recognize, accept, and embrace

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane Heinrich Hofmann

Until Jesus mission, there was no way for man to erase sins or overcome death. Since no person could pay for their sins, they were lost forever. "It is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of foul; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another."  Alma 34:10-11

Only the sacrifice of Jesus would suffice to pay for our sins. It saddens me to imagine the horrible suffered Jesus endured for me. "For behold the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, ans is from  all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men,  working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases. And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hears of the children of men. 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." Mosiah 3:5-7

Jesus died for us, an agonizing death. It must be noted that this is not unique to Christ, the giving of one's life for one's friends. The difference was the intensity and eternal nature of the suffering, which could not be endured by a mere mortal.

"And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam. And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men that all might stand before him at the great judgment day." 2 Nephi 9:21-22

Such a gift He gave us: wonderful, incomprehensible, infinite, and eternal. Although many believe Jesus' greatest suffering occurred upon the cross, this is not so. The garden was the place and the time. "Christ's agony in the garden is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. The thought that He suffered through fear of death is untenable, Death to Him was preliminary to resurrection and triumphal return to the Father from whom He had come, and to a state of glory even beyond what He had before possessed; and, moreover, it was within His power to lay down His life voluntarily, He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conceive as possible. It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only god was capable of experiencing. No  other man however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered s; for his human organism would have succumbed, and syncope would have produced unconsciousness and welcome oblivion. In that hour of anguish Christ meet and overcame all the horrors that Satan, "the prince of this world", could inflict. The frightful struggle incident to the temptations immediately following the Lord's baptism was surpassed and overshadowed by this supreme contest with the powers of evil.


In some manner, actual and terribly real, though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world." James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 613

One hint of the truthfulness of this idea is Jesus plea in the Garden. "O my Father, if this cup man not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." Matthew 26:42 His sacrifice could only be endured, because He was the literal son of God. The prophesy was fulfilled. "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" Luke 22:44

"At the ninth hour, or about three in the afternoon, a loud voice, surpassing the most anguished cry of physical suffering issued form the central cross, rending the dreadful darkness. It was the voice of the Christ: "Eloi, Eloi, lmam sabachthani?" which is being interpreted, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" What mind of man can fathom the significance of that awful cry: it seems, that in addition to the fearful suffering incident to crucifixion, the agony of Gethsemane had recurred, intensified beyond human power to endure. In that bitterest hour the dying Christ was alone, alone in the most terrible reality. That the supreme sacrifices of the son might be consummated in all its fullness, the Father seems to have withdrawn the support of His immediate presence, leaving to the Savior of men the glory of complete victory over the forces of sin and death." James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 660-661

Jesus paid dearly for our sins, making it possible for us to be forgiven and re-enter the presence of the Father. This is something we must not forget, something we cannot re-pay, something we must recognize, accept, and embrace to reap the benefits. Jesus is my light, my strength, my salvation, my all.