obey, but rather to regard with care, to take notice of, to pay attention to, to consider, or to observe. What is the great and spacious building today? What things about the great and spacious building make is so attractive even to some who have partaken of the love of God?

I have a feeling that the great and spacious building shines in its most resplendent form in places like the Strip in Las Vegas. I have a friend who told me with a straight face that driving through that area made him feel like a trout. How many have succumbed to the brightness of Lucifers lures and been reeled in and placed in the adversary's creel. Movie marquees, music videos, and the glass and steel towers of the Las Vegas Casinos sometimes have the attributes of this enormous structure.

5. THE RIVER OF FILTHY WATER IS A REPRESENTATION OF THAT AWFUL HELL . . . THAT IS WAITING TO DROWN THOSE WHO WANDER FROM THE PATH. (1 Nephi 8:25-34; 12:18)

What does Lehi see in 1 Nephi 8:13? What does Nephi notice about the river that Lehi did not see? (1 Nephi 15:27) What does the river represent? (1 Nephi 15:26-35the depths of hell) Does the river represent temporal or spiritual realities? (Both. See 1 Nephi 15:31,32) If you are teaching, you might invite the class to identify some of the ways in which people drown in the depths of the fountain or river in mortality. In this context, note the following from Henry B. Eyring:

Let's talk for moment about the way in which filth is presented . . . . I am talking about the advertising . . . as you watched the beer commercials, did you notice the people drinking? I have never seen such clean-cut, hard-working, patriotic, good folk in a long time . . . I use that only as one example, If you turn on your television and watch some of the videos that go with the rock music, you will see how evil is presented by Satan. It is presented incessantly and attractively. It doesnt even look like a sea of filth to the young people who are swimming in it. In fact, they may not even be swimming, because the presentation is so incessant and so attractive that they may not notice that there is a need to swim. (Elder Henry B. Eyring,C.E.S. Religious Educators Symposium Booklet, 1984, p. 9)

6. THE NUMBERLESS CONCOURSES OF PEOPLE REPRESENT ALL MANKIND AND MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO LOCATE OURSELVES AMIDST THE SYMBOLS. (1 Nephi 8:21-33)

Take some time to identify the four groups of people mentioned in the dream. Compare the characteristics of each of the groups. You will find an interesting comparison between these groups and the four groups in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.

Group 1 (1 Nephi 8:21-23) What characteristics define this group?
Group 2: (1 Nephi 8:24-28) What characteristics define this group?
Group 3: (1 Nephi 8:30,33) What characteristics define this group?
Group 4: (1 Nephi 8:31-33) What characteristics define this group?

One of the interesting facts about this dream is that everyone can find him or herself in it. Take the time to find yourself. Where would Lehi have seen you? In the building (heaven forbid!)? On the path? Under the tree?

CONCLUSION:

There are four words in this dream that give imperative instructions about our relationship with the rod, the path, and the tree. They all begin with the letter c. The words are:

commence (1 Nephi 8:22)

catch hold (1 Nephi 8:24)

cling (1 Nephi 8:24)

continue (1 Nephi 8:30).

I testify that this is Lehis counsel for those of us who want to experience the Love of God with our families and fellow men. We must accept the ordinances of initiation (baptism, confirmation) and commence in the path.

Immediately thereafter, we must catch hold of the rod. If we begin in the path but neglect the security of the scriptures and the words of living prophets, the mists of darkness will certainly conceal our destination and confuse our efforts. But catching hold will not suffice. We are told in other places about floods (3 Nephi 14:25), about wind and rain (D&C 90:4), and about mighty winds and shafts in the whirlwind (Hel. 5:12).

We must cling to the rod. I tried out a rope swing once, when I had a broken rib. I had forgotten about the rib. Preceding days of pain had taught me a great deal of unconscious caution. I hardly dared to breath deep. But my Scouts had found a long rope swing in a grand tree near a towering waterfall. I was able to get to appropriate branch of the tree and grab the rope without thinking of what would happen when I hung all my weight on my arms and stretched those intercostal muscles around my rib cage. And so I picked up my feet and swung. The pain was like a lance in my side. I cried out in agony. But I was over the rocks 20 feet below. And so, in spite of terrible pain, I required of myself to cling to the rope until I was safely over the pool at the base of the waterfall. In that same way we must cling to the rod until we are safe.

And then we must continue. We must attend our meetings and we must attend to our duties. We must press forward until we arrive at the tree and partake of the fruit. No amount of effort will be sufficient if we leave the path before we partake of the fruit.

Young Women Lesson 2: Jesus Christ, the Savior

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:03:00 -0700

source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: "Our understanding of and faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ will provide strength and capacity needed for a successful life." -Richard G. Scott

Discussion Questions

• What would you say to someone who does not believe Latter-day Saints are Christians?

• In what ways can we show our gratitude for the Savior’s atoning sacrifice?

Excerpt from "He Lives! All Glory to His Name!" Elder Richard G. Scott, April 2010 General Conference:

It is Easter morning, that holy day designated throughout all Christendom to commemorate the victory of Jesus Christ over death. His Resurrection broke what to that point had been the unyielding chains of death. He opened the path whereby each of Heavenly Father’s children born to earth would have the opportunity to rise from death to live again.

How our Father in Heaven must have rejoiced that sacred day when His totally obedient, completely worthy Son shattered the chains of death. What eternal purpose would our Father’s plan of happiness have had except it be made alive through the infinite and eternal Atonement of His gloriously obedient Son? What eternal purpose would have come from the Creation of the earth, where intelligences tabernacled with spirits would receive a body, if death were the end of existence and none would be resurrected? What a glorious moment that morning was for all who understood its significance.

Easter is that sacred season when the heart of each devout Christian turns in humble gratitude to our beloved Savior. It is a season that should bring peace and joy to all who love Him and show it by obeying His commandments. Easter brings thoughts of Jesus, His life, His Atonement, His Resurrection, His love. He has risen from the dead “with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2; 3 Nephi 25:2). Oh, how we all need that healing the Redeemer can provide. Mine is a message of hope based on principles embodied in the teachings of the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can understand more fully the breadth and depth of healing provided by His Atonement because we have the fulness of His doctrine. We realize that what He has willingly done with immense suffering and sacrifice will affect us not only in this life but throughout all eternity.

This Easter, as you remember the Resurrection and the price paid and the gift given through the Atonement, ponder what the scriptures teach of those sacred events. Your personal witness of their reality will be strengthened. They must be more than principles you memorize. They must be woven into the very fiber of your being as a powerful bulwark against the rising tide of abomination that infects our world.

To read the full talk, click here.

FHE: Seeking Forgiveness

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:12:00 -0700

by Shauna Gibby
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: "When we sin, Satan tells us we are lost. In contrast, our Redeemer offers redemption to all—no matter what we have done wrong—even to you and to me." -C. Scott Grow

Conference Talk:
For more information on this topic read “The Miracle of the Atonement,” by C. Scott Grow, Ensign, May 2011, 108.

Thought:
When we sin, Satan tells us we are lost. In contrast, our Redeemer offers redemption to all—no matter what we have done wrong—even to you and to me.

(C. Scott Grow, “The Miracle of the Atonement,” Ensign, May 2011, 108.)

Song:
“Help Me, Dear Father,” Children’s Songbook, p. 99.

Scripture:
Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them. (Doctrine and Covenants 58:42-43)

Object Lesson:
Materials Needed: A doormat.

Procedure: Display the doormat. Point out that it is put in front of the door to let those who enter wipe the dirt and debris from their feet so they will not soil the inside of the home.

Liken the doormat to repentance. Repentance enables us to remove the things from our lives that are not clean. Explain further that unless we cleanse our lives of such debris, we will not be allowed into our Father’s house.

(Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, Object Lessons Made Easy, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010], p. 75.)

Story:
While preparing my talk for this conference, I received a shocking phone call from my father. He said that my younger brother had died that morning in his sleep. I was heartbroken. He was only 51 years old. As I thought about him, I felt impressed to share with you some events from his life. I do so with permission.

As a youth my brother was handsome, friendly, and outgoing―totally dedicated to the gospel. After serving an honorable mission, he married his sweetheart in the temple. They were blessed with a son and a daughter. His future was full of promise.

But then he gave in to a weakness. He chose to live a hedonistic lifestyle, which cost him his health, his marriage, and his membership in the Church.

He moved far from home. He continued his self-destructive behavior for more than a decade, but the Savior had not forgotten or abandoned him. Eventually the pain of his despair allowed a spirit of humility to enter his soul. His feelings of anger, rebellion, and militancy began to dissipate. Like the prodigal son, “he came to himself.”1 He began to reach out to the Savior and to make his way back home and to faithful parents who never gave up on him.

He walked the path of repentance. It wasn’t easy. After being out of the Church for 12 years, he was rebaptized and received again the gift of the Holy Ghost. His priesthood and temple blessings were eventually restored.

He was blessed to find a woman who was willing to overlook the ongoing health challenges from his prior lifestyle, and they were sealed in the temple. Together they had two children. He served faithfully in the bishopric for several years.

My brother died on Monday morning, March 7. The previous Friday evening he and his wife attended the temple. On Sunday morning, the day before he died, he taught the priesthood lesson in his high priests group. He went to bed that evening, never to awaken again in this life―but to come forth in the resurrection of the just.

I am grateful for the miracle of the Atonement in the life of my brother. The Savior’s Atonement is available to each of us—always.

(C. Scott Grow, “The Miracle of the Atonement,” Ensign, May 2011, 108.)

Activity:
One of the group leaves the room. While he is out, the other members of the group choose an object in the room which is in plain sight. The person returns to the room and guesses what the object is. For instance, he might say, “I guess that it is the piano.” The group does not tell him whether his guess is right or wrong at this point. He must go on and ask a question to try to verify his guess. He may ask any question about size, position in the room, color, texture, etc. For example if he wishes to check whether or not it is the piano, he would ask, “Is it more than four feet long?” If the answer is “No,” he knows it is not the piano and says, “I’ve made a mistake.” When he says this the family tries to help him by giving him a clue to guide him. He then makes another guess but is not told whether he is right or wrong until he asks a question to check his guess. If he is wrong again he says, “I’ve made a mistake,” and he gets another clue. Again he must ask a question. If he is wrong at the end of three guesses, the group will tell him what the object is.

The purpose of the game is to emphasize the idea that saying “I’ve made a mistake” brings benefits; for instance in this case the benefits are the clues given by the group to help him. If he fails to say, “I’ve made a mistake” when he has guessed wrong, his turn is over. If his guess is right, he should be told so at the end of his question. Allow each member to have a turn going out of the room and coming back to guess an object.

(Alma Heaton, The LDS Game Book, [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968], p. 46.)

