Good morning everyone, it's great to be here with you on this Easter Sunday. Just a brief introduction, my name is Elder Spangler and I'm from Allen, Texas. I have only been on the mission for a little over 2 months, but I'm really excited to be here in this ward. If you want more information about me, feel free to look in the program and you can read some fun facts about who I am. But like I said, I can't wait to be here and serve with all of you and get to know each of you better.
As you all know, today is Easter Sunday. Easter was always a fun holiday in my house. We would do the classic traditions; dying eggs, an Easter egg hunt, the big Easter dinner. However, my parents often liked to put a spin on those traditions. For our Easter egg hunts, the eggs were always hid so well that we would often find eggs 2 or 3 months later. And a lot of the time it would have a note in it that said something like “this is a trick egg and you don't get any candy. Haha.” For our Easter dinner, maybe we'd be eating and someone would take a bite of a roll and pull an M&M out of their mouth because my dad had put M&M's in the dough before the rolls were cooked. Just fun stuff like that. However, even with all the fun traditions and the joking around, my parents always made sure that my siblings and I knew what Easter was actually representing. The reason we celebrate is to remember the suffering, the crucifixion, and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We often describe this as the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
In the most recent General Conference, Tad R. Callister gave a perfect explanation of what the Atonement is. He said, “What then is the Atonement of Jesus Christ? In one sense, it is a series of divine events that commenced in the Garden of Gethsemane, continued on the cross, and culminated with the Savior’s Resurrection from the tomb. It was motivated by an incomprehensible love for each of us. It required a being who was sinless; who had infinite power over the elements—even death; who possessed a boundless capacity to suffer the consequences of all our sins and ailments; and who, in fact, descended beneath it all. This was the mission of Jesus Christ—this was His Atonement.”
I want to focus my message on the last point Brother Callister makes; That “[Jesus Christ] possessed a boundless capacity to suffer the consequences of all our sins and ailments; and [he], in fact, descended beneath it all.”
In Luke 22:41-44, it describes Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. It says, “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” It's impossible for us to comprehend exactly what the Savior experienced that night in the Garden, but this passage of scripture helps us better understand how Jesus Christ felt. He asked his Father to take the pain away, but only if it was his will. In this situation, Jesus Christ is a perfect example for us. When he was dealing with the most agony, the most pain that he had ever felt, he prayed more earnestly. When we are going through anything difficult, we have a Heavenly Father to pray to and to ask for help. I'm sure it was so difficult for our Father in Heaven to watch his Son bear that pain and agony alone, so he sent him an angel to strengthen him. Our Heavenly Father will never give us a trial we can't handle, but he will give us trials that we can't handle alone. Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally, so like the angel sent to Christ, he sent us his Son. Our Savior is who we must turn to in those times of need, and he will strengthen us.
The other day as I was reading the Book of Mormon, I came to a passage that I thought knew fairly well. It is in Alma 7, where Alma is preaching to the people in the city of Gideon, and he starts talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Verses 11 and 12 read, “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.” When I read these verses, I caught something that I had never really put together before. In verse 12, it says “that he may know according to the flesh” two times. What this means is that Jesus Christ didn't suffer only mentally or spiritually, it was physical suffering. He felt everything according to the flesh, everything was physical. He had to suffer physically so He could know exactly how we have felt or will feel every single time we go through anything. That time when I crashed on my skateboard and got road rash all over my body; He felt that. The times when I wanted to skip seminary cause I was so tired; He felt that. The time when my aunt passed away when I was 8 and I was the saddest I had ever been; He felt that. The time when I messed up big time and felt like I could never fix it; He felt that. Every single pain, sadness, sickness, temptation, worry, and affliction, He has felt it. He has sunk below everything you and I have experienced, and everything we will experience. And he knows EXACTLY what we feel. Jesus Christ suffered through the Atonement so when we feel alone and lost, we can look to him and know that we have the only perfect person to ever walk this earth at our side, comforting us and telling us that it will be okay.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught, “To find the most important day in history, we must go back to that evening almost 2,000 years ago in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus Christ knelt in intense prayer and offered Himself as a ransom for our sins. It was during this great and infinite sacrifice of unparalleled suffering in both body and spirit that Jesus Christ, even God, bled at every pore. Out of perfect love, He gave all that we might receive all. His supernal sacrifice, difficult to comprehend, to be felt only with all our heart and mind, reminds us of the universal debt of gratitude we owe Christ for His divine gift.
Those who find a way to truly behold the Man find the doorway to life’s greatest joys and the balm to life’s most demanding despairs.
