"He Is Not Here: for He Is Risen"

            Jesus Christ spent His last few days teaching in Jerusalem by day and spending His nights with friends in Bethany. Most scholars say that He ate His Passover meal on Thursday evening, but some say that it was Wednesday. Whichever night it was, He introduced the sacrament to His Apostles, sang and hymn with them, and took them with Him into the Garden of Gethsemane. He took Peter, James, and John and went a little further. He bade them wait for Him while He went to prayer. After praying several times, He woke His exhausted friends and went to meet His betrayer.

            Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was arrested and taken before the Sanhedrin. After being abused by them all night, He was taken before Pontius Pilate in the early morning hours. Pilate tried to free Him but eventually sentenced Him to death while at the same time releasing a condemned murderer. Jesus was scourged or beaten with a whip made of leather and weighted with sharp pieces of lead and bone. After beating the Savior, the Roman soldiers mocked Him by putting a purple robe on Him and a crown of plaited thorns.

            The Savior had been up more than 24 hours by this time. He spent His day teaching in the temple and His evening with His Apostles. Then He went into Gethsemane where He continued His atoning sacrifice. He spent the night before the Sanhedrin and was taken before Pilate in the morning hours. After all this terrible treatment, He was expected to carry His own cross to Golgotha. His physical strength apparently failed Him because the soldiers compelled another man to carry the cross.

            Jesus was nailed to the cross about 9:00 in the morning. About noon a darkness covered the land, and the Savior died about 3:00 p.m. His body was taken down from the cross and placed in a borrowed tomb where it lay until early Sunday morning. Peter tells us that Jesus Christ visited the spirit world while His body was lying in the tomb.

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water (1 Peter 3:18-20).

For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit (1 Peter 4:6).

            In 1918 President Joseph F. Smith was in his home in Salt Lake City, Utah. He read and pondered the above quoted words of Peter. While he was pondering Peter’s words, a vision opened to him, and he saw “an innumerable company” of “the hosts of the dead, both small and great” gathered in one place. The spirits “were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand.” They were waiting to welcome “the Son of God into the spirit world.” He watched as “the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful.” He preached His gospel to the faithful and taught them “the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance.” He did not visit as wicked, ungodly, unrepentant, or rebellious spirits. (See Doctrine and Covenants 138:11-21.)

            President Smith marveled about what he was seeing, and he continued to ponder Peter’s words where he said that Jesus “preached unto the spirits in prison, who sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering God waited in the days of Noah” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:28). He wondered how the Savior could teach all the spirits in the spirit world during the short period of time that His body was in the tomb. Then the vision continued.

And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them;

But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead (Doctrine and Covenants 138:29-30). 

            We know from President Smith’s vision that the Savior was busy with His work of saving the souls of mankind even though His body was lying in the tomb awaiting resurrection. Early Sunday morning followers of Jesus Christ discovered that His body was missing from the tomb. Soon afterwards the resurrected Savior appeared to them. They were allowed to touch the nail holes in His hands and feet and to thrust their hands into His side.

            To the Jews, the Sabbath Day is Saturday. The Christians changed their Sabbath Day to Sunday because Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Sunday. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event to take place on earth. His Resurrection is celebrated every year in the spring on a day called Easter. Without the events of Easter, there would be no Christmas. If Jesus Christ had not risen from the dead, He would have been just another of the billions of mortals on earth. However, He did rise from the dead and made it possible for all mankind to be resurrected and become immortal. President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) taught the following about the importance of the Resurrection of the Savior.

“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay” [Matthew 28:6].

These are the most reassuring words in all of human history. Death – universal and final – had now been conquered….

Never had this occurred before. There had been only death without hope. Now there was life eternal. Only a God could have done this. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ was the great crowning event of His life and mission. It was the capstone of the Atonement. The sacrifice of His life for all mankind was not complete without His coming forth from the grave, with the certainty of the Resurrection for all who have walked the earth.

Of all the victories in the chronicles of humanity, none is so great, none so universal in its effect, none so everlasting in its consequences as the victory of the crucified Lord, who came forth from the tomb that first Easter morning.

Those who were witnesses of that event, all who saw and heard and spoke with the Risen Lord, testified of the reality of this greatest of all miracles. His followers through the centuries lived and died in proclamation of the truth of this supernal act.

To all of these we add our testimony that He who died on Calvary’s cross arose again in wondrous splendor as the Son of God, the Master of life and death (“Special Witnesses of Christ,” Ensign, Apr. 2001, 15). 

            A beautiful program presented by the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square can be found at this site. It is titled “He Is Risen: A Sacred Easter Presentation.”        

