Holy Week: Thursday--The Reality of Redemption

(Carl Bloch, Agony in the Garden)

Scriptures:

• The Last Supper (Mark 14:12-31; Matthew 26:17-35; Luke 22:7-38; John 13:1-30)
• The farewell discourses (Luke 22:24-30; John 13:31-17:26)
• Jesus goes to Gethsemane (John 18:1)
• Jesus at Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42; Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:1)
• The betrayal and arrest of Jesus (Mark 14:43-52; Matthew 26:47-56; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-11)
• Jesus before the Jewish authorities (Mark 14:53-65; Matthew 26:57-68; Luke 22:54, 63-71; John 18:12-28)

The Thursday of Holy Week in some traditions is called Maundy Thursday. Maundy comes from the Latin mandatum, which means "commandment," which is in recognition of Christ's teachings of "A new commandment I give you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). 

There is so much that happened on this solemn and sacred day. Really immerse yourself in the scriptures today and record your feelings of gratitude and love for your Savior. We can answer Jesus' plea of "could ye not watch with me one hour?" Matthew 26:40.

Find someone to share your testimony with, a friend, a spouse, a roommate, a co-worker, or a friend on Facebook. 

There's way too much to cover, but I'll share a few highlights of my study that stuck out to me. 

WASHING THE DISCIPLES' FEET

An article from the BYU Magazine: 

When Christ instituted one of the most sacred of ordinances, one still performed today among the apostles, what symbolism did He choose? Of all the things He could have done as He prepared His apostles for His imminent death and instructed them on how to become one, He chose the washing of feet--a task ordinarily done in His time by the most humble of servants. When Peter objected, thinking that this was not the kind of work someone of Christ's earthly, much less eternal stature would be expected to do, Christ made clear the importance of participating: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me" (John 13:8).

So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. (John 13:12–15)And so for our sakes this work seems mindless, menial, repetitive, and demeaning. This daily toiling is in honor of life itself. After all, isn't this temporal work of tending to the necessary and routine currents of daily life, whether for our families or for our neighbors, the work we really came to Earth to do? By this humble service--this washing of one another's feet--we sacrifice our pride and invite God to wash our own souls from sin. Indeed, such work embodies within it the condescension of the Savior himself. It is nothing less than doing unto Christ, by serving the least of our brethren, what He has already done for us.

 GETHSEMANE

The Atonement is real. I have felt this power in my life. It is infinite and divine. It is how it is possible for us to return to God. Although we may never fully comprehend it, we must try our hardest to know what it means for our salvation. Set aside some time to read a talk or two about the Atonement from this link. 

CHRIST HAS PIONEERED OUR PATHS OF PAIN
I have been studying and pondering on the Atonement in my daily studies for quite some time now. I thought I'd share a bit of my testimony and insight of how truly infinite the Atonement is.

As I was thinking about the meaning of comprehend, I kept thinking about when I feel that I can truly comprehend and have empathy. It is usually because I have experienced similar things myself. I was making parallels and thinking about the meaning of comprehend, for example, in someone’s experience of surgery after a long battle with a rare chronic illness. In order to comprehend that experience, you would have to comprehend how the patient, the doctor, and the family felt, along with all others who were affected by that surgery. Pain is never felt in isolation--many are influenced.The patient would have many experiences of pain, fear, anxiety, discomfort, longing for health, depression, doubts, exhaustion, and helplessness. They would know what it feels like to have people look at you differently, have extreme anxiety due to mounting medical costs, to wake up several times a night in pain, to watch others enjoy their healthy lives while they sit on the sidelines, to know that they are limited in their capacity to do things they used to enjoy, or have difficulty even doing simple things. The doctor might have feelings of overwhelming responsibility, feeling limited in their ability to help as much as they hope to, feeling the agony of watching someone else go through so much pain without relief, and trying to provide hope and comfort in times of darkness. Family and friends would most likely feel a deep sense of love, pain from watching their loved one go through pain and struggle, an abiding trust in the doctor, maybe anger and frustration, helplessness, and anxiety. The list could go on and on about all the experiences that we would have to have firsthand in order to perfectly comprehend the experience of surgery. Jesus Christ perfectly comprehended ALL of our pain, sorrow, suffering, and afflictions. He knows how it feels for us to go through our pain because He experienced it. He also knows the agony and responsibility felt in the role as the perfect Healer and doctor. His ability to heal us depends a great deal on our response to His treatment. If we do not follow through on our part, we cannot be truly healed and Christ has to feel the pain of watching our healing lose momentum. Our Healer, Jesus Christ, has an infinite comprehension of our experiences in affliction. He has perfect empathy and understanding because He has felt the effect of our pain from all perspectives and angles. Our Healer has pushed through infinite paths of pain. That is how He can truly heal us, physically, emotionally, spiritually. I cannot deny His healing hand in my life--I have felt His gentle hand in mine. His hand is tender because He knows how fragile I am in my agony. His hand is scarred to show me that His pain descended below mine. His presence reminds me that He has pioneered my path of pain. He is confident because He has already reached the promised land and knows that I can make it. He grasps my hand with firm, unshakable strength because His power is infinite. As I cling tighter to His hand, His strength seeps into me and I become strong, His warmth flows into me and I am illuminated, His power multiplies mine and I become healed.  