Refreshment
Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

1 quart blueberry yogurt
1 quart peach yogurt
1 quart raspberry yogurt
1 16-ounce box muselix cereal
4 cups raspberries
4 cups strawberries, quartered
4 cups blueberries
Raspberries, for garnish
Mint sprigs, for garnish

In tall parfait- style glasses alternate yogurt, muselix cereal, and berries to fill each glass. Garnish top with whole raspberries and a sprig of mint. Makes 20 parfaits.

(Lion House Weddings, [Salt Lake City: Eagle Gate, 2003], p. 63.)

To get to PDF version of this lesson, click here.

New Testament Lesson 36: "Beloved of God, Called to Be Saints"

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:02:00 -0600

by Ted L. Gibbons
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: We have got to do something, change the settings, to merit mercy. It is for this change that Paul is pleading.

INTRODUCTION:

Many years ago I found myself under an obligation to attend the Infantry Officers Basic Course (IOBC) at Fort Benning, Georgia, in preparation for time I would spend serving in the United States Army. I spent six weeks learning leadership and military skills and playing military games in the swamps and hills of western Georgia and eastern Alabama. My final week I spent in bivouac, practicing marksmanship and other outdoor skills. The final activity of the course, which came at the end of a truly miserable week of intermittent rains, filthy clothes, sweat and accumulating body odors, was what our leaders called the "Infiltration Course."

We marched to a large, flat field and were invited to sit in the bleachers on the north and survey the facility. The Army had cleared and leveled a slightly elevated area of perhaps three acres. At the east end of this dirt covered expanse was a retaining wall, eight or nine feet high. Ladders provided access to the top of the wall, which was on the same level with the field. The flatness of the ground was gouged in many places by shallow pits. Across the west end of the area were eight short towers. In each was a M-60 machine gun, positioned to fire live ammunition back and forth across the level expanse before them. These towers marked the end of the infiltration course. "When you pass the gun towers, you are finished with the course," we were informed.

Once it was dark, our assignment would be to scale the ladders at the back of the infiltration course, and low-crawl across the field toward the guns while they fired live ammunition over our heads. "Every eighth round will be a tracer round," we were told, "so you will be able to see where the firing is as it traverses the area. The guns each fire between eight hundred and one thousand rounds per minute. For every tracer you see, there will be seven rounds you won't see."

"How high?" we wanted to know.

"Hard to say," Sergeant Redd responded with a smirk. "Why don't you stand up and check it for me when you are out there."

"What are the circular pits for?" another asked.

"Explosives," was the reply. "In an actual combat situation, your efforts to infiltrate a fortified position such as the one represented by the guns, would certainly be hindered by artillery and mortar fire. Random explosions in the pits will simulate that part of the experience."

Our discussions and questions continued and our dread increased until darkness fell. But in the half hour before our "assault" began, the heavens opened. We realized in an instant that the rain showers we had experienced during the previous week were nothing more than a prelude for the actual performance, which we now witnessed. Sheets of water cascaded from the skies while thunder blasted and lightning crashed through the gathering darkness. It was a rain storm of stunning proportions.

The dirt field before us was transformed in minutes into a quagmire, the flattened expanse becoming a sodden bog. Nevertheless, at the appointed hour, we marched to the rear of the field, encumbered with packs and rifles, and prepared to scale the ladders.

The firing commenced and the infiltration began. I climbed the ladder before me, aware with every rung of the bullets screaming overhead, dumbfounded by the brightness of the tracers that seemed only inches apart. I slithered over the embankment and found myself settling into several inches of rich Georgia mud. I began to crawl forward (I had no other option). The sergeant had instructed us to stay low, and I did. I had a strong desire to burrow.

In addition to the clamor of the machine guns and the reverberating roar of thunder, continuous explosions rocked the earth from the pits around me, adding not only to the noise, but blowing gouts of mud and water into the air from whence they fell continuously on me and around me.

I continued to work my way forward, forcing my way down through the yielding mud until my descent was stopped by the firmness of earth not yet saturated by the rains. Finally, I reached the line of the gun towers, arose to my feet, and inspected myself. My pockets, even the buttoned ones on my fatigues, were filled with mud. My boots were massive collections of muck, on the inside and the outside. The grime had found its way into my pants and through the gaps between the buttons of my shirt. Even my rife, my M-16, which I had cleaned and cared for so religiously during the previous weeks, was fouled, the breech and barrel filled with waterlogged earth.

I sloshed my way to the waiting truck and rode shivering back to my barracks where I made my way to the showers. With my rifle and my clothing and my filthy body, I walked in and turned on the water. There, with the warmth of clean water running over me, washing away my filth layer by layer, I began to undress, soaping and scrubbing until every trace of the scum and sludge was gone. It felt so good to be clean!

I have often thought, since that night, that my experience with the infiltration course was a wonderful metaphor for the experience of mortality. We make our way forward toward the conclusion of our lives, the end of the course, our goal often nearly invisible in the darkness, and our ability to concentrate on that goal fettered by the filth and the noise and the danger of our surroundings.

None of us except the Savior has ever made the journey unblemished. All of us from time to time will find ourselves with mud in our pockets. Paul said that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23.)

But the accumulation of grime is not the most serious problem, provided we do not cling to it in the same way it clings to us. We are invited by the Savior to get into the showers whenever we are inclined to do so. "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil." (Isaiah 1:16.) Of course it is always the Lord who provides the water for this cleansing: "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity," David pled, "and cleanse me from mine sin . . . . wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." (Psalm 51:2,7.)

And the water is always available for those who want to be clean.

Paul's letter to the Romans is a plea for cleanliness. He recognized that many of the saints, while struggling through the mud of mortality were carrying an unneeded burden of monumental proportions. They were trying to live perfect lives in the useless hope that their own righteousness would save them in the kingdom of God. Paul, even though he knew how important it is to live righteously, knew that the best of us would have need of a cleansing before our lives were through. Romans is, in part, a powerful witness of the cleansing power of the atonement, and of our eternal need for it to be efficacious in our lives.

As you ponder and explore this remarkable letter, let the sweetness and clarity of Paul's witness warm and warn you. You will be saved by grace or you will not be saved at all. Paul's testimony in Romans 3:10, 12 is perfectly true. "There is none righteous, no, not one . . . They are all gone out of the way."

Capturing a few words from Romans and other texts to describe myself (and perhaps a few of you as well) I can say with prophetic and scriptural certainty that I am wicked, carnal, sensual, devilish, sinful, unclean, fallen, lost, rebellious, unholy, and unworthy. Given that description of myself, what do I deserve? I deserve Hell, of course. Left to my own devices, I will become, and remain, filthy. I deserve to suffer for my sins. And the default setting in mortality is on judgement, not mercy. We have got to do something, change the settings, to merit mercy. It is for this changing that Paul is pleading.

I. WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST (Romans 2-5)
Paul wrote to explain why we need to be justified, that is, reconciled to God, pardoned from the punishment we deserve for our sins, and declared righteous and guiltless. We are all under condemnation for our transgressions. He said:

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Romans 3:10-12)

Alma said it another way:

And he doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness. (Alma 7:21)

And we cannot justify ourselves. Only one who lived a perfect, sinless life could claim the blessings of heaven on the basis of his or her own merits. And none of us meets that criteria, " . . . there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah." (2 N 2:8)

"Therefore," Paul explains, "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight . . ." (Romans 3:20) If we are to justified, it must be by the atonement of Christ: "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus . . ." (3:24). We cannot be justified by obedience to the commandments, because all of us have broken (some of) the commandments. "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. " (3:28)

We have sometimes, in the Church, in an effort to distance ourselves from the idea of being saved by grace alone, placed an undue emphasis on works of righteousness, supposing that we are saved more by what we do than by the atonement and grace-the merits-of Christ. That our own righteousness is a necessary part of our salvation is beyond question. "Faith without works is dead," dead as petrified wood and week old road-kill. But works without faith are equally dead, and Paul understood that: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." (3:31)

Someone has said that we cannot earn our own salvation by our works, but that is the only way we have to let the Savior know that we want it. And or course righteousness and perfection are not synonyms. Righteousness and repentance are. Hugh Nibley said:

A righteous person is one who is repenting; a wicked person is one who is not repenting. A righteous man is not one who is all good. There is no such person at all. We have all this mixture. And a wicked man is not one who is all bad. We don't have any of either. If you are repenting, it's like being on the stairway. A person at the bottom of the stairs facing up is better off than the person at the top of the stairs facing down, if it's the way of repentance. So this is what we are told. It's never too late, and that's a marvelous thing (Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 1, p.113).

II. WE CAN BE REBORN AND BECOME JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST (Romans 6,8)
One of the terms used by Paul in these chapters has caused a great amount of confusion among Christians since the time of Christ. The word is "predestinate." Some have seen in this concept the doctrine that we have no control over our ultimate state; that we are driven by immutable destiny, by our having been selected as the elect of God, to a heavenly existence, or by our having been rejected by that same God to suffer the wrath of God and his angels throughout the eternities. In fact, I like the whole idea of predestination, provided I am permitted to take it literally.

Every time I have departed on a journey of any consequence, I have done so with a destination in mind. Whether I have gone to the grocery store or the Holy Land, whether to Brazil or to Brigham City, I have determined beforehand where I intended to go. PREvious to my departing, I have identified my DESTINATION. With regard to the most important journey of my eternal existence, I would certainly have done the same. And God, knowing me and my heart and capabilities, would have guided me in this:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. For him whom he did foreknow, he did also predestinate to be conformed to his own image, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29, 30, JST)

And what is that destination we selected before we were born?

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:16-18)

The key, then, is to continue on the path that will lead to our pre-determined destination.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:1,2)

We must not be side-tracked by sin. We must not allow the natural man ("our old man" [Romans 6:6]) and the attractiveness of other destinations to draw us off the path. When my wife and I traveled to Hawaii in the summer of 1998, we passed through San Francisco, where we had a brief layover. There were planes leaving from the San Francisco Airport minute by minute, with destinations all around the world. With sufficient time and resources we could have changed our minds and gone almost anywhere. But we left Orem heading for Hawaii, and that was the only place in which we had a real interest on that occasion. We were pre-destined to go there, and we did. But I have seen friends and relatives change their minds about where they wanted to go, or about the value of going to the place they first selected. Paul knew it had happened to some of the Romans, and wondered how it could have happened:

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:6)

III. WE SHOULD LIVE AS BECOMES SAINTS
Certain phrases from the last part of Romans speak with great power to my heart.

It might be worth some of your time to take a look at sentence sermons from Romans.

Following is a list of 25 of them. Try to rewrite them in your own words and to find the place where they fit into your own life.

