They depend on one’s diligence in keeping God’s commandments. Later, after Jesus’s arrest and appearance at trial, Peter, accused of knowing Jesus and being one of His confidants, denies that accusation not once but three times. Following the Last Supper, Jesus left Peter, James, and John to wait while He ventured into the Garden of Gethsemane alone. … And the sun was darkened.”21 “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent,”22 causing many to exclaim, “The God of nature suffers.”23 Finally, even the seemingly unbearable had been borne, and Jesus said, “It is finished.”24 “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”25 Someday, somewhere, every human tongue will be called upon to confess as did a Roman centurion who witnessed all of this, “Truly this was the Son of God.”26. I testify that the living God is our Eternal Father and that Jesus Christ is … In 2009, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland articulated his feelings about this significant aspect of Christ’s Crucifixion: It is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal ministry the Father may never have been closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of suffering. “All at once the circumstance seemed to change. The Book of Mormon declares emphatically that “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.”13, By this same grace, God provides for the salvation of little children, the mentally impaired, those who lived without hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and so forth: these are redeemed by the universal power of the Atonement of Christ and will have the opportunity to receive the fulness of the gospel after death, in the spirit world, where spirits reside while awaiting the Resurrection.14, To begin to meet the demands of the Atonement, the sinless Christ went into the Garden of Gethsemane, as Elder Whitney saw in his dream, there to bear the agony of soul only He could bear. Where is it? Jeffrey R. Holland, Article: The Atonement of Jesus Christ April 3, 2015 The utter loneliness and excruciating pain of the Atonement begun in Gethsemane reached its zenith when, after unspeakable abuse at the hands of Roman soldiers and others, Christ cried from the cross, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? Falling on His face in prayer, “sorrowful … unto death,”8 the record says, His sweat came as great drops of blood9 as He pled with the Father to let this crushing, brutal cup pass from Him. that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”20 In the depths of that anguish, even nature itself convulsed. We are not the ones to judge Judas’s fate, but Jesus said of His betrayer, “Good [were it] for that man if he had not been born.”7. My other plea at Easter time is that these scenes of Christ’s lonely sacrifice, laced with moments of denial and abandonment and, at least once, outright betrayal, must never be reenacted by us. … And [he] went out, and wept bitterly.”14. Mr. Glenn was a roofing contractor. As President Uchtdorf so beautifully noted earlier, we know from scripture that Jesus’s messianic arrival in Jerusalem on the Sunday preceding Passover, a day directly analogous to this very morning, was a great public moment. It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins. With faith in the God He knew was there, He could say in triumph, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”19, Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. Take a real tour through one of the most sacred places on earth, according to Jeffrey R. Holland, next to Gethsemane. ... And the path of salvation has always led one way or another through Gethsemane. He lived the perfect life and is the perfect example. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You can buy it here: bit.ly/1jrIkdC For Times of Trouble with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.. 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. 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. I know that my Savior Jesus Christ lives. As a result of the Fall, all persons born into mortality would suffer these two kinds of death. Isaiah 63:3, 5; see also D&C 76:107; 88:106; 133:50. Especially and always the blessed women in the Savior’s life stayed as close to Him as they could. If we at times wonder if our own agendum for life deliver to us challenges that seem unique, it would be worth our remembering that, when we feel rejected, we are members of the church of him who was most rejected by his very own with no cause for rejection. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. With all the conviction of my soul I testify that He did please His Father perfectly and that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son in that hour. Watch the full podcast here: https://www.ComeFollowMe2021.com https://www.bookofmormonevidence.org (1924), 77. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord. Elder Jeffery R. Holland addressed BYU students Sunday Evening as part of the CES Fireside. It’s entitled “Feed My Sheep” and was a precursor to the talk that he gave in General Conference. “What further need have we of witnesses?” they cried. Late last winter I was feeling pretty blue about something or other that didn't seem quite right at the university and found myself wondering if all the effort was really worth it. Following the Last Supper, Jesus left Peter, James, and John to wait while He ventured into the Garden of Gethsemane alone. I could endure it no longer. By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles W ithout safety ropes, harnesses, or climbing gear of any kind, two brothers—Jimmy, age 14, and John, age 19 (though those aren’t their real names)—attempted to scale a sheer canyon wall in Snow Canyon State Park in my native southern Utah. