Thoughts on Good Friday
What if you were to prepare a gift for someone you love very much and it required you to personally sacrifice a lot in order to give it? You put your all into the gift because you know that if it is accepted and used, it could change the person’s life for good. How would you feel personally as you present your gift? Now, consider of the following scenarios:
Scenario 1:
The recipient doesn’t really know you and doesn’t understand the gift or its value, and so he/she ignores it or sets it aside.
Scenario 2:
The recipient sincerely thanks you, uses the gift sometimes but leaves it mostly unused.
Scenario 3:
The recipient accepts the gift, realizes the price you paid, and uses the gift every day, benefiting fully from it as it was intended.
As the Easter approaches, I’ve been studying about what transpired in the garden of Gethsemane and a quote by Crystal Close caught my attention. She said, “We all slumber when we feel Christ's atonement doesn’t apply to us.” As soon as I read it I felt uncomfortable because I realized that I often take the gift of the atonement for granted. I, too, slumber at times. Such as when I am partaking of the sacrament and my mind is elsewhere. I thoughtfully wondered if during these times the Savior is saying to me, “couldest not thou watch one hour?” (Mark 14:37)
I’ve always wondered why the apostles couldn't or wouldn’t stay awake that night. Did they not understand what was happening? How could they? In an incomprehensible way, Christ took on our sins and suffered for them. It was the hour when He became our Savior and a pinnacle moment for all mankind and heaven, yet nobody of flesh noticed it or witnessed it. Perhaps this is one reason Christ suffered the atonement again on the cross, so that people would see and take note of its eternal significance.
As you think of the sacramental prayers (Moroni 4-5), the two words that are repeated and emphasized to reinforce our responsibility in this covenant are witness and remember.
As I pondered and studied these questions and the scriptures, the Spirit taught me that Christ didn’t need his apostles to watch him and witness his strength, nor did he need their support. Those are human desires. He suffered the atonement in meekness, solely for OUR benefit and never for his own. It was the purest of gifts given. I then came to the conclusion that Jesus wanted his apostles to witness it so that they would remember it and therefore be more likely to take advantage of the precious gift. Like them, we are also invited to remember each week as we take the sacrament (Moroni 4-5) and accept his divine gift to save and heal us.
Christ’s gift to all is based on love, regardless of whether we understand it, or even remember it. We might not be focused upon these things, but the Savior lovingly instructs us with understanding as he did his apostles in Matthew 26:41:
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Because of this frustrating human condition stated for which the Savior is fully aware, we are instructed to frequently take the sacrament and always remember Him.
As believers of Jesus Christ, let us not be half-hearted with the Atonement.
In D&C 88:33 it reads:
33 For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.
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