     6:4 "We also should walk in newness of life."
     6:5 'We shall be in the likeness of his resurrection."
     6:12 "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body."
     6:13 "Yield yourselves unto God."
     6:16 "His servants ye are to whom ye obey."
     6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
     7:18 (JST) "I seek to subdue that sin which dwelleth in me."
     8:6 "For to be carnally minded is death . . ."
     8;14 'For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
     8:17 "Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ . . ."
     8:18 "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
     8:28 "All things work together for good to them that love God."
     8:31 "If God be for us, who can be against us?
     8:35 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"
     9:6 "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel . . ."
     9:20 "Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?"
     10:11 "Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
     11:16 "If the root be holy, so are the branches."
     12:1 " Present your bodies a living sacrifice."
     12:2 "Be not conformed to this world . . ."
     12:20 " If thine enemy hunger, feed him . . ."
     13:10 "Love is the fulfilling of the law."
     14:12 "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
     15:1 "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak."
     16:17 "Mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."

CONCLUSION:
As with all scripture, the study of Romans rewards us on many levels. The doctrine is deep, the language is elevating, the broad concepts are well thought out and clearly set forth. Even many of the sentences, pulled without regard for context from the verses, teach us powerful lessons about how saints ought to behave.

BYU Letter: Osama and the Atonement

Thu, 05 May 2011 10:13:00 -0600

source: universe.byu.edu

In light of the recent death of Osama bin Laden, I think it is the perfect time to take note of the importance of forgiveness and compassion.

Don’t get me wrong, I am glad to be rid of his direct influence, but there is a bigger lesson to be learned here.

It is easy to forget that this man is our brother. He didn’t make great decisions on this earth and in due time justice will be served.

His Sacred Name: An Easter Declaration

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:48:00 -0600

source: lds.org

Young Men Lesson 6: The Fall of Adam

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:04:00 -0700

source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: The Atonement is the crucial foundation upon which all Christian doctrine rests and the greatest expression of divine love this world has ever been given. Discussion Questions:

Why is the Fall of Adam necessary for your eternal progression?
What are some things we can do to overcome spiritual death and draw closer to our Heavenly Father?

Excerpt from "The Atonement of Jesus Christ"

Indeed the Atonement of the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh is the crucial foundation upon which all Christian doctrine rests and the greatest expression of divine love this world has ever been given. Its importance in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be overstated. Every other principle, commandment, and virtue of the restored gospel draws its significance from this pivotal event. 2

The Atonement was the foreordained but voluntary act of the Only Begotten Son of God in which He offered His life and spiritual anguish as a redeeming ransom for the effect of the Fall of Adam upon all mankind and for the personal sins of all who repent.

The literal meaning of the English word Atonement is self-evident: at-one-ment, the bringing together of things that have been separated or estranged. The Atonement of Jesus Christ was indispensable because of the separating transgression, or Fall, of Adam, which brought two kinds of death into the world when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 3 Physical death brought the separation of the spirit from the body, and spiritual death brought the estrangement of both the spirit and the body from God. As a result of the Fall, all persons born into mortality would suffer these two kinds of death. But we must remember the Fall was an essential part of Heavenly Father’s divine plan. Without it no mortal children would have been born to Adam and Eve, and there would have been no human family to experience opposition and growth, moral agency, and the joy of resurrection, redemption, and eternal life. 4

The need for this Fall and for an atonement to compensate for it was explained in a premortal Council in Heaven at which the spirits of the entire human family attended and over which God the Father presided. It was in this premortal setting that Christ volunteered to honor the moral agency of all humankind even as He atoned for their sins. In the process, He would return to the Father all glory for such redemptive love. 5

This infinite Atonement of Christ was possible because (1) He was the only sinless man ever to live on this earth and therefore was not subject to the spiritual death resulting from sin, (2) He was the Only Begotten of the Father and therefore possessed the attributes of godhood that gave Him power over physical death, 6 and (3) He was apparently the only one sufficiently humble and willing in the premortal council to be foreordained to that service.

*To read the full talk, click here.

Setting records, sharing hope at Time Out for Women

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:44:00 -0700

source: MormonTimes.com

They had hoped to gather enough supplies for 150 hygiene kits to donate to the Road Home shelter.

Laurel Christensen asked the 3,900 women on Friday night at Time Out for Women to bring any extra body wash and other toiletries back Saturday morning as they were short a few supplies.

In the end, about 720 kits were assembled.

It was a record for the Deseret Book-sponsored event, which has been to 18 cities on the 2010 Infinite Hope tour.

Friends Laura Holk, Danielle Bigelow and Karina Taylor, all mothers from South Jordan, Utah, helped put together the kits, which admittedly wasn't too difficult.

The line of women filled clear plastic bags with washcloths, small bottles of shampoo, toothbrushes, razors and other items.

"It helps to give back," said Taylor, especially since they all had enjoyed the two-day event that included different presenters and musicians.

Book of Mormon Lesson 22: Have Ye Received His Image in Your Countenances?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:30:00 -0600

by Ted L. Gibbons
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Like the Bible, [The Book of Mormon] is a volume of holy writ that speaks forth the mind and will of the Almighty. Like the Bible, it invites men to forsake the world and live as becometh saints. Like the Bible, it has such an impact upon the hearts of men that they are prepared to die in defense of their beliefs. Already the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh have left Babylon and come to Zion with songs of everlasting joy because of it. And before the end of the world, which is the premillennial destruction of the wicked, and before the end of the earth, which shall not occur until after the Millennium, the Book of Mormon shall so affect men that the whole earth and all its peoples will have been influenced and governed by it. (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p.170) Introduction Alma's reform movement involved at least these four cities: Zarahemla, Gideon, Melek, and Ammonihah. These chapters deal with his ministry in Zarahemla and in Gideon. Once Alma had determined the depth of the iniquity in the Church, and had freed himself from the restraints of public office, he went forth to try and reclaim the people in the best way he knew how--by the power of his testimony. His efforts in Zarahemla and Gideon (and in Melek for that matter-see Alma 8:3-6) met with great success. 1. Alma teaches the people how they can experience a mighty change of heart (Alma 5). Notice in Alma 5:2 where the account of this sermon in Zarahemla comes from. Does it matter that our personal history contains this kind of information, or is this a concern only for the Prophet? President Kimball taught this: "Keep journals and family records. Let us then continue on in this important work of recording the things we do, the things we say, the things we think, to be in accordance with the instructions of the Lord. For those of you who may not have already started your books of remembrance and your records, we would suggest that this very day you begin to write your records quite fully and completely. We hope that you will do this, our brothers and sisters, for this is what the Lord has commanded." (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.349) The multitude of questions Alma asks are worth a careful, personal look. But it seems clear that there is one question in the sermon, what might we might call the critical question, that must be answered correctly. That question is asked five different times toward the end of the sermon. The question is in verses 53-56 and it is this: if you are doing any of these things that are contrary to the teaching of the gospel, will ye persist? If you have found something in this sermon that needs your attention, or that needs repentance, will you repent? Or will you persist in rebelling against the commandments of God? And now my beloved brethren, I say unto you, can ye withstand these sayings; yea, can ye lay aside these things, and trample the Holy One under your feet; yea, can ye be puffed up in the pride of your hearts; yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches? Yea, will ye persist in supposing that ye are better one than another; yea, will ye persist in the persecution of your brethren, who humble themselves and do walk after the holy order of God, wherewith they have been brought into this church, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and they do bring forth works which are meet for repentance--Yea, and will you persist in turning your backs upon the poor, and the needy, and in withholding your substance from them? And finally, all ye that will persist in your wickedness, I say unto you that these are they who shall be hewn down and cast into the fire except they speedily repent (Alma 5:53-57). This is a matter that receives attention other places in the scripture. For example, in Mosiah 2, Benjamin spoke of the danger of listing to obey the evil spirit. To list means to lean or incline. We all do that to some degree. All of us are sinners. But Benjamin's warning is not just for those who list, but for those who list and persist, that is, those who will not repent. Jacob warned those who seek and who love riches, and think themselves better than those who possess less stuff. And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you (Jacob 2:14). Benjamin did not use the word persist, but he addressed the concept. For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge. (Mosiah 2:33) It is one thing to list. We ought not to, and if we do, we ought to repent. But is another and a much more dangerous thing to list and persist. Abinadi spoke of this to King Noah and his court: But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore, he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God. (Mosiah 16:5) The Lord says it more simply in D&C 42: And he that doeth according to these things shall be saved, and he that doeth them not shall be damned if he so continue. (D&C 42:60) As you review the questions Alma has asked, take a look inside yourself. Are you willing to cease and desist, or are you more inclined to persist? As Alma concludes his sermon, he bears a powerful testimony. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true(Alma 5:45). At the end of verse 45, Alma asks an additional question: "And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?" I remember reading that question for the first time. The story of Alma the younger had thrilled me and blessed me. His confrontation with the angel was perhaps the most vivid message I absorbed my first time through the book. Thus, when I read Alma's question, "And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?" I was pretty sure that I already knew the answer. Alma was about to declare that he knew those things were true because an angel descended from the courts of glory and told him they were true. But that is not what he said. Alma had seen an angel (Mosiah 27:1`1-16), and afterward he was born of the Spirit (Alma 27:24), and he said he thought he saw God sitting on his throne (Alma 36:22). But notice what he says when he tells how he knows the truth: Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me. And moreover, I say unto you that it has thus been revealed unto me, that the words which have been spoken by our fathers are true, even so according to the spirit of prophecy which is in me, which is also by the manifestation of the Spirit of God. (Alma 5:46,47) If Alma had seen God and an angel, and had been born again before he preached his first missionary sermon, why did he have to fast and pray for a testimony? Perhaps this statement from Bishop Robert L. Simpson provides part of the answer: Testimonies built on miracles alone are at best shallow and can only be perpetuated by other miracles. Such is not the eternal process considered best for the acquisition of a testimony that can withstand ...troubles (New Era, March 1972, p. 4). But there is more to Alma's testimony than a certainty that the Church is true. Alma has been asking a multitude of questions related to the doctrine of the Church, and has just delivered a solemn warning to those who refuse to abide by those doctrines--a warning of fire. He has fasted and prayed for testimonies of the truthfulness and meaning of many of the principles of the Gospel. Elder Legrande Richards explained how valuable a man like Alma can be in a society. The story is told that there was a new minister who moved into the community where Thomas Carlisle lived, and he went to the office of Carlisle and asked this question: "What do the people of this community need more than anything else?" And Carlisle's answer was: "They need a man who knows God other than my hearsay." (Improvement Era, June 1858, p. 98) Alma was a man who knew God other than by hearsay. And he knew him because of his fasting and his prayers. His witness, based on personal experience, was the catalyst for thousands of conversions. 2. Alma and the people establish the order of the church in Zarahemla (Alma 6). Alma knew he couldn't do the work alone. Too many needed the message. All who were converted were to accept some of the responsibility for those who were not. Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in fasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God. (Alma 6:6) I remember to consecutive weeks during my teen-age years in Logan when our ward gathered together in fasting and prayer for the welfare of the bodies of some members who knew God quite well. One father disappeared over the mountains in a small plane on a business flight to Wyoming. We fasted and gathered together to pray for his safety as searchers combed the mountains. One week later we were fasting again. A retired member of the ward, who had been helping set roof joists in our new church building, fell from the scaffolding to the concrete floor below. He was in a coma in the hospital. We fasted another day and gathered to pray for him. But I do not remember ever being invited to fast for the non-members living within our ward area, nor for the inactive and indifferent members who were around us. Alma teaches us that souls are as important as bodies, and worth as least as much physical and spiritual effort. According to Alma 6:3, what characteristic kept many in Alma's day from knowing God? Ask yourself (if you are a teacher, ask your students), who is there among my family or friends or acquaintances that needs my fasting and mighty prayers? As you consider this question, remember that Alma, who must have given the commandment, had some first hand knowledge about the redemptive power of fasting and mighty prayer. His father had fasted and prayed for him when he did not know God. 3. Alma testifies of Jesus Christ. He encourages the people in Gideon to follow the Savior (Alma 7). In Gideon, Alma delivered one of the great sermons about the Savior in the scriptures. Of all the things he might have taught, he chose this one: For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all--for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people. (Alma 7:7) One way to look at this chapter is to focus on a word used four times by Alma, and to reflect on the applications associated with that word. The word is path, and it appears in verses 9, 19, and 20. But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying--Repent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth. (Alma 7:9, emphasis added) For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight. (Alma 7:19, emphasis added) I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round. (Alma 7:20, emphasis added) Read Alma 7 and look for the qualities of those who are trying to walk in his paths. I will give my own list below, but you might consider performing your own search before you influence your conclusions with my observations. I. Alma 7:3-Be humble
II. Alma 7:3-Continue in supplication
III. Alma 7:3-Be blameless
IV. Alma 7:6-Don't be lifted up in the pride of your hearts
V. Alma 7:6-Don't set your heart upon riches
VI. Alma 7:6-Worship the true and living God
VII. Alma 7:6-Look forward to the remission of your sins
VIII. Alma 7:9-Repent
IX. Alma 7:9-Prepare the way of the Lord
X. Alma 7:14-Be born again
XI. Alma 7:14-Be baptized
XII. Alma 714-Have faith
XIII. Alma 7:15-Come and fear not
XIV. Alma 715-Lay aside every sin
XV. Alma 715-Enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments
XVI. Alma 7:22-Awaken to a sense of your duty
XVII. Alma 723-Be submissive and gentle
XVIII. Alma 723-Be full of patience and long-suffering
XIX. Alma 723-Be temperate in all things
/ XX. Alma 7:23--Ask God for whatever you need
XXI. Alma 7:24--Always return thanks to God for what you receive
XXII. Alma 7:26-Give diligence and heed to the word
Alma encouraged the people of Gideon to walk in the Lord's paths, which are straight. They must be straight, for "he cannot walk in crooked paths." What this means is explained quite nicely in D&C 3:1-3: The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round. Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men . . . God does not get frustrated, he doesn't turn to the right hand or the left, and he doesn't vary from what he says: therefore, he cannot walk in crooked paths. Alma 7 also contains holy writ's finest description of the empathy of Christ. We are taught that he suffered in many ways so that he could understand our needs when we suffer. Listen to the language: And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh . . . (Alma 7:11-13) He can help us bear our pains and our sicknesses because he has already taken upon himself our pains and our sicknesses. Because of this, he can say to us in our agony, "I understand." An amazing insight from these verses comes in the revelatory discovery that he did not have to experience our pains and temptations and sicknesses and infirmities in the flesh to know what they were like. "The Spirit knoweth all things." Scriptural evidence for this knowing without experiencing can be found in the 22nd Psalm. A thousand years before the actual event, the Savior gave through David a graphic description of the pain of crucifixion. He knew, by the Spirit, precisely what kind of experience it would be. Read Psalm 22:1,7,13-18. But even with this advance knowledge he was willing to suffer according to the flesh "that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh . . ." I believe that many of his disciples have heard his quiet whisper in times of pain or times of trouble, "I understand." I know I have. My burdens have not always been lifted, but I have received strength enough to carry on, for I knew I was loved. Conclusion Alma 7 is like a pair of spiritual contact lenses. Looking through it we see the atonement of Christ more clearly than we have ever seen it before. We are offered a unique view of what the Savior has done for us-a view unlike any other in the scriptures. Of that view, Elder Maxwell said: In the description of the exquisite suffering of Jesus in His atonement, we are told that Jesus took upon Himself the infirmities of all of us in order "that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:12) Being sinless Himself, Jesus could not have suffered for personal sin nor known what such agony is--unless He took upon Him our sins, not only to redeem us and to save us, but also in order that He might know how "according to the flesh . . . to succor his people according to their infirmities." A stunning insight! Thus the compassion of the divine Jesus for us is not the abstract compassion of a sinless individual who would never so suffer; rather, it is the compassion and empathy of One who has suffered exquisitely, though innocent, for all our sins, which were compounded in some way we do not understand. Though He was sinless, yet He suffered more than all of us. We cannot tell Him anything about suffering. This is one of the inner marvels of the atonement of Jesus Christ! (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, 35-36).