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. We don’t know all that was going on here, nor do we know of protective counsel which the Savior may have given to His Apostles privately,12 but we do know Jesus was aware that even these precious ones would not stand with Him in the end, and He had warned Peter accordingly.13 Then, with the crowing of the cock, “the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. My whole heart went out to Him. He wants you to succeed. I loved Him with all my soul and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else.” Having already offered the Atonement in our behalf, Christ has done His part to make that longing a reality. Obviously the unconditional blessings of the Atonement are unearned, but the conditional ones are not fully merited either. Thus, of divine necessity, the supporting circle around Jesus gets smaller and smaller and smaller, giving significance to Matthew’s words: “All the disciples [left] him, and fled.”15 Peter stayed near enough to be recognized and confronted. Indeed, it is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal ministry the Father may never have been closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of suffering. … I stood behind a tree in the foreground. 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. Now I speak very carefully, even reverently, of what may have been the most difficult moment in all of this solitary journey to Atonement. He later wrote: “One night I dreamed … that I was in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. The Witness of Latter-day Prophets, The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “The Atonement of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, Mar. This Easter week and always, may we stand by Jesus Christ “at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death,”21 for surely that is how He stood by us when it was unto death and when He had to stand entirely and utterly alone. See Bible Dictionary, “Barabbas,” 619. I know that He came to this earth and lived a perfect life. In short it can include all of us at various times in our lives. But, of course, it could not pass. As we approach this holy week—Passover Thursday with its Paschal Lamb, atoning Friday with its cross, Resurrection Sunday with its empty tomb—may we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear. He “began to be sore amazed and to be very heavy,” saying to Peter, James, and John, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, unto death.”15 Why? It is His gospel. Truly the Redeemer of us all said: “I will not leave you comfortless: [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you].”20. He Lives! As Elder Whitney felt regarding this majestic gift and the giver of it, may we so feel: “I was so moved at the [gift] that I wept … out of pure sympathy. See John 5:26–29; 2 Nephi 9:5–12; Alma 34:9–14. — Jeffrey R. Holland I want to add my testimony to that of these apostles of the Lord. He performed miracles and He still performs miracles today. These include His ransom for Adam’s original transgression so that no member of the human family is held responsible for that sin.8 Another universal gift is the Resurrection from the dead of every man, woman, and child who lives, has ever lived, or ever will live on earth. This video is from a DVD devotional that's included with Elder Holland's book 'For Times of Trouble'. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish. To all such, I speak of the loneliest journey ever made and the unending blessings it brought to all in the human family. Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually, Our Father’s Plan—Big Enough for All His Children, Temple Worship: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need, We Are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down, Come Let Us Go Up to the Mountain of the Lord. “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.”9, Furthermore, although the Resurrection of the body is a free and universal gift from Christ, a result of His victory over death, the nature of the resurrected body (or “degree of glory” given it), as well as the time of one’s Resurrection, is affected directly by one’s faithfulness in this life. Because He suffered “the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.”16 He experienced “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 [was] his anguish.”17, Through this suffering, Jesus 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.”18 In doing so, 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.”19, The utter loneliness and excruciating pain of the Atonement begun in Gethsemane reached its zenith when, after unspeakable abuse at the hands of Roman soldiers and others, Christ cried from the cross, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? We know the divine plan required Jesus to be crucified, but it is wrenching to think that one of His special witnesses who sat at His feet, heard Him pray, watched Him heal, and felt His touch could betray Him and all that He was for 30 pieces of silver. Modern revelation clarifies the different orders of resurrected bodies,11 promising the highest degree of glory only to those who adhere to the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ.12, Of course neither the unconditional nor the conditional blessings of the Atonement are available except through the grace of Christ. By living faithfully and keeping the commandments of God, one can receive additional privileges; but they are still given freely, not technically earned. