In honor of Easter, these are my two favorite scriptures that intimately describe Christ's sacrifice and atonement for us, and the altruistic reason behind it.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah writes much about Jesus Christ's life even though Isaiah was born hundreds of years before Him. Isaiah saw how Jesus would live. He saw the good He accomplished. He also saw how Jesus was mistreated, and how He suffered and died for us.
Isaiah 53: 3-5
In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah writes much about Jesus Christ's life even though Isaiah was born hundreds of years before Him. Isaiah saw how Jesus would live. He saw the good He accomplished. He also saw how Jesus was mistreated, and how He suffered and died for us.
Isaiah 53: 3-5
3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Sometimes I wonder how I survived what I went through. I used to dwell on how badly I was mistreated, how rough my childhood was. For how bad I had it, Jesus had it worse. This fact in and of itself doesn't make me feel better, but it helps me put things in perspective. It helps me remember that I am not alone in my pain and mistreatment. It reminds me that He CHOSE to suffer and sacrifice Himself so that I could someday be healed from my own wounds. He loves me THAT MUCH!
4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Sometimes I wonder how I survived what I went through. I used to dwell on how badly I was mistreated, how rough my childhood was. For how bad I had it, Jesus had it worse. This fact in and of itself doesn't make me feel better, but it helps me put things in perspective. It helps me remember that I am not alone in my pain and mistreatment. It reminds me that He CHOSE to suffer and sacrifice Himself so that I could someday be healed from my own wounds. He loves me THAT MUCH!
There's another prophet who saw much of Jesus' life. He was also born before Jesus Christ lived. This prophet's name is Alma, and his writings are found in the Book of Mormon. He writes something very similar to Isaiah. Like Isaiah, he saw Christ suffer. His writings add a little more depth into the reason why it was so necessary for Christ not only die for us, but to suffer such awful emotional and physical torment.
Alma 7: 11-12
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.
This scripture in Alma was pointed out to me by a friend of my Mom's at just the time I needed it the most. I was in the depths of despair after everything came out about the abuse. It felt like my whole life had completely fallen apart. I didn't know what to think anymore or how to feel. Everything just felt hopeless. I just knew that nobody understood what I had been through, or what I was feeling. Then that friend read me those two verses.
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.
This scripture in Alma was pointed out to me by a friend of my Mom's at just the time I needed it the most. I was in the depths of despair after everything came out about the abuse. It felt like my whole life had completely fallen apart. I didn't know what to think anymore or how to feel. Everything just felt hopeless. I just knew that nobody understood what I had been through, or what I was feeling. Then that friend read me those two verses.
She said that Christ didn't suffer ONLY to take away our sins (although that was a big part of it). With tears in her eyes she explained that Christ suffered EVERYTHING. He suffered physically, socially, emotionally, spiritually, in every possible way. He knew what it felt like to be terribly sick, unfairly bullied, shockingly betrayed, and horribly abused.
He CHOSE to go through ALL of that so that He could better understand us! He would know how we felt when we went through something similar. He would know the pain we were feeling. He would know how to succor and comfort us in our time of need. He knew He needed to experience ALL of those trials so that He could have perfect compassion for us. That way He knew that we would have at least ONE person who always understood what we were going through.
That is also how He can take our pain and suffering away. He has already carried that painful burden! We just need to hand our pain back over to him! He didn't suffer ONLY for our sins, but for our pains and afflictions. His mission was to HEAL us from EVERYTHING because that's how infinite his MERCY and how boundless his LOVE is for us!
He CHOSE to go through ALL of that so that He could better understand us! He would know how we felt when we went through something similar. He would know the pain we were feeling. He would know how to succor and comfort us in our time of need. He knew He needed to experience ALL of those trials so that He could have perfect compassion for us. That way He knew that we would have at least ONE person who always understood what we were going through.
That is also how He can take our pain and suffering away. He has already carried that painful burden! We just need to hand our pain back over to him! He didn't suffer ONLY for our sins, but for our pains and afflictions. His mission was to HEAL us from EVERYTHING because that's how infinite his MERCY and how boundless his LOVE is for us!