Thoughts on Gospel Doctrine Lesson 27

Wed, 16 Jul 2003 10:29:00 -0600

source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: In Lesson 27 we study the event's surrounding the Savior's resurrection. Be sure to read the following commentary by James E. Talmage, Bruce R. McConkie, Daniel H. Ludlow, Frederic Farrar, Kent P. Jackson, and Robert L. Millet.

James E. Talmage on Christ's Resurrection:

At the earliest indication of dawn, the devoted Mary Magdalene and other faithful women set out for the tomb, bearing spices and ointments which they had prepared for the further anointing of the body of Jesus. Some of them had been witnesses of the burial, and were conscious of the necessary haste with which the corpse had been wrapped with spicery and laid away by Joseph and Nicodemus, just before the beginning of the Sabbath; and now these adoring women came early to render loving service in a more thorough anointing and external embalmment of the body. On the way as they sorrowfully conversed, they seemingly for the first time thought of the difficulty of entering the tomb. "Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?" they asked one of another. Evidently they knew nothing of the seal and the guard of soldiery. At the tomb they saw the angel, and were afraid; but he said unto them: "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you."

The women, though favored by angelic visitation and assurance, left the place amazed and frightened. Mary Magdalene appears to have been the first to carry word to the disciples concerning the empty tomb. She had failed to comprehend the gladsome meaning of the angel's proclamation "He is risen, as he said"; in her agony of love and grief she remembered only the words "He is not here," the truth of which had been so forcefully impressed by her own hasty glance at the open and tenantless tomb. "Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him."

Peter, and "that other disciple" who, doubtless, was John, set forth in haste, running together toward the sepulchre. John outran his companion, and on reaching the tomb stooped to look in, and so caught a glimpse of the linen cerements lying on the floor; but the bold and impetuous Peter rushed into the sepulchre, and was followed by the younger apostle. The two observed the linen graveclothes, and lying by itself, the napkin that had been placed about the head of the corpse. John frankly affirms that having seen these things, he believed, and explains in behalf of himself and his fellow apostles, "For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead."

The sorrowful Magdalene had followed the two apostles back to the garden of the burial. No thought of the Lord's restoration to life appears to have found place in her grief-stricken heart; she knew only that the body of her beloved Master had disappeared. While Peter and John were within the sepulchre, she had stood without, weeping. After the men had left she stooped and looked into the rock-hewn cavern. There she saw two personages, angels in white; one sat "at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain." In accents of tenderness they asked of her: "Woman, why weepest thou?" In reply she could but voice anew her overwhelming sorrow: "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him." The absence of the body, which she thought to be all that was left on earth of Him whom she loved so deeply, was a personal bereavement. There is a volume of pathos and affection in her words, "They have taken away my Lord."

Turning from the vault, which, though at that moment illumined by angelic presence, was to her void and desolate, she became aware of another Personage, standing near. She heard His sympathizing inquiry: "Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?" Scarcely lifting her tearful countenance to look at the Questioner, but vaguely supposing that He was the caretaker of the garden, and that He might have knowledge of what had been done with the body of her Lord, she exclaimed: "Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away." She knew that Jesus had been interred in a borrowed tomb; and if the body had been dispossessed of that resting place, she was prepared to provide another. "Tell me where thou hast laid him," she pleaded.

It was Jesus to whom she spake, her beloved Lord, though she knew it not. One word from His living lips changed her agonized grief into ecstatic joy. "Jesus saith unto her, Mary." The voice, the tone, the tender accent she had heard and loved in the earlier days lifted her from the despairing depths into which she had sunk. She turned, and saw the Lord. In a transport of joy she reached out her arms to embrace Him, uttering only the endearing and worshipful word, "Rabboni," meaning My beloved Master. Jesus restrained her impulsive manifestation of reverent love, saying, "Touch me not; fn for I am not yet ascended to my Father," and adding, "but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God."

To a woman, to Mary of Magdala, was given the honor of being the first among mortals to behold a resurrected Soul, and that Soul, the Lord Jesus. To other favored women did the risen Lord next manifest Himself, including Mary the mother of Joses, Joanna, and Salome the mother of the apostles James and John. These and the other women with them had been affrighted by the presence of the angel at the tomb, and had departed with mingled fear and joy. They were not present when Peter and John entered the vault, nor afterward when the Lord made Himself known to Mary Magdalene. They may have returned later, for some of them appear to have entered the sepulchre, and to have seen that the Lord's body was not there. As they stood wondering in perplexity and astonishment, they became aware of the presence of two men in shining garments, and as the women "bowed down their faces to the earth" the angels said unto them: "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. And they remembered his words." As they were returning to the city to deliver the message to the disciples, "Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."

One may wonder why Jesus had forbidden Mary Magdalene to touch Him, and then, so soon after, had permitted other women to hold Him by the feet as they bowed in reverence. We may assume that Mary's emotional approach had been prompted more by a feeling of personal yet holy affection than by an impulse of devotional worship such as the other women evinced. Though the resurrected Christ manifested the same friendly and intimate regard as He had shown in the mortal state toward those with whom He had been closely associated, He was no longer one of them in the literal sense. There was about Him a divine dignity that forbade close personal familiarity. To Mary Magdalene Christ had said: "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." If the second clause was spoken in explanation of the first, we have to infer that no human hand was to be permitted to touch the Lord's resurrected and immortalized body until after He had presented Himself to the Father. It appears reasonable and probable that between Mary's impulsive attempt to touch the Lord, and the action of the other women who held Him by the feet as they bowed in worshipful reverence, Christ did ascend to the Father, and that later He returned to earth to continue His ministry in the resurrected state.

