Why do we need a Savior? There are so many reasons, but here are three of the most important: We need to be saved from sin. We need to be saved from death. We need to reach our divine potential. The atonement opens the door to all of those great possibilities. As we examine the pivotal moments of the atonement we might imagine ourselves as onlookers at Gethsemane, on Golgotha, and at the empty tomb. Here are a few things we might notice.
Gethsemane is taken from the Hebrew word Gat (press) and Shelem (oil) and it is said that some of the Olive trees in that grove are over 2000 years old. That means they may have been there when Jesus entered with his disciples that night, after the final supper with the twelve. Jesus, the anointed one, becomes himself the "oil beaten for the light," pressed down by the weight of our sins. Mark tells us that Jesus began to "be sore amazed," and the note adds, "astonished." Neal Maxwell comments, "Imagine the creator of the universe, astonished." The weight of the world was on his shoulders, literally, as Jesus took upon himself not only the sins of the world, but the consequences of sin being in the world. This means that whatever is wrong with us, from addictions to phobias, can be helped through the atonement. The stress of our sins and shortcomings caused his capillaries to burst, until he bled at every pore, a condition known as hematidrosis. And that was only the beginning.
"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… 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." Alma 7:11-12
Golgotha means the place of the skull. Crucifixion was used by the Romans as a deterrent, and thus was made as tortuous and as publicly humiliating as possible. When Pilate offered to release a prisoner to the crowd, he offered them the choice between the Savior and Jesus bar Abba, known to us as Barabbas. The name means Jesus, son of the father. Satan seems to come up with these counterfeits at every turn. Matthew's text could actually be translated, "Which Jesus do you choose?" Jesus made seven statements that we know of while on the cross, beginning with the plea for forgiveness for the soldiers who crucified him. Most heartrending is his cry to the Father, "Why has thou forsaken me?" Melvin Ballard postulated that the Father had to withdraw his Spirit from his son in order for Jesus to choose the moment and manner of his death. He gave up his life. It was not taken from him.
"In that hour I think I can see our dear Father, behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even he could not endure it any longer, and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last struggles, so he bowed his head, and hid in some part of his universe, his great heart almost breaking for the love that he had for his Son. Oh, in that moment when He might have saved his Son, I thank him and praise him that he did not fail us, for he had not only the love of his Son in mind, but he also had love for us. And so this is what it cost, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of his Son unto men."
Resurrection is a familiar term to us, but we must remember that it had never happened before, and it came as a complete surprise. (In fact, Peter could not believe that Christ was resurrected until he saw the folded burial napkin. No thief would fold burial clothes!) Biblical scholars through the centuries have tried to explain away the resurrection by claiming that Mary and the disciples so desperately wanted Jesus alive that they imagined it. Theologian Luke Timothy Johnson responds that every encounter with the risen Lord showed quite the opposite to be true. The disciples were dazed and confused, and completely shocked by the Lord's sudden entrance. The Lord emphasized his corporeal reality with every appearance, showing his body, and eating and walking with his disciples. In no case did anyone interpret these experiences as symbolic ~ it was literal.
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Jesus referred to himself as both "the resurrection and the life." His atoning sacrifice and his resurrection offers us not only life after death, but a greater abundance of life in our daily existence. Entropy, that 2nd law of Thermodynamics, is overthrown in Him. When we have His spirit, we are more alive, more aware, lighter, and full of His creative power. As Easter approaches, how thankful we are for Jesus, the Life, the Light, our Lord.
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