Coming unto God

This week in our New Testament class, we are reading and discussing about Jesus' last few days here on Earth. We are learning about the injustices and pains He had to face and the true depth of His sacrifice for mankind. He "fell on his face, and prayed, saying "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matt. 26:39). As I have been reading the New Testament this semester, I have noticed that Jesus always gives the glory, honor, and respect to the Father after He performs any sort of miracle. He never tries to boast, brag, or do His own will. Jesus knew His purpose and did not want to do anything to detract from fulfilling it. He came to Earth to perform what we call the "Atonement." This word literally means "the process of becoming at one", particularly with God. Therefore, Jesus came to Earth to help all of us be able to become "at one" with God the Father. Without Him, we would not ever be worthy to live with God. In order to be able to lift us up, Jesus had to descend below the depths of all sin, guilt, shame, sorrow, bodily pain, sickness, and temptations. He had to experience these feelings and rise above them. I always thought it was quite admirable that Jesus went through all these difficult things, yet all along was giving the credit to His Father. I used to wonder, "Why doesn't He take some of the credit for Himself? After all, He is doing a lot."

But, I have come to better understand that Jesus, like all of us, strives to serve the Father and do as He commands. While it is true that He underwent the utmost agony and sacrifice for the world, He gave the glory to the Father because it is He who makes it all possible. He pays the ultimate price. A great analogy that my professor gave this week helped me to understand this. He prompted us to think of the story of Abraham sacrificing his son, Isaac. Whenever we read this story, to whom do we give more respect and credit -- Abraham or Isaac? Of course, Isaac was the one that was going to die as a sacrifice. But, do we not revere Abraham for his strength and courage in being the one to perform the sacrifice? This is similar to the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ. Jesus is the mediator between God and man. He makes it possible for us to come to God because of His Atonement. However, if it were not for the Father and His great and eternal plan for our salvation, none of it would be possible!

Listening and Love

"Jesus wept."

This is the shortest verse in all of canonized scripture, yet to me it has one of the deepest meanings. The context of this scripture is the story of Lazarus and when Jesus raises him from the dead. Jesus was well acquainted with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, who were all followers of the Savior. He had shared His teachings with them before and it seems like they were His friends too. When they told Jesus that Lazarus had been dead for at least 4 days, He already knew this. He knew that He had the power to bring Lazarus back to life as well, and that He would do that. From Jesus' perspective, there was no problem. There was not anything to be sad about. However, when He saw these people whom He loved crying and in despair over the loss of their family member, He had compassion and wept with them. Some people may think that they cannot relate to Jesus because He led a perfect life. But, it is important to note that although Jesus had great knowledge and understanding, He also felt human emotions. He wanted to understand the sorrow, pain, frustration, confusion, loneliness, joy, faith, hope, and love that mortals experience.

In this story, Jesus also shows us a great example that we can apply in our daily lives. Sometimes, like I'm sure all of us have experienced, a friend will come to me with a concern or issue of theirs. They may complain about it and express their feelings of fear, low self-confidence, sadness, and pain. From my perspective, the answer to their problems can often seem quite clear or it may seem like they are overreacting. My first instinct is to tell them that it isn't as bad as it seems, or to offer reasonable solutions for the issue at hand. However, what most people truly need is just to feel loved and understood. They will figure out the solutions to their problems over time and with patience, work, and faith. God gives us these problems to work through so that we can grow. Sometimes, we just need to let others work out their own concerns. Most often what we can do to truly help is give a listening, compassionate ear and mourn with them. Jesus clearly knew that everything would work out with Lazarus. He could have told Mary and Martha that they did not need to be sad because Lazarus would live again. But, He is loving and compassionate and wants to give us comfort and assurance. He feels sad when we are sad, even though everything is under control in the eternal scheme of things. In the same way, we should all strive to be a little more patient and compassionate with those around us. Criticism never helps anyone. When we love others and help to carry their burdens, that is when true power comes. So many barriers can be broken down through a simple act of listening and love.

Obedience to the Lord

 This week we learned more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how it is through Jesus Christ -- and nobody or nothing else -- that we are ultimately saved. This caused me to reflect on how wonderful it is that Christ knowingly chose to sacrifice himself for our sake. This scripture stuck out to me as I read in the Book of John this week:

17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Jesus Christ was not forced to do what He did for us. He was not tricked or deceived. He knew the entire plan outlined from beginning to end. Jesus knew that it would be difficult and painful. But, He also understood the great eternal consequences of His sacrifice for all of Creation. He knew that it was a commandment from the Father to perform the Atonement for our sins, but the Father still let Him choose if He would do it or not. Nobody truly had the power to kill Christ, but He was able to give up His own life for our cause. He chose to come to Earth and experience a mortal life, though He already lived with God before. He chose to give up his life and experience all human sin, anguish, pain, weakness, doubt, and every other dark experience of mortal life. Because of this choice, Jesus knows us all individually and we are indeed His "sheep", if we will choose to follow Him. 

Jesus Christ also chose to rise and live again and to be resurrected. Because of Him, we will one day do the same. Through His obedience to the Father in completing the Atonement, our salvation is possible. We now must be tested to see if we can use our agency (ability to choose) properly too. We are given commandments of the Father that require sacrifice, persistence, and determination to keep. Our human nature makes this difficult for us and inevitable that we will slip up at times. This is alright! As long as we are firmly anchored in Jesus Christ and follow His example, we can be saved from our fallen state. We must follow His example of obedience to the Father's will. Though it may not always make total sense in the moment, I know that the Lord's will is always far better than our own. I have felt and seen this in my own life that as I choose to do what God would have me do, I am blessed. 

"Be ye therefore perfect"

In His teachings to the people during the Sermon on the Mount, Christ admonishes the people to "be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). What a daunting task! How are we as human beings supposed to be perfect? Even more, how could we possibly hope to attain the level of perfection of our Father in Heaven? A closer look at the translation of this verse gives some insight and comfort. The word translated to "perfect" in the English translation of the Bible is actually τέλειος (téleios) in the Greek, which means "complete" (www.blueletterbible.org). So, Christ is not telling us that He expects us never to sin, make a mistake, or mess up. What He is saying is that we must be whole and complete in our growth and progression. In this section, Christ also gives us the "beatitudes," which can be thought of as a list of spiritual steps to repentance. We must be humble and teachable, recognize our wrongs and feel sorrow for them, desire to become better, forgive ourselves and others, teach righteousness to other people, and be willing to stand up for what is right no matter what persecution may follow. There are also ordinances (spiritual acts that we do to symbolize a promise with God) that we must receive in order to become whole. Christ showed us the example as He was baptized and given the gift of the Holy Spirit. He was free of sin and did not need to be cleansed, like we are when we are baptized. So, there must be some other reason that baptism is a requirement besides just the cleansing effect it has. The ordinances of the gospel signify promises and commitments we make with God and they allow us to be fully prepared to meet Him someday. This gives me a lot of comfort to know. I am certainly not perfect in the sense of never doing anything wrong. But, that is not what the Lord asks of us anyways. He knows that we make mistakes. He accepts that we have weaknesses and wants to help us improve. What He wants from us is commitment and earnest effort to change. By following His commandments and laws and receiving the proper ordinances of the gospel, we will be able to achieve completeness like God asks.