Mary Magdalene and the other women told the wonderful story of their several experiences to the disciples, but the brethren could not credit their words, which "seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not." After all that Christ had taught concerning His rising from the dead on that third day, fn the apostles were unable to accept the actuality of the occurrence; to their minds the resurrection was some mysterious and remote event, not a present possibility. There was neither precedent nor analogy for the stories these women told-of a dead person returning to life, with a body of flesh and bones, such as could be seen and felt-except the instances of the young man of Nain, the daughter of Jairus, and the beloved Lazarus of Bethany, between whose cases of restoration to a renewal of mortal life and the reported resurrection of Jesus they recognized essential differences. The grief and the sense of irreparable loss which had characterized the yesterday Sabbath, were replaced by profound perplexity and contending doubts on this first day of the week. But while the apostles hesitated to believe that Christ had actually risen, the women, less skeptical, more trustful, knew, for they had both seen Him and heard His voice, and some of them had touched His feet.

(James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983], 630.)

Bruce R. McConkie on the Sabbath Day:

John 20:1. First day of the week] Sunday, the Lord's day. God's plan for mortal man calls for six days of labor, and one of rest. In the wisdom of the great Creator, such a schedule provides needed physical refreshment. This day of rest from servile work, also in the wisdom of Deity, is appointed as a day for spiritual feasting, a holy day, a Sabbath.

From Adam to Moses the decree was: Work six days and rest on Saturday, the seventh day; do it in commemoration of the fact that "in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day." (Ex. 20:8-11.)

From Moses to this resurrection morning the decree was: Work six days and rest one day, in commemoration of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. (Deut. 5:11-15.) Since Israel was freed from bondage on a specific day of the year, it follows that the commanded Sabbath fell on a different day each year, just as Christmas day does. In order to make the schedule come out provision was made in the Mosaic Law for a forty-eight hour Sabbath once each year. (Samuel Walter Gamble, Sunday the True Sabbath of God.)

Because Jesus came forth from the grave on the first day of the week, to commemorate that day and to keep in remembrance the glorious reality of the resurrection, the ancient apostles, as guided by the Spirit, changed the Sabbath to Sunday. That this change had divine approval we know from latter-day revelation, in which Deity speaks of "the Lord's day" as such and sets forth what should and should not be done on that day. (D. & C. 59:9-17.)

(Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 1: 841.)

Frederic Farrar on the Appearance of Christ on the Road to the Emmaus:

On the same day the Lord's fourth appearance was accompanied with circumstances of the deepest interest. Two of the disciples were on their way to a village named Emmaus, of uncertain site, but about eight miles from Jerusalem, and were discoursing with sad and anxious hearts on the awful incidents of the last two days, when a Stranger joined them, and asked them the cause of their clouded looks and anxious words. They stopped, and looked at this unknown traveller with a dubious and unfriendly glance; and when one of the two, whose name was Cleopas, spoke in reply, there is a touch of surprise and suspicion in the answer which he ventured to give. "Dost thou live alone as a stranger in Jerusalem, and dost thou not know what things happened there in these last days?" "What things?" He asked them. Then they told Him how all their yearning hopes that Jesus had been the great Prophet who should redeem His people had been dashed to the earth, and how all His mighty deeds before God and the people had ended two days back on the shameful cross. They described the feeling of amazement with which, on this the third day, they had heard the women's rumors of angel visions, and the certain testimony of some of their brethren that the tomb was empty now. "But," added the speaker with a sigh of incredulity and sorrow—"but Him they saw not."

Then reproaching them with the dulness of their intelligence and their affections, the Stranger showed them how through all the Old Testament from Moses onwards there was one long prophecy of the sufferings no less than of the glory of Christ. In such high converse they drew near to Emmaus, and the Stranger seemed to be going onwards, but they pressed Him to stay, and as they sat down to their simple meal, and He blessed and brake the bread, suddenly their eyes were opened and in spite of the altered form, they recognized that He who was with them was the Lord. But even as they recognized Him, He was with them no longer. "Did not our heart burn within us," they exclaimed to each other, "while He was speaking with us in the way, while He was opening to us the Scriptures?" Rising instantly, they returned to Jerusalem with the strange and joyous tidings. They found no dubious listeners now. They, too, were received with the rapturous affirmation, "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared unto Simon!"

(Farrar, Frederic, Life of Christ) .)

Bruce R. McConkie on Jesus Appearing on Emmaus Road:

Why did the risen Lord take this means of appearing to Cleopas and his companion (perhaps Luke, since it is he who records the account)? Was it to quote and interpret the Messianic prophecies "beginning at Moses and all the prophets"? Such could have been done under more effective circumstances, and for that matter, Luke does not even record the explanations given. Why did Jesus keep his identity hidden? Why walk and talk, perhaps for hours, along the dusty lanes of Palestine?

Obviously it was to show what a resurrected being is like. He was teaching the gospel as only he could, teaching a living sermon, a sermon that was to be climaxed shortly in an upper room in the presence of his apostles. See Luke 24:36-44.

Jesus walked down a Judean lane, walked for hours and taught the truths of the gospel, exactly as he had during three and a half years of his mortal ministry. So much did he seem like any other wayfaring teacher, in demeanor, in dress, in speech, in physical appearance, in conversation, that they did not recognize him as the Jesus whom they assumed was dead. 'Abide with us,' they said, as they would have done to Peter or John. 'Come in and eat and sleep; you must be tired and hungry.' They thought he was a mortal man. Could anyone devise a more perfect way to teach what a resurrected being is like when his glory is retained within him? Men are men whether mortal or immortal, and there need be no spiritualizing away of the reality of the resurrection, not after this Emmaus road episode. See Mark 16:9-11.

(Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 1: 850.)

Bruce R. McConkie on Christ's Resurrected Body:

On the Emmaus road Jesus walked, talked, and appeared as a mortal man. Now he comes through the walls or roof of an enclosed room, thus showing another power and capacity of a resurrected body. Standing before his terrified and frightened disciples—and the group included the apostles, plus others (Luke 24:33)—he continued his 'living sermon' on the resurrection by demonstrating further what a resurrected body was and how it operated.

The apostles and other disciples thought he was "a spirit," a misconception which, however, reveals what a spirit is. As Jesus stood before them he seemed in every respect to be a man. In other words a spirit is a man, an entity, a personage, not an ineffable nothingness pervading immensity. A spirit is what the Brother of Jared saw on the mountain when the yet unembodied Lord appeared and said: "This body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; . . . and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh." (Ether 3:16.)

Jesus then confirmed the disciples' belief that a spirit is a personage by showing how a resurrected body differs from a spirit body. He announced that his body was made of "flesh and bones" and invited all present to handle, feel, and learn of its corporeal nature. Then lest any feel later that their senses had been deceived, he asked for food and ate it before them, not to satisfy hunger, but to demonstrate that resurrected beings are tangible and can eat and digest food. See Luke 24:13-35.

When Paul adds to what is here revealed that the risen Lord is in "the express image of his" Father's "person" (Heb. 1:3), we have perfect Biblical confirmation of the revealed truth that "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also." (D. & C. 130:22.)

(Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 1: 852.)

James E. Talmage on the Risen Lord Appearing to the Disciples in Jerusalem:

When Cleopas and his companion reached Jerusalem that night, they found the apostles and other devoted believers assembled in solemn and worshipful discourse within closed doors. Precautions of secrecy had been taken "for fear of the Jews." Even the apostles had been scattered by the arrest, arraignment, and judicial murder of their Master; but they and the disciples in general rallied anew at the word of His resurrection, as the nucleus of an army soon to sweep the world. The two returning disciples were received with the joyous announcement, "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." This is the sole mention made by the Gospel-writers of Christ's personal appearance to Simon Peter on that day. The interview between the Lord and His once recreant but now repentant apostle must have been affecting in the extreme. Peter's remorseful penitence over his denial of Christ in the palace of the high priest was deep and pitiful; he may have doubted that ever again would the Master call him His servant; but hope must have been engendered through the message from the tomb brought by the women, in which the Lord sent greetings to the apostles, whom for the first time He designated as His brethren, and from this honorable and affectionate characterization Peter had not been excluded; moreover, the angel's commission to the women had given prominence to Peter by particular mention. To the repentant Peter came the Lord, doubtless with forgiveness and loving assurance. The apostle himself maintains a reverent silence respecting the visitation, but the fact thereof is attested by Paul as one of the definite proofs of the Lord's resurrection.

Following the jubilant testimony of the assembled believers, Cleopas and his fellow traveler told of the Lord's companionship with them on the Emmaus road, of the things He had taught them, and of the manner in which He had become known unto them in the breaking of bread. As the little company communed together, "Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." They were affrighted, supposing with superstitious dread that a ghost had intruded amongst them. But the Lord comforted them, saying "Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts rise 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." Then He showed them the wounds in His hands and feet and side. "They yet believed not for joy," which is to say, they thought the reality, to which they all were witnesses, too good, too glorious, to be true. To further assure them that He was no shadowy form, no immaterial being of tenuous substance, but a living Personage with bodily organs internal as well as outward, He asked, "Have ye here any meat?" They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and other food, which He took "and did eat before them."

These unquestionable evidences of their Visitant's corporeity calmed and made rational the minds of the disciples; and now that they were composed and receptive the Lord reminded them that all things that had happened to Him were in accordance with what He had told them while He had lived amongst them. In His divine presence their understanding was quickened and enlarged so that they comprehended as never before the scriptures-the Law of Moses, the books of the prophets and the psalms-concerning Him. That His now accomplished death was a necessity, He attested as fully as He had predicted and affirmed the same aforetime. Then He said unto them: "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."

(James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983], 638.)

Bruce R. McConkie on Jesus Appearing to Thomas and the Disciples:

Once again it is Sunday, the first weekly anniversary of the first resurrection. The disciples, beginning the practice of worshipping on Sunday rather than on the Jewish Sabbath, and coming together to commemorate the rising of Jesus from death, are again in the upper room. The doors are shut, probably guarded. No mention is made of food, but the worshipful group may have been eating, and certainly they were conversing about the resurrection and reciting the accounts of His appearances. So far there have been five of which we know—to Mary Magdalene, to the other women, to Peter, to Cleopas and Luke on the Emmaus road, and to a small congregation of saints in the upper room.

During the week the disciples had said to Thomas, "We have seen the Lord," and, 'We felt the nail marks in his hands and in his feet: we gave him a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb, both of which he ate before us. And he told us such and such things about himself and about our commission to testify of him in all nations.' Thomas had believed in the resurrection, but not in the literal corporeity of His body, not in the fact that Jesus now ate food, not in the fact that the nail marks remained in his flesh and bones. He had said: "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe."

