Easter Sunday

I'm a little late to the party with this post, and I don't like that a bunch of people have already posted this on their Facebook accounts, but it's a great video. The message comes from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's General Conference talk that he delivered last Sunday.



And these thoughts come from a BYU professor (found in this post):

Three times in the Gospel of John, Jesus says that he must be lifted up as part of his returning to the Father and his drawing of all men to himself (see John 3:14, 8:28, 12:32–33), and the last time he makes it clear that this was a reference to how he would die. Crucifixion was a humiliating but above all a very public form of execution, but what seems to be significant here is that Jesus’ sacrifice is there for all, in every age and place, to see. John 3:14 directly connects it with the raising of the brazen serpent upon a pole in the wilderness (see Numbers 21:9), an image that Book of Mormon authors recognized and expanded (see 2 Nephi 25:20; Alma 33:19; Helaman 8:14–16). Therefore the crucifixion illustrates that Jesus’ salvific death provides healing and life to all who will simply look to him.

But perhaps the strongest endorsement of “lifting up” imagery came from Jesus himself, who told the Nephites: “My Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works” (3 Nephi 27:14–15).

Recognizing that crucifixion was tantamount to “being hanged on a tree” adds another level of symbolism. Under the law of Moses, cursed was anyone who was hanged on a tree (see Deuteronomy 21:22–23), perhaps explaining one of the reasons why Jesus’ opponents were anxious to have the Romans crucify him. While it is not completely clear what rights of capital punishment the Jewish authorities might have had (the prohibition against putting any man to death in John 18:31 might have referred to Jewish law, since they could not execute on Passover), having the Romans kill Jesus did more than shift blame. Jewish execution for blasphemy would have been stoning, whereas Roman execution for treason or rebellion was crucifixion. The high priest had asked Jesus the night before, “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61), and nothing could have proved that Jesus was just the opposite, cursed of God, than having him hanged on a tree. Nevertheless, this “cursing” was part of the Savior’s descending below all things. Indeed, Paul wrote, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).

What was amazing, however, was that the cross, the Tree of Cursing, became, in effect, a Tree of Life to us. After Jesus expired, a soldier pierced his side with a spear, “and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:24). Hearkening back to Jesus’ discussion of living water with the Samaritan woman in John 4 or his discourse on the life-giving Spirit in John 7 in which rivers of living water flow out of him, this sign suggests that Jesus’ death brought forth life. Indeed, in medieval iconography there developed the image of the “verdant cross,” or green cross, which was often portrayed as sprouting leaves and fruit.

I can't expound much more than what's mentioned in the video or from that excerpt. I guess there is one thing...

Today I got to teach Sunday school, and I was sharing some of my thoughts on the Pearl of Great Price, one of our books of scripture. Something that has always impressed me about that short book is that in such a short space, there are several visions that prophets have of the vastness of God's creations. Moses, Enoch, and Abraham all give some good description of how expansive God's works are.

Sometimes we look at the infinite extent of his creations and see that as reason to think of Heavenly Father's distance from us, that he couldn't possibly be mindful of each of us individually, or worse, that he wouldn't even really be concerned with those matters anyway. However, with that same thought about the unlimited power that he has to create, why can't that same power be unlimited in its ability to focus on each one of us in our respective circumstances?

I think my favorite - and maybe most fervent - prayers come when I have lost something. The pattern is always the same too. I'll be anxiously looking for something, and at the time it really feels life or death to me. There is just no way I can do without having whatever it is that I'm looking for. And after I've exhausted every possibility and spent a lengthy amount of time looking, I'll reluctantly kneel down in prayer asking for help in trying to find whatever it.

Well last Tuesday I had a CD coming in the mail that was the latest from my favorite band. We have two mail keys, but I'm the only one who ever gets the mail because I'm the only one who actually uses our address for anything, so I have leave one mail key on the kitchen counter, and the other in my car. That day I couldn't find either one of them, and I knew my other roommates wouldn't have any idea where either would be. I looked everywhere, combed my room high and low. I even remember seeing one of the keys fall out of my pants pocket in the days prior, so I was absolutely sure that one was in my room somewhere. I kept thinking to myself that there are only so many places a key can be in a 10x10" room, right? But I couldn't ever find it. And then I got down on my knees and offered up a prayer that went something like this:

Heavenly Father, I've lost both mail keys. I know that I did it, and I know that one of them is in this room. I really want to go and get my CD even though I know it contains music that isn't actually that conducive to the spirit, and I'm sure that's annoying to thee, but thou knowest how excited I am for this, and how much I've been looking forward to this, so wouldst thou please just help me find it? It would really mean a lot to me. I know I'm childish, but please help me out. Thanks.

And I got up, and my first thought was to check the pockets of one of my sweatshirts that I hadn't worn in awhile, and sure enough, it was in there.

Now I know that for a lot of people that it would be pretty easy to just write that off as just a coincidence, that it wasn't really God answering my prayer. But I have had that same scenario replayed dozens of times. Nobody on this planet has a stronger testimony that God answers prayers about stupid-things-you-lose-that-you-probably-shouldn't-find-anyway than I do. Nobody.

But for me, I really, truly believe that it is one of many evidences that I have that God is not only well-acquainted with the going-ons of my day to day life, but that he even cares enough to answer a request that is so menial as, where is my mail key? It's important to him because it's important to me. I love that intimacy that he has with each one of us if we'll just open up our eyes to those evidences that are available to us daily. And it's that same kind of intimacy with which the Savior carried out the Atonement and made available to all of us, on the conditions of repentance, the blessings of salvation. The Atonement is both infinite and intimate. It's as much for the multitude as it is for me, and I am so grateful to have that knowledge.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.