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Christ’s suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross reveals God’s
love for us—a love that reaches out to us before we reach out for it
(1 Jn. 4:8-10). Knowing that Christ suffered
and died for every person teaches us how great is the worth of souls in
God’s sight (D&C 18:10-11). To those
who feel burdened by guilt, the message that Christ has suffered for sins
is meant to bring joy and peace of conscience (Mosiah
4:1-3). Someone who relies wholly on the merits of him who is mighty
to save (2 Ne. 31:19) does not live in fear
of God’s judgment or with a debilitating sense of having failed
to meet God’s standards.
The Book of Mormon teaches that in addition to our sins, Christ also
took on our pains, sicknesses, and infirmities so that he would know how
to succor us (Alma 7:11-12). Whatever we suffer,
Christ is with us: our suffering is his suffering. Gethsemane and Calvary
are the sign that Christ has descended below all things. There is no abyss
so deep, no place so dark or lonely, that we cannot find him there (D&C
88:6; Rom. 8:38-39).
As our exemplar, the suffering Christ challenges
us to follow him in the way of self-sacrifice. We too have crosses to
take up on behalf of others (Matt. 16:24-25; Mark
10:21). Among the covenants we make in the temple is a commitment
to follow Christ's example by sacrificing all that we possess, even our
own lives if necessary, for the sake of God's work.
| Nearer, My God, to Thee (Hymns
100) |
| Where Can I Turn for Peace? (Hymns
129) |
| B. H. Roberts: This sacrifice
of the Christ is the manifestation of that love of God that binds
in sympathetic relations all the intelligences of the universe together;
by which they suffer not only with each other and because of each
other, but at need for each other. |
| Defense
of the Faith and the Saints (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1907),
2:515 |
Obert C. Tanner: The
ideal of vicarious sacrifice, that is, self-sacrifice motivated
by love for others, has an influence over man's spirit that turns
out, in the long run, to be more far-reaching and influential and
powerful than armies and navies and empires. This is the explanation
of Calvary as taught by the Church, namely, that Christ our elder
brother loved us enough to die for us. . . .
Besides this profound influence of sacrifice upon the lives of
those for whom the sacrifice was made, there is another fact about
the crucifixion of Christ, namely, the case it makes for a faith
that right makes right, that there is a guiding mind in the universe,
a destiny that eventually overcomes man's evil, and redeems even
tragedy itself. . . . [F]rom that tragic cross we understand better
the right from wrong, that good will should prevail over ill will,
that wisdom ought not to lose out in its struggle with ignorance
and bigotry, that we now have a world to redeem . . . |
| Christ's
Ideals for Living (Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School Union
Board, 1955), 425, 427 |
| Neal A. Maxwell: How
could we expect to be joyous and to receive all that "the Father
hath" if we do not strive to become like [Christ]? And, in fact,
can we, on our scale, be like Him without sharing in the "fellowship
of his sufferings"? He shares with us His work; does that not
suggest the need for our sharing, too, some of the suffering as well
as the genuine cheer that He has known? |
| Even As
I Am (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1982), 108 |
| Jeffrey R. Holland: Christ
walked the path every mortal is called to walk so that he would know
how to succor and strengthen us in our most difficult times. He knows
the deepest and most personal burdens we carry. He knows the most
public and poignant pains we bear. He descended below all such grief
in order that he might lift us above it. There is no anguish or sorrow
or sadness in life that he has not suffered in our behalf and borne
away upon his own valiant and compassionate shoulders. |
| Christ and
the New Covenant (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997), 223-24 |
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