He Is Risen!

            Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, the day that Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the most sacred holiday in the Christian world. The fact that Jesus Christ overcame death and rose from His tomb means that every mortal will one day be resurrected also. At that time, we will stand before Jesus Christ to be judged.

            Most people and many Christians celebrate Easter without a thought about Jesus Christ. Fewer still have considered what our world would be like if Jesus Christ had not completed His atoning sacrifice. Tad R. Callister is one person who has considered life without the Atonement of Christ. He says that life would be “radically different if Christ never made His Atonement.”

            Callister tells of a sacrament meeting where no one thought to bring bread for the sacrament. When the bishop was alerted to the fact, he told the congregation what had happened. He then asked this question: “How would it be if the sacrament table [was] empty today because there [was] no atonement?” If there had been no Atonement made in our behalf, there would be no need for the sacrament table, the cloths, the water, or the bread. Callister thought of this situation and wondered what other consequences there would be. He settled on the following five ways that our lives would be different.

First, there would be no resurrection, or as suggested in the explicit language of Jacob: “This flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more” (2 Nephi 9:7).

Second, our spirits would become subject to the devil. He would have “all power over you” and “seal you his” (Alma 34:35). In fact we would become like him, even “angels to a devil” (2 Nephi 9:9).

Third, we would be “shut out from the presence of our God” (2 Nephi 9:9), to remain forever with the father of lies.

Fourth, we would “endure a never-ending torment” (Mosiah 2:39).

Fifth, we would be without hope, for “if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain…. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 19).

            Callister paints a dismal but true picture of life without the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There would be no hope for a better life. Our physical bodies would rot in the grave, and our spirits would be subject to Satan. We would be permanently shut out of the presence of God. Instead of life everlasting, we would have “never-ending pain.”

            Even with this bleak picture, there are many people who have no idea why they should invite Jesus Christ into their lives. They have no use for Christ or for His teachings. President Ezra Taft Benson was surely speaking of these people when he made the following statement.

Just as a man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ.

No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind” (Ezra Taft Benson, A Witness and a Warning [1988], 33. Quoted in Missionary Preparation Teacher Manual.)

            President Benson says that no one understands their need for Christ until they understand the Fall of Adam. While Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, they lived in an ideal environment. There was no death, illness, or pain. Their food was provided for them, and there were no weeds in their garden. They had no challenges and no growth. They had no children or the possibility of having any offspring.

            When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, a change was wrought in their bodies. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden and out of the presence of God. They became mortal with all the problems of mortality – death, pain, illness, work, and many other trials. They became subject to physical death and spiritual death. They could have children with all their challenges as well as joys of parenthood.

            As the posterity of Adam and Eve, we have inherited the same fallen condition. We are separated from the presence of God, and we are subject to physical death. We have difficulties of life and have to endure the temptations of Satan. We would be subject to Satan forever if there had been no Jesus Christ and no atoning sacrifice.

            I thank Heavenly Father that Jesus Christ overcame physical death when He arose on the third day. Because He lives again, we can all be resurrected and live forever. Because He ransomed Himself for the sins of all mankind, He made it possible for all of us to live with Him forever IF we will repent of our sins and follow Him. He gives us hope, and He helps us to overcome our difficulties. I thank God that Jesus Christ is risen! He lives! He is risen!

He Is Risen!

                It is Easter once again.  All of Christendom rejoices at this Easter season as we commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  A miracle took place on that first Easter morning more than two thousand years ago in Jerusalem.  It was a miracle so magnificent that words cannot fully describe its magnitude.  This day was long foretold by prophets and looked forward to by Saints of God on earth, and spirits waiting in spiritual prison on the other side of the veil.  Yet His disciples were in despair.

                Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles recently described the “crushing sense of defeat and despair [that] enveloped His disciples as Jesus suffered and died on the cross and His body was placed lifeless in the tomb.  Despite what the Savior had repeatedly said of His death and subsequent rising again, they had not understood.  The dark afternoon of His Crucifixion, however, was soon followed by the joyous morning of His Resurrection.  But that joy came only as the disciples became eyewitnesses of the Resurrection, for even the declaration of angels that He had risen was at first incomprehensible – it was something so totally unprecedented.

                “Mary Magdalene and a few other faithful women came early to the Savior’s tomb that Sunday morning, bringing spices and ointments to complete the anointing begun when the Lord’s body was hastily laid in the sepulcher before the approaching Sabbath.  On this morning of mornings, they were greeted by an open sepulcher, the covering stone having been rolled away, and two angels who declared:

                “`Why seek ye the living among the dead?

