When I think about the garden of Gethsemane, I am very grateful. When I think about the crucifixion, I am very saddened. When I think about the resurrection, I am amazed. This is when I really am reminded that Christ is part of the Godhead. I am reminded of his divine nature. He has the ability to allow himself to suffer a physical death and he has the power to be risen again.
When Christ is in the garden of Gethsemane, I imagine him kneeling in prayer, being humble and submissive. When I think of Christ on the cross I see him extremely worn out, with an abused and broken body. When I think of the resurrected Christ I just see a perfect, powerful being. This is the same type of being I imagine Christ to be today. This is the Christ that I trust and try to follow to become more like.
I find it interesting that Christ does not have Mary touch him. I think this again shows that Mary had a spiritual relationship with Christ. Rather than caring for him physically, financially, etc., she cared for him through her personal relationship with him.
Something that I have always though about are the scars in the Savior's hands and feet from the crucifixion. I thought we were supposed to have perfect bodies when we are resurrected. However, it totally makes sense that Christ would have it that we remember the crucifixion and what he did for us by dying for us. Also, it proves to others that he was the being that was crucified. There wasn't a body switched or anything like that. In a lot of visual depictions of Christ after he was resurrected, he has his palms showing the viewer. I think this might be significant. It looks like he is open to embrace the viewer. It is a very welcoming and peaceful position.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Trial and Crucifixion
Pilate's political past was something that I was not familiar with until studying the student manual. I kind of thought that he was a pretty good guy, but in order to please the people he allowed for Christ to be crucified. However, the stuff he was responsible for before that point do not provide him with a good history of behavior. Also, I did not know that the washing of Pilate's hands was a ritualistic ceremony. I thought it was just a symbolic act.
The physical idea of crucifixion is such a gruesome one to me. It is beyond me that people had to die that way for the crimes they committed. However, Christ didn't even commit a crime, or even a sin, and he experienced the cruel and unusual death of crucifixion. I am not entirely interested in the details of the torture involved in the events just prior to crucifixion. Instead, the words spoken by Christ on the cross seem more important to me. They show the essence of his being and his message. I imagine I would be pretty angry if I were being punished for a crime I was not guilty of. I would want revenge on those that arrested me. I would feel anger towards them. Of course, this is the natural man type thing to do. Instead of this, Christ forgives and has concern for others on the cross. This really shows how he was not focused on himself, but on serving and helping others.
The physical idea of crucifixion is such a gruesome one to me. It is beyond me that people had to die that way for the crimes they committed. However, Christ didn't even commit a crime, or even a sin, and he experienced the cruel and unusual death of crucifixion. I am not entirely interested in the details of the torture involved in the events just prior to crucifixion. Instead, the words spoken by Christ on the cross seem more important to me. They show the essence of his being and his message. I imagine I would be pretty angry if I were being punished for a crime I was not guilty of. I would want revenge on those that arrested me. I would feel anger towards them. Of course, this is the natural man type thing to do. Instead of this, Christ forgives and has concern for others on the cross. This really shows how he was not focused on himself, but on serving and helping others.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Gethsemane
The Atonement is the most profound gospel subject to me. I am incredibly humbled and extremely grateful for what the Atonement covers. It has such a simple application, but such an abundant all-encompassing range. It sometimes makes my head hurt to think about. I think that I will never fully understand the vastness of The Atonement, but that is okay. What I do know is that I love my savior. I know that he knows exactly what I am going through at any point in my life. He knows my physical pains, he knows my emotions, he knows my temptations, he knows EVERYTHING. If he suffered for the sins of just one person, that would be amazing on its own. When you start to think about all of the people that The Atonement covers, it is truly mind blowing. When I read the verses of sacrament hymns, I tear up a little bit. I forget where I am, what is going on in my life, and my problems. I have a personal moment. It is like a huge amplification of that feeling when a stranger does something randomly super nice for you. It is so comforting. These hymns have gotten me though the hardest times of my life.