Thomas is now present with the others, and of a sudden, as on the week afore, Jesus "stood in the midst." Again he utters the familiar greeting: "Peace be unto you." Then to Thomas came the command:

Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

Thomas complied; he would not have dared to do otherwise. He now felt and handled as the others had done; he was a living, personal witness of the corporeity of the body of the Lord Jesus. Whether Jesus called for food and ate again is not recorded. Such would not have been necessary, because Thomas, feeling the nail prints and the spear wound, could not do other than believe the account about the broiled fish and the honeycomb. From the lips of the now believing apostle, we suppose as he knelt to touch the marks in Jesus' feet, came the worshipful cry: "My Lord and my God." Thereupon Jesus said:

Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Thomas, who once offered to go with Jesus to Bethany, there to die with him, saw and believed—believed in the literal nature of the resurrection and that Jesus after death lived again as a man. Ever since he has been called, somewhat unkindly, Doubting Thomas. Whatever they may have been, his doubts were of a passing and transitory nature. He became and remained a believer in the full sense. Rather than point the finger of scorn at his supposed disbelief, would it not be better to be fearful of the fate of the ten thousand times ten thousand, plus unnumbered more, of the Doubting Thomases in a doubting Christendom where none believe that the Lord Jesus now reigns with his Father in eternal glory—both of them glorying in their exalted bodies of flesh and bones?

Thus we know that resurrected beings, containing their glory within themselves, can walk as mortals do on earth; that they can converse and reason and teach as they once did in mortality; that they can both withhold and manifest their true identities; that they can pass with corporeal bodies through solid walls; that they have bodies of flesh and bones that can be felt and handled; that, if need be, and at special times, they can retain the scars and wounds of the flesh; that they can eat and digest food; that they can vanish from mortal eyes and transport themselves by means unknown to us.

How glorious it has been to hear the living sermon preached by the greatest Preacher of all time as he ministered on the Emmaus road and in the upper room!

(Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem to Calvary, 4 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979-1981], 4: 285.)

Kent P. Jackson and Robert L. Millet on the Setting of Christ's Appearance at the Sea of Galilee:

Of the postresurrection appearances of the Savior recorded in the New Testament, John 21 is striking in a quiet but penetrating way. After having recounted, in the preceding chapter, the resurrection and some of the experiences of Mary and the apostles with the Lord, John relates a simple experience on the Sea of Galilee (called the Sea of Tiberias in John 21:1, as well as in John 6:1). Because the directive "feed my sheep" is often quoted, we should examine it in context.

Despite having seen the resurrected Savior and despite having received personal assurance of his divinity, the disciples are portrayed as still foundering, still lacking direction and motivation. From our perspective, on the basis of both Luke's account in Acts and John's statement (John 7:39; see also John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:13) that the Holy Ghost had not yet been given, we may conclude that the disciples had been touched by the Holy Ghost but had not yet received that cleansing, revitalizing force we term the birth of the Spirit. Although they had been promised they would receive the Holy Ghost, the gift itself was not made manifest until Pentecost (Acts 2), more than a month and a half after the resurrection. It was during the forty-day ministry that the events of John 21 took place.

Seven disciples were in Galilee: Simon Peter, Thomas (or Didymos), Nathanael, the two sons of Zebedee (John the Beloved and his brother James), and two other disciples. (John 21:2.) Manifesting his natural leadership, Peter stated that he was going fishing; the others concurred. Implicit in Peter's words was a growing impatience about waiting to learn what they should do. His response to the situation was to return to his former work by going fishing. In the structure of John's Gospel, this setting is reminiscent of Peter's call recorded in John 1:35-42. Peter's brother, Andrew, had been one of the adherents of John the Baptist, from whom he learned the identity of the Redeemer, the Messiah or anointed Savior (Greek Christos means "the anointed one"). It is in Matthew 4:18-20 that we learn more about Peter and Andrew as fishermen by trade; and so, echoing Jeremiah 16:16, Jesus invited them to join him, saying, "I will make you fishers of men."

Then, with characteristic irony, John notes that though they fished throughout the night, they caught nothing. As dawn came, Jesus stood at the shore, unrecognized by the disciples even when he spoke. At his instructions, the disciples cast their nets to the right side; the net was so full of fish—John states that there were 153 (John 21:11)—that they could not pull it into the boat, and the net nearly broke. Immediately John realized who it was on the shore. Peter's impetuous response, after clothing himself, was to hurl himself into the sea to hasten to the Lord. The event may have been so recorded by John to counterbalance Matthew's account of Peter walking on the water, which Matthew alone appends to the story of Jesus approaching the disciples by walking across the water. (John 6:15-21; Matthew 14:22-23; Mark 6:45-52.) Certainly the very setting of this postresurrection appearance of the Lord brings vividly to mind other instances in John where Jesus was around the boats, the sea, and fishermen. And the disciples knew well his identity without inquiring.

(Kent P. Jackson and Robert L. Millet, eds., Studies in Scripture, Vol. 5: The Gospels [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1986], 461.)

Bruce R. McConkie on Jesus Appearing to His Disciples at Sea of Tiberias:

This appearance of the resurrected Jesus, as far as the record shows, seems to have been made to issue the final ministerial call to the apostles and to instruct them in their duties. Probably he ate again and the fact that he stood on the seashore unrecognized, apparently as though he were a mortal man, again testifies of the nature of resurrected beings.

John 21:1. Sea of Tiberias] Sea of Galilee.

John 21:2. Seven of the Twelve were present.

John 21:3. I go a fishing] Not yet fully knowing what was expected of them, not yet having received the great commission to evangelize the world, and perhaps needing sustenance, the apostles turn to a temporal pursuit.

John 21:7. John, reflective by nature, first recognizes Jesus; Peter, impulsive, swims ashore to greet him.

John 21:14. The third time] This is the third time they have seen him as a group. It is his seventh, perhaps eighth, known appearance. He came first to Mary Magdalene; then to the other women; then to Cleopas and his companion on the Emmaus road; thereafter to Peter alone; perhaps somewhere during this time to James, his brother; and twice to the apostles in the upper room. He has yet to appear on the Mount in Galilee, which probably is the occasion when he came to "above five hundred brethren at once" (1 Cor. 15:5-7); he has yet to spend the balance of the first forty days of his resurrected life ministering to and teaching them (Acts 1:3); and finally in their presence he has yet to ascend to eternal glory. And of course there may have been appearances without number of which there is no New Testament record. He of course ministered among the Nephites on the American continent and among the Lost Tribes of Israel in an unspecified land. (3 Ne.)

(Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 1: 862.)

Daniel H. Ludlow on Christ's Admonition to Feed His Sheep:

John 21:15-19 The Greek text adds considerably to an understanding of these verses. The English texts indicate that the Savior asked Peter essentially the same question three times. However, the Greek verb of the third question asks for a higher degree of commitment than the verb used earlier. Also, although the English texts use "feed" all three times in the response of the Savior, the Greek text uses the word for "shepherding" in verse 16. Thus, the Savior was not asking the same question each time, nor were his responses identical.

This is a very important question for each one of us. May I ask each of you, "Do you love the Lord?" The answer almost without exception would be, "Yes.". . .

We show and prove our love by feeding the lambs and the sheep. There are over three billion people on the earth today, and at the present rate of teaching, over two and a half billion of God's children will never be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. What if you were to live on this earth and never had a chance to hear and be taught the true way of life?

Our task is great. Teachers are needed. Every member of this Church that has a testimony and is converted is urgently needed. The lambs and the sheep are hungry for the bread of life, for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can show our love by following the prophet of God, "by every member being a missionary" to bring one or more souls into the Church each year. (Bernard P. Brockbank, CR, Oct. 1963, pp. 66.)

Now Peter, still not fully converted, for such must await the Spirit's descent on Pentecost, is called upon to erase the three averrals that he knew not the Man, by thrice asserting his love for the risen Lord. That he was singled out from the seven apostles there assembled is an added evidence that he was chief among them. The question, "Lovest thou me more than these?" was one of deep import, for Peter, the senior apostle of God on earth, had gone fishing; that is, instead of devoting himself, with all his means and energy to the ministry, he had gone off after temporal things. Our Lord now calls him back and asks: "Lovest thou me more than these one hundred and fifty-three fish, more than the things of this world?" And the commands, "Feed my lambs. . . . Feed my sheep," are announced as tests for Peter and for all Christ's ministers, tests which measure how much the elders of the kingdom love their Lord. (DNTC 1:863.)

(Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Doctrine and Covenants, 2 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978], 2: 442.)

Thoughts on Gospel Doctrine Lesson 25

Wed, 25 Jun 2003 10:43:00 -0600

source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: In Gospel Doctrine Lesson 25, we study the accounts of the Savior's experience in the Garden of Gethsemane. Be sure to read the following commentary by Bruce R. McConkie, James E. Talmage, Orson F. Whitney, Hugh Nibley, B. H. Roberts, Daniel H. Ludlow, and James E. Faust. The publications from which these passages were excerpted can be found in their entirety in GospeLink 2001.

Bruce R. McConkie on Jesus Praying in Gethsemane:

Where and under what circumstances was the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God made? Was it on the Cross of Calvary or in the Garden of Gethsemane? It is to the Cross of Christ that most Christians look when centering their attention upon the infinite and eternal atonement. And certainly the sacrifice of our Lord was completed when he was lifted up by men; also, that part of his life and suffering is more dramatic and, perhaps, more soul stirring. But in reality the pain and suffering, the triumph and grandeur, of the atonement took place primarily in Gethsemane.

It was there Jesus took upon himself the sins of the world on conditions of repentance. It was there he suffered beyond human power to endure. It was there he sweat great drops of blood from every pore. It was there his anguish was so great he fain would have let the bitter cup pass. It was there he made the final choice to follow the will of the Father. It was there that an angel from heaven came to strengthen him in his greatest trial. Many have been crucified and the torment and pain is extreme. But only one, and he the Man who had God as his Father, has bowed beneath the burden of grief and sorrow that lay upon him in that awful night, that night in which he descended below all things as he prepared himself to rise above them all.

Mark 14:32. Gethsemane] Leaving the Upper Room, Jesus and his friends crossed the deep and precipitous ravine on the east of Jerusalem, "the brook Cedron," and came to a garden of olive trees on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. It was there, in Gethsemane, a name meaning "oil-press," that they were accustomed to resort to find seclusion. And of all the spots on this rugged globe, Gethsemane was thus chosen as the one for the atoning ordeal in which the Lord "suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him." (D. & C. 18:11.)

I. V. Mark 14:36-38. Even at this late hour, because they had not yet received the gift of the Holy Ghost, the disciples wondered if Jesus was really the Messiah. Flashes of revelation had come in times past so certifying, but as yet they could not have available the constant companionship of that Holy Ghost whose mission it is to bear record of the Son. How important it is that men receive and enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost!