So, when you are encompassed by sorrows and grief, behold the Man. When you feel lost or forgotten, behold the Man. When you are despairing, deserted, doubting, damaged, or defeated, behold the Man. He will comfort you.
He will heal you and give meaning to your journey. He will pour out His Spirit and fill your heart with exceeding joy. He gives “power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”
Brothers and Sisters, all we need to do is to behold the Man. When we focus our lives on the Savior, everything else falls into place. Yes, we will still have trials and difficulties and will still want to give up sometimes, but when we are centered on the Savior, the only one who really knows us, that's when we those trials and burdens are made light.
Several years ago in a Sunday School class back home, my teacher shared a poem that has stuck with me for a long time. I want to share it with you all today. I don't remember who wrote it, but I don't take credit. It says, “I had been in that hole for a very long time
In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime.
The shaft was above me; I saw it quite clear,
But there’s no way I ever could reach it from here.
I could not remember the world way up there,
So I lost every hope and gave in to despair.
I knew nothing but darkness, the floor, and the wall.
Then from off in the distance I heard someone call:
“Get up! Get ready! There’s nothing the matter!
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder!”
This was a thought that had not crossed my mind,
But I started to stack all the stones I could find.
When I ran out of stones, then old sticks were my goal,
For some way or another I’d climb from that hole.
I soon had a ladder that stood very tall,
And I thought, “I’ll soon leave this place once and for all!”
I climbed up my ladder, a difficult chore,
For from lifting those boulders, my shoulders were sore.
I climbed up the ladder, but soon had to stop,
For my ladder stopped short, some ten feet from the top.
I went back down my ladder and felt all around,
But there were no more boulders nor sticks to be found.
I sat down in the darkness and started to cry.
I’d done all I could do and I gave my best try.
But in spite of my work, in this hole I must die.
And all I could do was to sit and think, “Why?”
Was my ladder to short? Was my hole much too deep?
Then from way up on high came a voice: “Do not weep.”
And then faith, hope, and love entered into my chest
As the voice calmly told me that I'd done my best.
He said, “You have worked hard, and your labor’s been rough,
But the ladder you’ve built is at last tall enough.
So do not despair; there is reason to hope,
Just climb up your ladder; I’ll throw down my rope.”
I climbed up my ladder, then climbed up the cord.
When I got to the top of it, there stood the Lord.
I’ve never been happier; my struggle was done.
I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son.
I fell to the ground as His feet I did kiss.
I cried, “Lord, can I ever repay Thee for this?”
He looked all about. There were holes in the ground.
They had people inside, and were seen all around.
There were thousands of holes that were damp, dark and deep.
Then the Lord looked at me, and He said, “feed my sheep,”
And he went on his way to save other lost souls,
So I got right to work, calling down to the holes,
“Get up! Get ready! There is nothing the matter!
Take rocks, and take sticks, and build up a fine ladder!”
It now was my calling to spread the good word,
The most glorious message that man ever heard:
That there’s one who is coming to save one and all,
And we need to be ready when he gives the call.
He’ll pull us all out of the holes that we’re in
And save all our souls from cold death and from sin.
So do not lose faith; there is reason to hope
Just climb up your ladder; he’ll throw down his rope.”
A lot of times in my life, I have felt like the person in this poem, in a dark hole that feels impossible to escape, and I'm sure many of you have felt something similar at some point. But however dark it may seem, however disheartened you may be, the Lord is always right there, waiting to throw down his rope and pull us up. We just have to build up our ladder first.
When I was 15, I didn't have many good friends. I knew kids at school, but that was the only time I'd associate with them. I wasn't depressed or anything, but I felt alone. I just wanted some friends. My oldest sister was serving a mission in Spain at the time and in a lot of her emails she would testify of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I realized I hadn't personally experienced this power in my life, and wondered if that had any impact on my lack of friends. I can't remember a specific instance where I prayed and felt forgiven or where I read one certain scripture and was just purified, but I know that as I began to pray more earnestly and ask for forgiveness, as I began to read the scriptures with real intent, that's when I started to find friends. Once I had turned my focus on becoming better through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, that's when the Lord blessed 15 year old me with some good, strong friends. Our Savior knew that I felt alone because he had already felt that. He knew exactly what I was going through.
Brothers and Sisters, as we celebrate this Easter Sunday, I testify that Jesus Christ suffered, died, and was resurrected. I know this to be true with all of my heart. I have felt the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life, and I cannot deny it.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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