I am eternally grateful that Christ suffered for my sins in the garden of Gethsemane. Even though he had intense suffering, when I think about him in the garden that night, I want to smile. I know that it is because of The Atonement and this suffering that I will get to see him again. That makes me so happy.
I am eternally grateful that Christ suffered for my sins in the garden of Gethsemane. Even though he had intense suffering, when I think about him in the garden that night, I want to smile. I know that it is because of The Atonement and this suffering that I will get to see him again. That makes me so happy.
The Last Supper
When Christ says "Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me" to the Apostles all of them say "is it I?" This is interesting to me. In my mind, because I know that Judas is the one to betray Jesus, I always think of Judas as a sort of slimy, untrustworthy guy. However, he was an Apostle appointed by CHRIST. He obviously had to seem like a pretty awesome guy. This means that all of the Apostles had no idea which Apostle was going to be the one to betray Christ.
In John 14, it talks a little about doing greater works than what Jesus did on the Earth. The study manual helped me understand that he was referring to works in the eternities. This is where what he did on Earth has real meaning that is where they should look to behold his glory.
Also in John 14, the gift of the Holy Ghost is discussed. It seems kind of funny that while Christ was with them the Apostles didn't have the Holy Ghost. However, if you think about it, they didn't really need the Holy Ghost. They could get guidance from Jesus Christ, the son of God. They had one member of the Godhead, so they didn't need the Holy Ghost. Once they did not have the constant companionship of Christ, they had need for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. That is why they received the Holy Ghost later on.
In John 14, it talks a little about doing greater works than what Jesus did on the Earth. The study manual helped me understand that he was referring to works in the eternities. This is where what he did on Earth has real meaning that is where they should look to behold his glory.
Also in John 14, the gift of the Holy Ghost is discussed. It seems kind of funny that while Christ was with them the Apostles didn't have the Holy Ghost. However, if you think about it, they didn't really need the Holy Ghost. They could get guidance from Jesus Christ, the son of God. They had one member of the Godhead, so they didn't need the Holy Ghost. Once they did not have the constant companionship of Christ, they had need for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. That is why they received the Holy Ghost later on.
Olivet Discourse and Parable of 10 Virgins
The parable of the 10 virgins obviously is talking about being prepared for the second coming of Christ. During this study of the parable, I noticed a small detail that stuck out to me. Is is that the wise virgins were guided by the Holy Spirit. If we take the Holy Spirit to be our guide in our lives, we will not be deceived. We will be drawn closer to God and be ready for the second coming. Another small detail I really noticed was that there was a complete separation between the two groups at the hour when the bridegroom arrived. There are two distinct groups. There are those who had oil, those who were ready for the bridegroom, and those without, those who did not plan ahead. There is no in between.
Beyond the parable, we must prepare for the actual second coming of Christ. There are certain signs of the times that will warn us that we must make final preparations. Several of these have already been fulfilled, so this is definitely something we need to think about. It is more than a hypothetical possibility that is nice to think about. It is something we actually need to prepare for.
The sure fire way to be prepared when Christ comes again is to always be prepared. I want to repent for things that I need to repent for sooner than later. If people keep putting off repentance, it likely might not happen before the time when it all will count.
Beyond the parable, we must prepare for the actual second coming of Christ. There are certain signs of the times that will warn us that we must make final preparations. Several of these have already been fulfilled, so this is definitely something we need to think about. It is more than a hypothetical possibility that is nice to think about. It is something we actually need to prepare for.
The sure fire way to be prepared when Christ comes again is to always be prepared. I want to repent for things that I need to repent for sooner than later. If people keep putting off repentance, it likely might not happen before the time when it all will count.
The Triumphal Entry
The fact that Christ cried over Jerusalem struck me as significant. The study guide clarifies that it is the people of Jerusalem that Christ wept over. It was the contention between religious sects that prevented them from seeing the truth in the gospel that Christ taught. It seems like several common gospel problems are at work in this instance. First of all, each sects has pride. They think they are better than each of the other sects. If they had concentrated on themselves I think they would have seen that Christ's message was a higher law and they could truly become more righteous. Secondly, contention really causes the spirit to not be heard. I know this from personal experience. Weather it be contention about religion, or any type of contention, the peaceful presence of the spirit cannot dwell with a spirit of contention. It is easy to see why this is upsetting to Christ. He brought such an important message and the people of Jerusalem are busy fighting over who is more holy.