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. Of this personal challenge, Christ said. “The Divinity of Jesus Christ,” Improvement Era, Jan. 1926, 224–25; see also Liahona, Dec. 2003, 16; Ensign, Dec. 2003, 10; punctuation, capitalization, and spelling standardized. Then he wrote: 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. See D&C 76:50–113; compare 1 Corinthians 15:40–42. Episodes typically have provocative titles; the episode about Elder Holland was called “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire,” accusing the Mormon apostle of lying to members, including exaggerating the church’s growth rate. James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 12th ed. Every other principle, commandment, and virtue of the restored gospel draws its significance from this pivotal event.2. — Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Atonement of Jesus Christ,” Liahona, December 2003. As a young missionary, Elder Orson F. Whitney (1855–1931), who later served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had a dream so powerful that it changed his life forever. - Jeffrey R. Holland "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from … Bill Reel’s “Mormon Discussion” podcast recently took on Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. See Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 49. I ran from behind the tree, fell at His feet, clasped Him around the knees, and begged Him to take me with Him. The Apostle Paul made clear, for example, that those fully committed to Christ will “rise first”10 in the Resurrection. Returning from such anguished prayer, He found His three chief disciples asleep, prompting Him to ask, “Could ye not watch with me one hour?”10 So it happens two more times until on His third return He says compassionately, “Sleep on now, and take your rest,”11 though there would be no rest for Him. … Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, came through a little wicket gate at my right. Liahona. To the thoughtful woman and man, it is “a matter of surpassing wonder”27 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 humankind into the encompassing arms of His merciful embrace. He was born Oct. 2, 1911, in Pawtucket, R.I., and moved to Barefoot Bay in 1987 from North Providence, R.I. Mr. Higginbotham was a retired, self-employed contractor in the Rhode Island area. Soon enough He was arraigned before the Israelite leaders of the day—first Annas, the former high priest, then Caiaphas, the current high priest. Its importance in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be overstated. See Revelation 13:8; Moses 4:1–2; Abraham 3:22–27. In their rush to judgment these men and their councils declared their verdict quickly and angrily. When the uttermost farthing had then been paid, when Christ’s determination to be faithful was as obvious as it was utterly invincible, finally and mercifully, it was “finished.”18 Against all odds and with none to help or uphold Him, Jesus of Nazareth, the living Son of the living God, restored physical life where death had held sway and brought joyful, spiritual redemption out of sin, hellish darkness, and despair. I … He has served on the governing boards of a number of civic and business-related corporations. “I shall never forget the kind and gentle manner in which He stooped and raised me up and embraced me. Mar 22, 2018 - Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane with quote from Jeffrey Holland. September 7, 2008. These might include those longing to be married, those who have lost a spouse, and those who have lost—or have never been blessed with—children. Of course others among the believers had their difficult moments as well. But Elder Jeffrey R. Holland recently shared on Facebook how the Savior's Atonem Latest Church statement condemns recent ‘violence and lawless behavior’ Newsroom of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - A message from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He pressed on. of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. (1916), 21–22. As he started to bear testimony with tears in his eyes of the Savior in Gethsemane, you could hear a pin drop, i don't think anyone even breathed! This was also a telling time among those who knew Jesus more personally. Elder Whitney described the pain and suffering he saw the Savior bear. 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 … : ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.’. Holland received a second master's degrees and later a Ph.D in American Studies at Yale University. What a privilege to be here. With that He was brought before the gentile rulers in the land. He was of noble stature and of majestic mien … the very God that He was and is, yet as meek and lowly as a little child. by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. By Elder Jeffrey R. 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