In the scriptures, Christ never referred to his Atonement with the symbol of a cross. The symbol the Lord chose to use was a cup. So in pondering about the Lord’s atonement, I’ve thought a lot about the bitterness of all of our sins and pains mixed in that cup which he partook of. Which leads me to ask, when Christ was suffering the infinite weight of the Atonement, were we anonymous to him? In the bitter composition of that terrible cup, could the Lord distinguish for what and for whom He was actually suffering? When I am drinking Kool-Aid, I am unable to distinguish the sugar, water and flavoring from each other. So were we also unidentified to the sins which we contributed to that metaphoric cup? Was there a name to each pain he suffered, or were you and I and our individual contributions to the awful sufferings, unknown to him? Were our individual contributions somehow mixed up in the cup beyond any ability to identify?
I’ve always wanted to believe that somehow I was not present in his mind when my awful contributions to his sufferings were placed upon him. Even now, the thought that I was identified and exposed before him as an individual and a co-contributor causes me the greatest sorrow and remorse; that I came before His pure mind and was associated with my sins terrifies me.
It seems that the only time people like to be anonymous is when they’ve done something wrong. Maybe that is why I have always wanted to think that when it came to Christ suffering for our sins, my sins were mixed in anonymously with everyone else’s.
So the question is, was there anonymity with the Atonement? Merrill J. Bateman of the First Quorum of the Seventy spoke about this in particular when he taught:
“The Savior, as a member of the Godhead, knows each of us personally. Isaiah and the prophet Abinadi said that when Christ would “make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed” (Isa. 53:10; compare Mosiah 15:10). Abinadi explains that “his seed” are the righteous, those who follow the prophets (see Mosiah 15:11). In the garden and on the cross, Jesus saw each of us and not only bore our sins, but also experienced our deepest feelings so that he would know how to comfort and strengthen us...
“The Savior’s atonement in the garden and on the cross is intimate as well as infinite. Infinite in that it spans the eternities. Intimate in that the Savior felt each person’s pains, sufferings, and sicknesses. Consequently, he knows how to carry our sorrows and relieve our burdens that we might be healed from within, made whole persons, and receive everlasting joy in his kingdom” (emphasis added, “The Power to Heal from Within,” Ensign, May 1995, 14).
On a similar note, Elder John H. Groberg taught:
"I love the Savior. I feel that as he hung upon the cross and looked out over the dark scene, he saw more than mocking soldiers and cruel taunters. He saw more than crying women and fearful friends. He remembered and saw even more than women at wells or crowds on hills or throngs by seashores. He saw more, much more. He, who knows all and has all power, saw through the stream of time. His huge, magnanimous, loving soul encompassed all eternity and took in all people and all times and all sins and all forgiveness and all everything. Yes, he saw down to you and to me and provided us an all-encompassing opportunity to escape the terrible consequences of death and sin.” (John H. Groberg, "The Beauty and Importance of the Sacrament," Ensign, May 1989, 40)
It was an individual Atonement and individual suffering. If it were not an individual Atonement, then the Lord could not known us the same way. If he were only to suffer the breadth, width, height and depth of sin and suffering, but not actually our sins and sufferings, then he would know much of what we feel, but not exactly how we feel.
The Atonement was not a group plan, type of suffering. I do not believe that somehow everyone’s sins and suffering from this life were mixed together into some great mass, but that there was a name to each pain. Your name and mine. And perhaps even more, it was not just a name in his mind, it was not just our image in his mind, but I believe much greater, the summation of all that we were, are and ever would be was before his pure mind. For how could anybody ever know us more intimately then when feeling every fiber and moment of sin, shame, pain and sorrow from our lives? At the time of the Atonement, no one would ever know us more deeply than Christ. And because the Lord’s memory is perfect, He also knows us better now than any other ever could or ever will.
So during this sacred time of Easter, and all year, may we consider the personal love Jesus loves us with. May a better understanding of his love and goodness draw us unto him and help make us new people in Christ.