When people welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem, they were told that Christ was the Messiah. They were so excited to finally be released from the corrupt rule they had been under. They thought that he would get rid of the Roman rule and be a great military and social leader and reformer. Of course, Jesus was capable of being this, he is omnipotent, but he had a more important change to bring about. He came to release them from religious corruption instead. There were some truths in the religions practiced, but through hypocrisy of religious leaders, worldly motivations, and dead religious forms being used, the religious state of Jerusalem was in poor shape. I think this serves as a great example of what we should prioritize in our lives. Even if our economic, political, social being is not the best, if we are doing well spiritually, it will all be okay.
When people welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem, they were told that Christ was the Messiah. They were so excited to finally be released from the corrupt rule they had been under. They thought that he would get rid of the Roman rule and be a great military and social leader and reformer. Of course, Jesus was capable of being this, he is omnipotent, but he had a more important change to bring about. He came to release them from religious corruption instead. There were some truths in the religions practiced, but through hypocrisy of religious leaders, worldly motivations, and dead religious forms being used, the religious state of Jerusalem was in poor shape. I think this serves as a great example of what we should prioritize in our lives. Even if our economic, political, social being is not the best, if we are doing well spiritually, it will all be okay.
Overview of Last Week
A fairly large amount of the material in the four gospels is about the last week of the Savior's life. Almost half of John is the last week, and almost all of that is the last 24 hours of the Savior's life. Since the last week is emphasized so much, it must mean that it is very important.
Leading up to this point in Christ's life, Jesus healed Lazarus. This greatly motivated those who were plotting against Jesus to really take action. They sought to destroy him and also any evidence of his Messiahship and miracles. They wanted to kill Lazarus since he was proof that Christ was miraculous. I think that Jesus waiting until he had trained his Apostles to do such a bold miracle as raising Lazarus from the dead. He had brought the gospel to the Earth and established the framework of the church, so now he could fulfill his other purpose and perform The Atonement. Christ knew what was going to happen and he prepared for it so the gospel could continue even after his death. He was ready to die for our sins via The Atonement. It is so apparent that he is ready that he goes to Jerusalem. He could have avoided his crucifixion by hiding out in the middle of nowhere, but he had to go to Jerusalem to fulfill the mission that he was sent to Earth by Heavenly Father to accomplish.
The fourth day of Christ's last week was spend outside of Jerusalem, but what happened on this day is not discussed in the Gospels. This is interesting to me. I wonder if it was just a day of planning, if anything significant happened, and where exactly Christ spent this day. I hope this information is available after this life. I am curious!
Leading up to this point in Christ's life, Jesus healed Lazarus. This greatly motivated those who were plotting against Jesus to really take action. They sought to destroy him and also any evidence of his Messiahship and miracles. They wanted to kill Lazarus since he was proof that Christ was miraculous. I think that Jesus waiting until he had trained his Apostles to do such a bold miracle as raising Lazarus from the dead. He had brought the gospel to the Earth and established the framework of the church, so now he could fulfill his other purpose and perform The Atonement. Christ knew what was going to happen and he prepared for it so the gospel could continue even after his death. He was ready to die for our sins via The Atonement. It is so apparent that he is ready that he goes to Jerusalem. He could have avoided his crucifixion by hiding out in the middle of nowhere, but he had to go to Jerusalem to fulfill the mission that he was sent to Earth by Heavenly Father to accomplish.
The fourth day of Christ's last week was spend outside of Jerusalem, but what happened on this day is not discussed in the Gospels. This is interesting to me. I wonder if it was just a day of planning, if anything significant happened, and where exactly Christ spent this day. I hope this information is available after this life. I am curious!
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