I have been thinking about the story of Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian woman whose family helped hide Jews in their home during the Holocaust. She and her sister were caught and taken to suffer in a horrific concentration camp, yet by the light of her hope in God, her heart stayed warm and humble. Later she had a powerful experience that is a testament to me of the power of the Atonement in many ways, to clean us and to enable us.

“It was in a church in Munich that I saw him—a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. People were filing out of the basement room where I had just spoken, moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives.
“It was the truth they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown. ‘When we confess our sins,’ I said, ‘God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. …’
“The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.
“And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights; the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor; the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!
[Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent.]
“Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: ‘A fine message, Fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!’
“And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?
“But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.
“ ‘You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk,’ he was saying, ‘I was a guard there.’ No, he did not remember me.
“ ‘But since that time,’ he went on, ‘I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein,’ again the hand came out—’will you forgive me?’
“And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again to be forgiven—and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place—could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?
“It could not have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
“For I had to do it—I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. ‘If you do not forgive men their trespasses,’ Jesus says, ‘neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’
“I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.
“And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. ‘… Help!’ I prayed silently. ‘I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.’
“And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
“ ‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart!’
“For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then”
(excerpted from “I’m Still Learning to Forgive” by Corrie ten Boom. Reprinted by permission from Guideposts Magazine. Copyright © 1972 by Guideposts Associates, Inc., Carmel, New York 10512>).

 Watch one or more of these beautiful videos that articulate the power of the Atonement. Here's a link for more incredible videos on the Atonement.

 "The times I didn't think He was there was because I wasn't looking."

Invitation:

Read this beautiful and inspired song written by my dear cousin and evaluate those who may be in need of your help or attention, just a "stone's cast away." Christ said we will always have the poor and needy among us. How is your visiting and home teaching going? We have been given SO much!! Are we giving back? 

Are we keeping the commandment of loving others as Christ has loved them, that He commanded on this Maundy Thursday?  

A Stone's Cast Away 

(by Peri Harris)

Apostles of the Savior slept

Where all creation should have wept

A stone's cast away

Jewish citizens, once believers and friends

Jaunted as Pilot tried to make amends

A stone's cast away

Mark Mabry photography

Chorus:
A stone's cast away, that's the distance we face
He right there, and we right here
What will we do, knowing He's there
Don't miss Him, just a stone's cast away
Roman soldiers stood their guard
While hands were nailed and body marred
A stone's cast away

His humble plea to Father above
Given out of gracious mercy and love
Forgive their sins, and take me now
Were ignored by the angry, pressing crowd
A stone's cast away
Chorus

How oft do we stand idly by
Whilst others suffer, struggle, and cry
A stone's cast away
Let us see the Savior here
And help those around us draw near
A stone's cast away
Chorus

He ever stands by us
Footprints in the sand beside us
A stone's cast away

Let us open wide -door and heart
And choose through Him the better part
All blessings and glory can be ours
If we will but endure each hour
A stone's cast away
Chorus