The Infinite and Eternal Sacrifice of God

Ecce Homo, Antonio Ciseri

In honor of an event that happened nearly 2,000 years ago this day (Good Friday), I wanted to share a paper that I recently wrote for one of my classes this semester on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. May we all remember Him this Easter season and love Him for all that He has given us.

The Infinite and Eternal Sacrifice of God

From the premortal existence until the birth of a babe in Bethlehem, promises were told and prophecies were given that a Messiah would come to open the way for us to return to and become like our Heavenly Parents, and since then men have looked back in awe at the life of that Messiah. In the ancient Americas, Jacob and Amulek both testified that the Messiah would perform a last sacrifice, “infinite and eternal,” to save mankind (see 2 Nephi 9:7 and Alma 34:10). This sacrifice, infinite in time and scope, would reach out to worlds without end, allowing all of the inhabitants of these worlds to obtain a remission of their sins, even before Jesus Christ was born. This sacrifice would be eternal as well, allowing a complete forgiveness and sanctification to occur, allowing us to become like our Heavenly Parents.

Jesus Christ was that Messiah, chosen from the foundations of the world to do what no other could do. Through means unknown to us at the time, He was born of a mortal mother and immortal Father. Of his birth, the prophet Alma wrote: “And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God” (Alma 7:10). From His mother Mary, He inherited the ability to die; from His Father, He was able to live forever, or to willingly lay down his life and take it up again.

He walked a sinless path, bidding us to follow Him. Abinadi taught that Jesus “suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people” (Mosiah 15:5). Because the law of justice could have no hold on a man who had broken no law, Jesus was able to bear the sins of the world. He took upon Himself the punishment of all sin as if He had committed them Himself, which allows Him to then offer the grace and mercy we so desperately need in our lives.

Jesus was qualified through those means to be our Redeemer. And at the end of His mortal ministry, He offered Himself willingly to save us from our sins.

In a quiet garden named Gethsemane overlooking Jerusalem, Jesus knelt in prayer as the burden of sin came upon Him. Feeling for the first time such extreme agony and pain, “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,” he cried in prayer saying “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt” (Mosiah 3:7 and Mark 14:36). In a latter-day revelation, the Lord described this experience as suffering that “caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink— nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:18-19).

As Christ suffered, “there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43). We only receive a sacred reverence as to what was said or done by this angel, but perhaps all this angel could do was tearfully look his Savior in the eyes, and the only words of comfort he could offer were, “Thank you. Thank you.” Soon afterwards, Jesus would be arrested on false charges, tried before an illegal proceeding, and taken to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, to be scourged and crucified. Even though Pilate saw no fault in the man, he allowed the mob to crucify their God.

As Christ hung on the cross, the pains He had suffered hours before returned. The Spirit of God withdrew from His immediate presence, and Jesus cried in agony of soul the words of the Psalmist, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” and was also left with the assurance and praise of the same Psalm, saying, “But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me” (Psalm 22:1, 19). Elder James E. Talmage taught that in that bitterest hour “the Father seems to have withdrawn the support of His immediate Presence, leaving to the Savior of men the glory of complete victory of the forces of both sin and death” (Jesus the Christ, Ch. 35). Though Christ was alone, I believe that the Father could not have been any nearer to His suffering Son until the work could be finished, waiting, and weeping alongside His Beloved Son. Then, three days later, in another quiet garden, the crowning event of the Atonement was manifest when the Christ’s spirit and body were reunited, perfect and exalted.

Because of the Atonement of my Savior, I know that I will be able to overcome all things. Because Christ ministered one by one, I believe His Atonement happened one by one, allowing Him to personally feel all of my feelings so I would never have to suffer alone. Of all the names of praise I could offer to Him, I find myself drawn to a final testimony offered by Nephi, the son of Lehi, in his dying days, after having seen the effects of redeeming grace take full swing in his life: “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6, emphasis added). To Nephi, the Savior was not just the Savior of the world. He was his Savior. And I know that He is my Savior as well, my Jesus, and that He has redeemed my soul from hell.

In closing, as the Prophet Isaiah testified, “For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, [as unlikely as it may seem that they may, after having suffered so much pain and lost so much blood in a process that some women may not survive to give birth to their child,] they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands [with Roman nails as the writing instruments; a permanent reminder of when I suffered pain only a God can suffer, when I bled from every pore, and when I willingly laid down My life so that you could become begotten sons and daughters unto God]” (1 Nephi 21:15-16, commentary added).

Yea, as Jacob wrote, “O how great the goodness of our God!” (2 Nephi 9:10).