Official Holidays & Observances This Week
April 18th through 24th
Monday Passover (at sundown)
Tuesday National Hanging Out Day
Wednesday National Pot Smokers Day (420 -its the only commemoration today I could find)
Thursday High Five Day
Friday Good Friday & National Jelly Bean Day
Saturday Talk Like Shakespeare Day
Sunday Easter
I’ve always wanted to believe that somehow I was not present in his mind when my awful contributions to his sufferings were placed upon him. Even now, the thought that I was identified and exposed before him as an individual and a co-contributor causes me the greatest sorrow and remorse; that I came before His pure mind and was associated with my sins terrifies me.
It seems that the only time people like to be anonymous is when they’ve done something wrong. Maybe that is why I have always wanted to think that when it came to Christ suffering for our sins, my sins were mixed in anonymously with everyone else’s.
So the question is, was there anonymity with the Atonement? Merrill J. Bateman of the First Quorum of the Seventy spoke about this in particular when he taught:
“The Savior, as a member of the Godhead, knows each of us personally. Isaiah and the prophet Abinadi said that when Christ would “make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed” (Isa. 53:10; compare Mosiah 15:10). Abinadi explains that “his seed” are the righteous, those who follow the prophets (see Mosiah 15:11). In the garden and on the cross, Jesus saw each of us and not only bore our sins, but also experienced our deepest feelings so that he would know how to comfort and strengthen us...
“The Savior’s atonement in the garden and on the cross is intimate as well as infinite. Infinite in that it spans the eternities. Intimate in that the Savior felt each person’s pains, sufferings, and sicknesses. Consequently, he knows how to carry our sorrows and relieve our burdens that we might be healed from within, made whole persons, and receive everlasting joy in his kingdom” (emphasis added, “The Power to Heal from Within,” Ensign, May 1995, 14).
On a similar note, Elder John H. Groberg taught:
"I love the Savior. I feel that as he hung upon the cross and looked out over the dark scene, he saw more than mocking soldiers and cruel taunters. He saw more than crying women and fearful friends. He remembered and saw even more than women at wells or crowds on hills or throngs by seashores. He saw more, much more. He, who knows all and has all power, saw through the stream of time. His huge, magnanimous, loving soul encompassed all eternity and took in all people and all times and all sins and all forgiveness and all everything. Yes, he saw down to you and to me and provided us an all-encompassing opportunity to escape the terrible consequences of death and sin.” (John H. Groberg, "The Beauty and Importance of the Sacrament," Ensign, May 1989, 40)
It was an individual Atonement and individual suffering. If it were not an individual Atonement, then the Lord could not known us the same way. If he were only to suffer the breadth, width, height and depth of sin and suffering, but not actually our sins and sufferings, then he would know much of what we feel, but not exactly how we feel.
The Atonement was not a group plan, type of suffering. I do not believe that somehow everyone’s sins and suffering from this life were mixed together into some great mass, but that there was a name to each pain. Your name and mine. And perhaps even more, it was not just a name in his mind, it was not just our image in his mind, but I believe much greater, the summation of all that we were, are and ever would be was before his pure mind. For how could anybody ever know us more intimately then when feeling every fiber and moment of sin, shame, pain and sorrow from our lives? At the time of the Atonement, no one would ever know us more deeply than Christ. And because the Lord’s memory is perfect, He also knows us better now than any other ever could or ever will.
So during this sacred time of Easter, and all year, may we consider the personal love Jesus loves us with. May a better understanding of his love and goodness draw us unto him and help make us new people in Christ.
Official Holidays & Observances This Week
April 18th through 24th
Monday Passover (at sundown)
Tuesday National Hanging Out Day
Wednesday National Pot Smokers Day (420 -its the only commemoration today I could find)
Thursday High Five Day
Friday Good Friday & National Jelly Bean Day
Saturday Talk Like Shakespeare Day
Sunday Easter
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