None Were With Him

Easter Sunday, and I stayed home from church with a cough and almost no voice.  Teaching Sunday School would have been difficult with a scratchy, sore voice, so thankfully the Bishop's wife (who teaches the class younger than mine) was willing to take my class today.

As I scrolled through Facebook before the kids and my parents got home from church, I saw many messages about Easter.  The video entitled "Because of Him" is an awesome one, and was posted by many people.  However, a friend also posted this talk from 5 years ago, by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  I always enjoy his talks, but this one included a little "a-ha" moment for me.  The video is 18 minutes long, but definitely worth the watching.  

Quoting from his talk, Elder Holland talks about the Resurrection...

"I speak of those final moments for which Jesus must have been prepared intellectually and physically but which He may not have fully anticipated emotionally and spiritually- that concluding descent into the paralyzing despair of divine withdrawal when He cries in ultimate loneliness, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'. . .

Indeed, it is my personal belief that in all of Christ's mortal ministry the Father may never have been closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of suffering.  Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence.  It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind- us, all of us- would feel when we did commit such sins.  For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone."

There is more to the conclusion of Elder Holland's talk, but this part particularly stood out to me.  While I have known that Christ's Atonement, his suffering, was not just for our sins, bur for all our pains, struggles, battles, addictions, and so on, the part where Christ calls out, feeling utterly alone, was not without purpose.  While Heavenly Father will never leave us, we can and sometimes do leave Him.  Christ KNOWS how we feel when we think we are alone, when we have taken the wrong path, when we don't have the Spirit with us.  He has felt it!  Even though He never did anything to make Himself unworthy of having the Spirit with Him, He finished His path of suffering and the Atonement for us... each and every one of us.  

If you can spare the 18 minutes, watch the video with an open heart and you will know the truthfulness of Elder Holland's words.  What a blessing to live in a day where we again have guidance from the Lord's servants.  

I love the little "a-ha" moments.