                “`He is not here, but is risen:  remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

                “`Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again’ (Luke 24:5-7).

                “`Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

                “`And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead” (Matthew 28:6-7).

                “As bidden by the angels, Mary Magdalene looked into the tomb, but it seems that all that registered in her mind was that the body of the Lord was gone.  She hurried to report to the Apostles and, finding Peter and John, said to them, `They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcre, and we know not where they have laid him’ (John 20:2).

                “Peter and John ran to the place and verified that indeed the tomb was empty, seeing `the linen clothes lying … and the napkin, that was about his head, … wrapped together in a place by itself” (John 20:5, 7).  John apparently was the first to comprehend the magnificent message of resurrection.  He writes that `he saw, and believed,’ whereas the others to that point `knew not the scripture, that [Jesus] must rise again from the dead’ (John 20:8-9).

                “Peter and John left, but Mary remained behind, still in mourning.  In the meantime the angels had returned and tenderly asked her, `Woman, why weepest thou?  She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him” (John 20:13).  At that moment the resurrected Savior, now standing behind her, spoke, `Woman, why weepest thou?  Whom sleekest thou?  She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away” (John 20:15).

                “Elder James E. Talmage wrote:  `It was Jesus to whom she spake, her beloved Lord, though she knew it not.  One word from His living lips changed her agonized grief into ecstatic joy.  “Jesus said unto her, Mary.”  The voice, the tone, the tender accent she had heard and loved in the earlier days lifted her from the despairing depths into which she had sunk.  She turned, and saw the Lord.  In a transport of joy she reached out her arms to embrace Him, uttering only the endearing and worshipful word, “Rabboni,” meaning My beloved Master’ (James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 3^rd ed. [1916], 681).

                “Elder Christofferson continued, “And so this blessed woman became the first mortal to see and speak to the resurrected Christ.  Later that same day He appeared to Peter in or near Jerusalem (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5); to two disciples on the road to Emmaus’ (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-35), and in the evening to ten of the Apostles and others, appearing suddenly in their midst, saying, `Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:  handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have’ (Luke 24:39).  Then to further convince them `while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered’ (Luke 24:41), He ate broiled fish and honeycomb before them (Luke 24:42-43).  Later He instructed them, `Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth’ (Acts 1:8).”

                The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints explained that the Resurrection of the Lord “completed the process of the Atonement that included His sinless life, His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His death on the cross.  The Resurrection assured immortality for all, and the blessed Atonement provided a pathway to exaltation for those who will adhere to His gospel principles.

                “At this sacred season, we solemnly testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of all the world.  We know that He lives!  We know that because He lives, we too shall live again….”

                I too testify that Jesus Christ is our resurrected Lord and Redeemer.  Because He overcame both death and sin, we can live again too and walk back into the presence of Heavenly Father.  We must have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, receive the Holy Ghost and endure to the end of our lives.  He is risen!  

He Is Risen!

                    I am thrilled that Easter is here once again.  I love the colors of Easter and the promise of new life that this season brings.  I am especially grateful for the Easter message and feel the need to write something about it.   The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the reason we celebrate Easter.  His atoning sacrifice in our behalf is the reason why we love Him and want to be with Him.  He loved us enough to suffer greatly that we might live with Him and Heavenly Father once again and for eternity.

                    The week before the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, He met in an upper room with His twelve Apostles for a final meeting with them.  This meeting is known as the Last Supper.  After the meal was over, Christ instituted the first sacrament.  Each time we partake of the sacrament we are reminded of Christ and His sacrifice in our behalf.  As we partake of the bread and then the water, we also renew our covenants with God.

                    "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

                    "And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

                    "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:26-28).

                    Jesus Christ then washed and dried the feet of the Apostles to show that great leaders serve their followers rather than being served by them.

                    "He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

                    "After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded" (John 13:4-5, 14-15).

                    Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn together and then went to the Garden of Gethsemane.  There in the Garden, Christ asked the disciples to wait while He took Peter, James and John further into the Garden.  He then asked the three men to wait for Him and watch while He went further to pray.  

 

                    "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder

                    "And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy [began to be distressed and troubled].

                    "Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful [deeply grieved], even unto death; tarry ye here, and watch with me [stay awake].

                    "And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:  nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

                    "And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

                    "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:  the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

                    "He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

                    "And he came and found them asleep again:  for their eyes were heavy.

                    "And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

                    "Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest:  behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners" (Matthew 26:36-45).

                    Judas came with a multitude people sent by the chief priests and Jewish elders.  He greeted Jesus and kissed him.  For his betrayal of Christ, Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver - the going price for an adult slave.