Mark 14:34. Sorrowful unto death] "A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: . . . Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." (Isa. 53:3-4.) And here, at this moment, while he prayed in this garden, was to be centered in him the agony and sorrow of the whole world. Sorrow is the child of sin, and as he took upon himself the sins of the world, he thereby bore the weight of the world's sorrows.

Luke 22:42. Not my will, but thine, be done] The Beloved Son charted his course in pre-existence; "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever," were his words in that council when he was chosen to be the Redeemer. (Moses 4:1-4.) Now at the climax of his mortal ministry he continues to walk in the path of his primeval choice. Soon, as a resurrected being, he will look back on this hour and be able to say: "I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning." (3 Ne. 11:11.)

Luke 22:44. He prayed more earnestly] How perfect the example is! Though he were the Son of God, yet even he, having been strengthened by an angelic ministrant, prays with increased faith; even he grows in grace and ascends to higher heights of spiritual unity with the Father. How well Paul wrote of this hour: "In the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." (Heb. 5:7-9.)

Luke 22:44 His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground] What agony is involved in this no mortal man can know. An angel had foretold it to King Benjamin a century and more before: "He shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people." (Mosiah 3:7.)

(Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 1: 774.)

James E. Talmage on Christ's Agony in the Garden:

Christ's agony in the garden is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. The thought that He suffered through fear of death is untenable. Death to Him was preliminary to resurrection and triumphal return to the Father from whom He had come, and to a state of glory even beyond what He had before possessed; and, moreover, it was within His power to lay down His life voluntarily. He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conceive as possible. It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. No other man, however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; for his human organism would have succumbed, and syncope would have produced unconsciousness and welcome oblivion. In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, "the prince of this world" could inflict. The frightful struggle incident to the temptations immediately following the Lord's baptism was surpassed and overshadowed by this supreme contest with the powers of evil.

In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world. Modern revelation assists us to a partial understanding of the awful experience. In March 1830, the glorified Lord, Jesus Christ, thus spake: "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." fn

From the terrible conflict in Gethsemane, Christ emerged a victor. Though in the dark tribulation of that fearful hour He had pleaded that the bitter cup be removed from His lips, the request, however oft repeated, was always conditional; the accomplishment of the Father's will was never lost sight of as the object of the Son's supreme desire. The further tragedy of the night, and the cruel inflictions that awaited Him on the morrow, to culminate in the frightful tortures of the cross, could not exceed the bitter anguish through which He had successfully passed.

(James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983], 568.)

Encyclopedia of Mormonism on Gethsemane:

The name Gethsemane (derived from Hebrew "oil press") is mentioned twice in the Bible, both in the New Testament (Matt. 26:36Matt. 26:36; Mark 14:32); in each case, it is called a "place" (Greek chorion, "piece of land") to which Jesus Christ and his apostles retired after their last supper together. The fourth gospel calls the area "a garden" (John 18:1). For Latter-day Saints, Gethsemane was the scene of Jesus' greatest agony, even surpassing that which he suffered on the cross, an understanding supported by Mark's description of Jesus' experience (Mark 14:33-39).

According to Luke 22:43-44, Jesus' anguish was so deep that "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground," an observation that harmonizes with the view that Jesus suffered most in Gethsemane during his Atonement. Even though these verses are missing in some of the earliest extant manuscripts of Luke's gospel, their content is confirmed in modern revelation (e.g., D&C 19:18). The evidence for Jesus' extreme agony in Gethsemane is buttressed by a prophecy in the Book of Mormon and a statement by the resurrected Savior recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. About 125 B.C., a Book of Mormon king, Benjamin, recounted in an important address a prophecy of the coming messiah spoken to him by an angel during the previous night. Concerning the Messiah's mortal experience, the angel declared that "he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people" (Mosiah 3:7). The Doctrine and Covenants gives the following poignant words of the resurrected Jesus: "Behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; ...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" (D&C 19:16, 18).

Modern LDS leaders have emphasized that Jesus' most challenging experience came in Gethsemane. Speaking in a general conference of the Church in 1982, Marion G. Romney, a member of the First Presidency, observed that Jesus suffered "the pains of all men, which he did, principally, in Gethsemane, the scene of his great agony" (Ensign 12 [May 1982]:6). Church President Ezra Taft Benson wrote that "it was in Gethsemane that Jesus took on Himself the sins of the world, in Gethsemane that His pain was equivalent to the cumulative burden of all men, in Gethsemane that He descended below all things so that all could repent and come to Him" (Benson, p. 7).

While tradition locates Gethsemane on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives, the exact spot remains unknown. Luke associates it with the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39), and John notes that it lay across the Kidron brook (John 18:1), which flows from the north along Jerusalem's east side. The particular use of "place" (Greek topos) to describe the spot in the gospels of Luke and John suggests that the location was bound up with Jesus' destiny and consequently possesses a sacred character (Luke 22:40; John 18:2). It was a spot that Jesus and his disciples customarily visited (Luke 22:39), which allowed Judas and the others to find him on the night of his arrest (John 18:2).

(Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 542.)

Orson F. Whitney Recounts a Dream of the Garden of Gethsemane:

One night I dreamed—if dream it may be called—that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior's agony. I saw Him as plainly as I see this congregation. I stood behind a tree in the foreground, where I could see without being seen. Jesus, with Peter, James and John, came through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, he passed over to the other side, where he also knelt and prayed. It was the same prayer with which we are all familiar: "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matt. 26:36-44; Mark 14:32-41; Luke 22:42).

As he prayed the tears streamed down his face, which was toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I wept also, out of pure sympathy with his great sorrow. My whole heart went out to him, I loved him with all my soul, and longed to be with him as I longed for nothing else.

Presently he arose and walked to where the Apostles were kneeling—fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least suggestion of anger or scolding asked them if they could not watch with him one hour. There he was, with the weight of the world's sin upon his shoulders, with the pangs of every man, woman and child shooting through his sensitive soul—and they could not watch with him one poor hour!

Returning to his place, he prayed again, and then went back and found them again sleeping. Again he awoke them, admonished them, and returned and prayed as before. Three times this happened, until I was perfectly familiar with his appearance—face, form and movements. He was of noble stature and of majestic mien—not at all the weak, effeminate being that some painters have portrayed—a very God among men, yet as meek and lowly as a little child.

All at once the circumstance seemed to change, the scene remaining just the same. Instead of before, it was after the crucifixion, and the Savior, with those three Apostles, now stood together in a group at my left. They were about to depart and ascend into Heaven. I could endure it no longer. I ran out from behind the tree, fell at his feet, clasped him around the knees, and begged him to take me with him.

I shall never forget the kind and gentle manner in which He stooped and raised me up and embraced me. It was so vivid, so real, that I felt the very warmth of his bosom against which I rested. Then He said: "No, my son; these have finished their work, and they may go with me, but you must stay and finish yours." Still I clung to him. Gazing up into his face—for he was taller than I—I besought him most earnestly: "Well, promise me that I will come to you at the last." He smiled sweetly and tenderly and replied: "That will depend entirely upon yourself." I awoke with a sob in my throat, and it was morning.

"That's from God," said my companion (Elder A. M. Musser), when I had related it to him. "I don't need to be told that," was my reply. I saw the moral clearly. I had never thought that I would be an Apostle, or hold any other office in the Church; and it did not occur to me even then. Yet I knew that those sleeping apostles meant me. I was asleep at my post—as any man is, or any woman, who, having been divinely appointed to do one thing, does another.

(Orson F. Whitney, "The Divinity of Jesus Christ," Improvement Era 29 [January 1926]: 4.)

Hugh Nibley on the Atonement:

The Atonement is nothing less than the answer to the Terrible Question: "Is this all there is?" If you are a saint, you know that this is a wicked world; if you are the most cynical and worldly unbeliever, you still know by experience that it is a vicious one. It seems that everything we want here is either destructive or trivial. I am going to bypass the tempting list of quotations on the subject—Shakespeare, Sophocles, Matthew Arnold, William James, and so on—and turn directly to the scriptures, where Peter is not philosophizing or theologizing but stating the facts of life: "Go about (anastraphete, conduct yourselves) in fear during your transient stay (paroikias chronon), knowing that perishables like silver and gold cannot free you from the futile way of life of your fathers" (1 Peter 1:17-18). Thus he concludes his comment: "For all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as wild flowers; the grass withers and the flowers crumble. But the word of the Lord endures forever" (1 Peter 1:24-25). Between these two statements of the problem Peter gives us another choice; there is an order of things that goes back "before the foundation of the world" and is now emerging again to our advantage—"manifest in these last times for you" (1 Peter 1:20). It is the carrying out of the Atonement, for which the law of Moses was a preparation.

Jacob, in the Book of Mormon, goes right to the point. The problem is "that our flesh must waste away and die; . . . death hath passed upon all men" (2 Nephi 9:4, 6); and without the resurrection, entropy—the good old Second Law of Thermodynamics—must take over, "and if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more" (2 Nephi 9:7). That is entropy, and what is to stop it? Jacob grasps the situation: "There must needs be a power," he says, "of resurrection," and such a power has indeed been provided, "to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator" (2 Nephi 9:6). What a comfort to know that things are under control after all. The Fall has put us into a state of corruption in which it would be disastrous to remain if man should "put forth his hand and partake also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever [in his sins]" (Moses 4:28). Nobody wants to live forever in a sewer, yet according to Shakespeare even that is preferable to the alternative: "The weariest and most loathed worldly life that age, ache, penury, and imprisonment can lay on nature is a paradise to what we fear of death."

But it doesn't have to be that way. That is just the point.

The Atonement makes available the only kind of lasting life worth having. The great Christian tract on the Atonement, Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, begins with an exhilarating prospect: "God . . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds [note the plural]. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:1-3).

People are usually surprised to learn that atonement, an accepted theological term, is neither from a Greek nor a Latin word, but is good old English and really does mean, when we write it out, at-one-ment, denoting both a state of being "at one" with another and the process by which that end is achieved. The word atonement appears only once in the New Testament (Romans 5:11 in the King James Version), and in the Revised Standard Version it does not appear at all, since the new translation prefers the more familiar word "reconciliation." Paul has just told us that the Lord "sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High," so reconciliation is a very good word for atonement there, since it means literally to be seated again with someone (re-con-silio)—so that atonement is to be reunited with God.

The Greek word translated as "reconciliation" is katallagein. That is a business term which the Greek-English Lexicon tells us means "exchange, esp. of money; . . . change from enmity to friendship, reconciliation; . . . reconciliation of sinners with God." It is the return to the status ante quo, whether as a making of peace or a settlement of debt. The monetary metaphor is by far the commonest, being the simplest and easiest to understand. Hence, frequently the word redemption literally means to buy back, that is, to reacquire something you owned previously. Thus Moses: "But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh" (Deuteronomy 7:8). Redemption, or atonement, restores one to a former, happier condition. "And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemest to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?" (2 Samuel 7:23).

