It was Thursday night, well past sunset. They had already partaken of the sacrament and sung a hymn when Jesus stepped out of the room and set his feet on the path that would lead first to the garden Gethsemane and before the sun set again to the cruel cross of Calvary. The garden spot was a place well known to the Savior. A place he was accustomed to visiting when in Jerusalem. I wonder if he knew the first time he visited that garden the role it would play in God’s grand design. Perhaps he did. Or perhaps he simply chose it that night because it would provide the peace and solitude he would need to bear the weighty burden that awaited him.
John, his apostle, was with him. But John wrote little about what was about to happen. Only that Jesus, with his disciples, crossed over a brook into the garden. What we do know from John is that in the hours leading up to this moment Christ’s thoughts were on us. He prayed that we would find joy in the world, that we would be with him once out of this world, and that we would enjoy the same relationship he had with his Father and our Father. We know that he was aware of the trials he would soon face and that he tried to prepare his disciples to face their own. And we know when he stepped over that brook into the garden of Gethsemane his will was aligned to his father’s will.
He left most of his disciples behind, all but Peter, James, and John who traveled with Jesus deeper into the garden. Then, after giving them instructions to watch and pray…
41 ...he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
We know from latter day revelations that this is when Christ first took upon himself the consequential pain and suffering of our sins and the sins of all mankind.
The Savior himself described his suffering to Martin Harris by saying:
15 ...how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
18 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
I know from experience that sin brings pain in both body and spirit. I also know from experience that Christ has the power to quench that pain and that he will do it if I repent.
It is my testimony that Christ earned that right and purchased that power by taking upon himself the sins of all mankind, first in Gethsemane and again on Golgotha, by giving his will entirely to our Heavenly Father, by laying down his life as a sacrifice for sin, and by taking it up again as living proof that the son of God has power to forgive sins, to restore life, to mend broken hearts, and to see us safely home to our Heavenly Father.
Christ’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane lasted for three or four hours. But that suffering alone did not complete his atoning sacrifice. There was more to come. An armed mob came to the Garden to seize Jesus. One of his apostles fought back, but Jesus stopped him and instead allowed himself to be arrested. “Then,” according to Matthew, “all the disciples forsook him, and fled.”
He was arrested and dragged in front of religious and political leaders who both mocked him and cared more for their own high station than they did for the one person who could truly raise them up. He was spit upon, hit, whipped, pierced and cut. He was made to carry his own cross to a hill called Calvary or Golgotha. There he was placed on the cross where nails were pounded through his feet, his hands, and his wrists. The cross was placed near a roadside where he was further mocked with taunting and wicked words. The sky turned black and for three hours the Son of God hung on that cross. At some point, Jesus became aware that his mother Mary was there. Imagine the personal sacrifice Mary must have been making as she watched her son suffer. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son for us. It is important to acknowledge also the mother that gave her son for us.
I can sense it throughout the Book of Mormon, in King Lamoni’s conversion experience and especially in the Messianic visions of Isaiah, Nephi, and King Benjamin for whom the life of Christ included his mother.
7 And lo, 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.
8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.
And I can sense it most of all in the temple and my marriage covenant as my relationship with Thelma draws me to closer to Christ.
Through all of this sacrifice, taunting, and torture, Jesus had been able to rely on the support of his Father. But for reasons best known to our Father in Heaven, the Savior had to take his next steps without divine help. All the pains of Gethsemane returned and, for a brief moment, the Father withdrew his spirit. Thus wracked with pain and utterly alone, he calls out “My god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me.” Eventually, the spiritual pain ended. Christ called out to his father once again, then died. His spirit entered the paradise of God where saints from ages past eagerly awaited his arrival. His body was taken from the cross and hurriedly placed in a tomb before the sun went down. There it remained for two nights until Sunday morning when Mary Magdalene returned to find both an empty tomb and the resurrected, glorified Savior: living proof that Christ has overcome both sin and death.
Because he did, so can we if we will accept him and follow him.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
As often as we repent, he will heal us. As often as we suffer, he will comfort us. As often as we seek his guidance, the Holy Ghost will show us all things that we should do. Our path does not pass through Gethsemane or Golgotha. Our path begins with, first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, second repentance, third baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. As we repent always and feast on the words of Christ, they will lead us to the sacrament table and the temple where we can receive the added strength, knowledge, and power to not only return to our Heavenly Father, but to become ever more like the Savior. More able to feel the joy he feels when a single soul accepts his atoning sacrifice. More eager to repent, to forgive, to show mercy and love. More capable of lifting up the hands that hang down and strengthening the feeble knees.
How grateful I am to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. He lives. He actively guides and directs his church through prophets and apostles. Only his church can offer the ordinances and covenants that will allow us to receive the full blessings made possible by his atoning sacrifice. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is in many ways incomprehensible. But it is also ever present. It is wonderful, wonderful to me.
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