                    "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

                    "And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?  And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

"And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him" (Matthew 26:14-16).

Christ's experience in the Garden of Gethsemane was so excruciating that He sweat drops of blood.  He described His experience in modern-day scripture:  "Which suffering 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" (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18).

After this horrible experience in the Garden, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was taken before Caiaphas and then before Pontius Pilate to be judged.  He spent the entire night going from one place to another and enduring an illegal trial.  Pilate realized that the people were adamant that Christ needed to die.  Pilate had the opportunity to save the life of Christ, but he was too weak to do so.  In his weakness, Pilate actually aided Christ to complete His atoning sacrifice.  Christ was turned over to the soldiers who beat Him and mocked Him.  This must have been a very embarrassing as well as painful experience for the Son of God.  He had been up all night long.  His clothes were taken away from him.  He was flogged - beaten - and then forced to wear a crown of thorns and endure mocking.  When they were finished, they gave His clothing back to Him.   I know what it is like to be embarrassed in front of a group of people.  I own a crown of thorns and have felt the thorns poke into my head as I gently placed the crown on my head.  I have never been beaten, but I have experienced painful cuts and bruises.   What I have experienced is very small compared to what the Savior endured, but I have a better idea of His suffering.

"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.

"And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe [purple robe - Joseph Smith Translation Matthew 27:30].

"And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!" (Matthew 27:28-30).

After being up all night long and being beaten, Christ is then forced to carry the cross upon which He would be crucified.  It is little wonder that He fell under the weight of the cross, requiring someone to help him!

When the procession reached a placed called Golgotha - meaning a place of a skull - Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was nailed to a cross and endured more mocking as He also endured the pain of crucifixion. 

"Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.  And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

"And the people stood beholding.  And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

"And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

"And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.

"And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Luke 23:34-38).

                    Jesus did not have to die.  As the Son of God, He had the power to live forever.  As the son of Mary, he had the capacity to die.  As the Savior of all mankind, He chose to give up His life that we might live again after we die.

                    "And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

                    "And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

                    "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost" (Luke 23:44-46).

                    The body of Jesus Christ was taken down from the cross by some of His friends who wrapped Him in a clean, linen cloth (see Matthew 27:59) and laid Him in a borrowed tomb.  A great stone was rolled in front of the tomb to protect the body of Jesus (Matthew 27:60).  Guards were stationed at the door of the tomb to keep people from taking the body of Christ (Matthew 27:62-66).

                    The Savior's body lay in the tomb through the Sabbath, but early the next morning it was gone.  The tomb was empty when several women brought spices to anoint His body, and an angel told the women that Christ had risen.

                    "And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.

                    "And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted:  Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified:  he is risen; he is not here:  behold the place where they laid him" (Mark 16:5-6).

                    The Apostles and disciples had no idea where the body of Jesus was, and they were very concerned.  They discussed this problem as they met together.

                    "And as they [the Apostles] thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

                    "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself:  handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (Luke 24:36, 39).

                    Besides the eleven remaining Apostles, many other people have seen the resurrected Savior.  Some of those people are Mary Magdalene and the other women at the tomb; Cleopas on the road to Emmaus; Stephen just before he died from stoning; a group of 500 men; Paul the Apostle; a group of 2500 men, women and children on the American continent; the Prophet Joseph Smith, and  

Sidney Rigdon.  The testimony of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon is found in Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24.

                    "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him:  That he lives!

                    "For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father -

                    "That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."

                    The living prophet, even President Thomas S. Monson, also testified that Christ is risen from the dead.  The following statements can be found in the April 2012 issue of Ensign, pp. 4-5.

                    "I believe that none of us can conceive the full import of what Christ did for us in Gethsemane, but I am grateful every day of my life for His atoning sacrifice in our behalf.

                    "At the last moment, He could have turned back.  But He did not.  He passed beneath all things that He might save all things.  In doing so, He gave us life beyond this mortal existence.  He reclaimed us from the Fall of Adam.

                    "To the depths of my very soul, I am grateful to Him.  He taught us how to live.  He taught us how to die.  He secured our salvation."

                    "We laugh, we cry, we work, we play, we love, we live.  And then we die….

                    "And dead we would remain but for one Man and His mission, even Jesus of Nazareth….

                    "With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live.  Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh.  He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father.  He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins.  He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection.  Because He died, al shall live again."

                    "I declare my personal witness that death has been conquered, victory over the tomb has been won….  He is risen."


                    More testimonies of the resurrected Jesus Christ can be found here.