By redemption, someone has paid a price to get you off, but the frequent use of the commercial analogy is not out of reverence for trade and commerce but the opposite. The redeemed are bought to clear them of all worldly obligation by paying off the world in its own currency, after which it has no further claim on the redeemed: "And the child of eight days shall be circumcised for you, every male through your generations, born of a house or a purchase of silver of any outsider who is not of thy seed. He must certainly be circumcised, born of your house, or bought with your silver; and it shall be my covenant in [among or with] thy flesh for an everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:12-13). All the newborn are taken into the family, which is united by an eternal covenant by the token shedding of blood (circumcision) to become the seed of Abraham—this is a real at—one-ment. The Greek equivalent is lytrosis, a ransoming. Paul tells the saints to prepare for the salvation that has been made available by disengaging from this world—"denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world"—so that God "might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people" (Titus 2:12, 14). Salvation is likewise rescue (soteria), also rendered deliverance. Another expression is "for a price," the word being time, "that which is paid in token or worth of value." He paid for us what he thought we were worth so he could join us with him. In his letter to the Ephesians, the proposition reads like a business agreement, not binding but releasing: "In whom we have bail (apolytrosin—our release pending the judgment) through his blood, the pardoning (aphesin, setting-aside) of misdemeanors (paraptomaton, blunder, trespass) on consideration of the riches (ploutos) of his generosity (charitos), which he has bestowed upon us in all wisdom and understanding (phronesei) (Ephesians 1:7—8). Next Paul tells us that it was all the Savior's idea, "that in the economy (oikonomia) of the fullness of times the whole thing might be brought together again in Christ (anakephalaiosasthai)—things in the heavens and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:9-10). A great at-one-ment indeed! Meanwhile Paul counsels the saints, "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption (bought free, apolytroseos)," and to be united in love, "forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:30, 32). So when the scriptures speak of atonement, it is always re-conciliation, redemption, re- surrection, re-lease, salvation, and so on. All refer to a return to a former state. This is even more vividly and concretely expressed in the Hebrew terminology.

In Semitic languages, where one root can have many meanings, the first rule is always to look for the basic or literal meaning of the word, which in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic usually takes us back to early days and simple homely affairs of life in the desert or the countryside. One simple physical act often triggers a long line of derivatives, meanings that are perfectly reasonable if one takes the most obvious steps from one to the next, but which can end up miles from the starting place. The basic word for atonement is kaphar, which has the same basic meaning in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic, that being "to bend, arch over, cover; . . . to deny, . . . to forgive, . . . to be expiated, . . . renounce." fn The Arabic kafara puts the emphasis on a tight squeeze, such as tucking in the skirts, drawing a thing close to one's self. Closely related are Aramaic and Arabic kafat, fn meaning a close embrace, which are certainly related to the Egyptian hpet, fn the common ritual embrace written with the ideogram of embracing arms. It may be cognate with the Latin capto, and from it comes the Persian kaftan, fn a monk's robe and hood completely embracing the body. Most interesting is the Arabic kafata, as it is the key to a dramatic situation.

It was the custom for one fleeing for his life in the desert to seek protection in the tent of a great sheik, crying out, "Ana dakhiluka," meaning "I am thy suppliant," whereupon the Lord would place the hem of his robe over the guest's shoulder and declare him under his protection. In the Book of Mormon, we see this world as a plain, a dark and dreary waste, a desert. We see Nephi fleeing from an evil thing that is pursuing him. In great danger, he prays the Lord to give him an open road in the low way, to block his pursuers, and to make them stumble. He comes to the tent of the Lord and enters as a suppliant; and in reply, the Master, as was the ancient custom, puts the hem of his robe protectively over the kneeling man's shoulder (katafa). This puts him under the Lord's protection from all enemies. They embrace in a close hug, as Arab chiefs still do; the Lord makes a place for him and invites him to sit down beside him—they are at—one (2 Nephi 4:33; Alma 5:24).

This is the imagery of the Atonement, the embrace: "The Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" (2 Nephi 1:15). "O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies!" (2 Nephi 4:33). "Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you" (Alma 5:33).

(Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, edited by Don E. Norton [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1989], 559.)

B. H. Roberts on the Atonement:

If it be true that men value things in proportion to what they cost how dear to them must be the atonement, since it cost the Christ so much in suffering that he may be said to have been baptized by bloodsweat in Gethsemane, before he reached the climax of his passion on Calvary.

One who comprehends, even if only vaguely, all that Christ went through must be led inevitably to ask, "Was it worth it?" And Roberts witnesses that in light of the incredibly glorious outcome, it was and indeed is worth it. The achievement is to be more than man's renewal, more than a bright example, more than salvation from physical and spiritual death for all living things, more than the vindication of all the attributes of God. Beyond all these it is a perpetual union and reunion of the soul of man with the soul of God, the making of divine men, the bringing of man to life like unto God's, fullness of life. For all those who will (and both the Father and the Son are helpless in uplifting those who will not), it is the glorious infinite becoming unto godliness.

(The Meaning of Christ—the Truth, the Way, the Life: an Analysis of B. H. Roberts' Unpublished Masterwork by Truman G. Madsen, BYU Studies, vol. 15 (1974-1975), Number 2 - Winter 1975 284.)

Daniel H. Ludlow on the Atonement of Jesus Christ:

To meet the demands of the Atonement, the sinless Christ went first into the Garden of Gethsemane, there to bear the spiritual agony of soul only he could bear. He "began to be sorrowful and very heavy," saying to his three chief disciples, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, unto death" (Mark 14:34). Leaving them to keep watch, he went further into the garden, where he would suffer "the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam" (2 Ne. 9:21). There he "struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conceive as possible" (JC, p. 613).

Christ's Atonement satisfied the demands of justice and thereby ransomed and redeemed the souls of all men, women, and children "that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities" (Alma 7:12). Thus, Latter-day Saints teach that Christ "descended below all things"- including every kind of sickness, infirmity, and dark despair experienced by every mortal being-in order that he might "comprehend all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth" (D&C 88:6). This spiritual anguish of plumbing the depths of human suffering and sorrow was experienced primarily in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was there that he was "in an agony" and "prayed more earnestly." It was there that his sweat was "as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44) for he bled "at every pore" (D&C 19:18). It was there that he began the final March to Calvary...

To the thoughtful woman and man, it is "a matter of surpassing wonder" (AF, p. 77) that the voluntary and merciful sacrifice of a single being could satisfy the infinite and eternal demands of justice, atone for every human transgression and misdeed, and thereby sweep all mankind into the encompassing arms of his merciful embrace. A President and prophet of the LDS Church writing on this subject said:

In some mysterious, incomprehensible way, Jesus assumed the responsibility which naturally would have devolved upon Adam; but which could only be accomplished through the mediation of Himself, and by taking upon Himself their sorrows, assuming their responsibilities, and bearing their transgressions or sins. In a manner to us incomprehensible and inexplicable, He bore the weight of the sins of the whole world, not only of Adam, but of his posterity; and in doing that opened the kingdom of heaven, not only to all believers and all who obeyed the law of God, but to more than one-half of the human family who die before they come to years of maturity as well as to the heathen, who having died without law, will, through His mediation, be resurrected without law, and be judged without law, and thus participate...in the blessings of His Atonement [Taylor, pp. 148-49].

(Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 82.)

James E. Faust on the Atonement:

All of us benefit from the transcendent blessings of the Atonement and the Resurrection, through which the divine healing process can work in our lives. The hurt can be replaced by the joy the Savior promised. To the doubting Thomas, Jesus said, "Be not faithless, but believing." (John 20:27.) Through faith and righteousness all of the inequities, injuries, and pains of this life can be fully compensated for and made right. Blessings denied in this life will be fully recompensed in the eternities. Through complete repentance of our sins we can be forgiven and we can enjoy eternal life. Thus our suffering in this life can be as the refining fire, purifying us for a higher purpose. Heartaches can be healed, and we can come to know a soul-satisfying joy and happiness beyond our dreams and expectations. ("Woman, Why Weepest Thou?" Ensign, Nov. 1996, 52.)

It has been almost two thousand years since the wondrous occasion when death was conquered. We still do not know how the Savior was able to take upon Himself and bear our transgressions, our foolishness, our grief, our sorrows, and our burdens. It was indefinable and unfathomable. It was almost unbearable. The indescribable agony was so great in Gethsemane that "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44). The haunting cry on the cross, in a loud voice in His native Aramaic, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is, being interpreted, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34) gives but a mere glimpse of His suffering and humiliation. One cannot help wondering how many of those drops of precious blood each of us may be responsible for.

Even though, as a man or a woman, we are born, live a brief moment, and then die, through the atonement of Jesus Christ we will all live after death. Through the divinity which is within us as a gift of the great Creator, we can come to complete fruition as heirs of God with eternal powers, dominions, and progression without end. Paul said this gift is a free gift (see Rom. 5:15). Through the Mediation and Atonement we will be resurrected ourselves without going through any part of the atoning agony that the Son of God went through. ("The Supernal Gift of the Atonement," Ensign, Nov. 1988, 12-13.)

We challenge the powers of darkness when we speak of the perfect life of the Savior and of his sublime work for all mankind through the Atonement. This supernal gift permits us, through repentance, to break away from Satan's grasping tentacles. ("Serving the Lord and Resisting the Devil," Ensign, Sept. 1995, 6.)

Through the atonement and those singular events surrounding it, all of the terrible individual and collective sins of mankind were taken upon the Lord's shoulders. The marvelous result of this great suffering was that he was able to redeem from physical death the believers and the obedient as well as the unbelieving and disobedient. (D&C 46:13-14; Acts 24:15; 1 Cor. 15:22.) Every person ever born or yet to be born is the beneficiary of both the mediation and the atonement of the Savior. (Alma 11:42.) ("The Supernal Gift of the Atonement," Ensign, Nov. 1988, 12.)

It is not necessary for anyone to depend continually upon the testimony of another person regarding the mediation, atonement, and resurrection of Christ as our Redeemer and Savior. Each can savor the sweetness of the truths of the gospel by obedience to the principles, ordinances, and covenants. One can still go to the Garden of Gethsemane, but the Lord Jesus cannot be found there, nor is he in the Garden Tomb. He is not on the road to Emmaus, nor in Galilee, nor at Nazareth or Bethlehem. He must be found in one's heart. But he left us the great Comforter (John 14:16) and the everlasting power of the priesthood. ("The Supernal Gift of the Atonement," Ensign, Nov. 1988, 14.)

(James E. Faust and James P. Bell, In the Strength of the Lord: The Life and Teachings of James E. Faust [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1999], 256.)