Talk on Christ's Life, Ministry, and Atonement

By popular request (read: by Wendy's request), here is my talk from Easter Sunday. I borrowed heavily from Camille Fronk Olson's "Give Me This Water That I Thirst Not" BYU Women's Conference address from 2000. It's fantastic. And I adore her. (more on her stuff in the next post) Here we go:

Here am I, send me. Uttered by the Savior during the pre-mortal realm, those five words epitomize Jesus’ character and ministry; those five words are packed with humility, confidence in His Father’s plan, selflessness, sacrifice, love, compassion, charity, etc. I can’t imagine many other five-word sentences packing so much power, and those words were essentially the catalyst towards His life, ministry, and subsequent atonement. He was willing to do whatever it took to save and exalt us.

Sheri Dew said, “Do you believe that the Savior will really do for you what He has said He will do? That He will give you strength and insight to deal with the challenges at hand? That He will lighten your burden and turn your weakness into strength? That He will heal your broken heart and fill you with hope? That He will renew your energy and help you forgive? That He will help you deal with disappointment and loneliness, and fill you with the sweet knowledge of how precious you are to Him? That He will help you resist your greatest temptation? That He will respond to your deepest hurt or longing and bless you with a spirit of good cheer, optimism, and faith? That He is the only source of comfort, strength, information, knowledge, and peace that will not change, will not move, will not betray you, and will never let you down?”

This quote, to me, is the essence of applying the Atonement. He said, Here am I, send me. He said He would do whatever it took to save and exalt us. Do we believe Him? And how can believe Him more fully?

I want to touch on couple events during the Savior’s life that exemplify different aspects of his infinite Atonement, something we can so wonderfully focus on to an even greater degree during this Easter season. The more experiences we have with the Savior, and more experiences we see that have happened before us, the more we believe Him. So, Number 1, the story of the woman at the well and the mercy and compassion shown; Number 2, the feeding of the 5000 and grace.

The story of the woman at the well wasn’t one that registered much with me until I read a 2000 BYU Women’s Conference talk by Camille Fronk Olson, but she brought the story to life for me because of context.

Several bits of context are especially important to note. Number one, Jacob’s Well is located in Samaria, so there’s that bit of geographical context and that feeds into number two: there was a nearly one-thousand year history of contention between the Jews and the Samaritans. I think we hear about this a lot when discussing exchanges in the Old and New Testaments, but sometimes I know I forget just how long this had been going on, as well as the reasons why (dealing with religious worship themes). We only have to jump over to the Book of Mormon to see a long history of contention with which we might be more familiar: that of the Nephites and the Lamanites.

After the Jews were allowed to rebuild their temple, the Samaritans offered to assist the Jews in reconstructing their temple in 538 B.C., and when the Jews rejected the offer, the Samaritans retaliated by creating obstacles that temporarily halted Jewish construction. Then in 128 B.C., the Jewish high priest destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim; Jacob’s Well is at the foot of Mt. Gerizim.

A third important point of context in the story is that women, in general, were ranked lowest in society. Sister Olson says that “Rabbinic literature . . . warned Jewish men against public association with women, including their own wives. ‘He that talks much with womankind,’ the passage reads, ‘brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law.’” Additionally, this woman had been married to five different men in the past and was living with a man who was not her husband. Both the Jews and her own people would have ostracized her as a result. Perhaps this is why she was at the well during the sixth hour, or noon, a time at which such labor would have been difficult and especially exhausting because of the heat; however, fewer people would be there at that time.

All this shows that this woman might not have been the most ideal conversational candidate for a Jewish male. She was a Samaritan, she was a woman, and she was a woman whose character was likely questioned and perhaps ridiculed. Yet she is the first person recorded in the Gospels to whom the Savior revealed himself as the Messiah. Why? Why this woman? What can we learn from this story about the Atonement during this Easter season? And how can we apply it to ourselves and our relationship with the Savior?

I think we can learn much about the Savior’s mercy and compassion from this story, as well as his mission as the Messiah. He met someone who was likely considered a very unsavory character, met her where she was, on her turf, in her land; he didn’t pass around Samaria; he went directly to her. He, as a Jew and a man, met a Samaritan woman in Samaria at a well, a place where women congregated as part of their daily chores. He didn’t require that she be living a certain way in order to hear what He had to say; He just asked that she listen with an open heart and a willing mind.

I am so touched by His complete and total willingness to work with us, to talk with us, where we are, so He can lift us to where He is. I am so touched that Jesus Christ, our Savior, was deep in theological discussion with a woman such as this in the heat of the day. He cared not what she had done or where she’d been; rather, He invited her to partake of the living water which He and only He could give her. When the Savior told her that He was the Messiah, and the Spirit taught her the same, she “left her waterpot (perhaps symbolizing her former behavior), and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” Once she became converted, she couldn’t be restrained from sharing it with those she knew.

Do we sometimes ask of ourselves, why would He help little old me? I don’t have a fancy calling, or I don’t have this degree, or I don’t have that bank account. We can go through a checklist of things we’re not, just like the woman at the well could have done. But he doesn’t care about our names or fancy titles. He’s in the business of loving and saving souls.

The second event I want to touch on is found in Matthew 14:12-20. These verses talk about two things I want to highlight: 1. The Savior finding out about John the Baptist’s death and His reaction, and 2. The feeding of the 5000.

12 And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
13 ¶ When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.
14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with acompassion toward them, and he healed their bsick.
15 ¶ And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves avictuals.
16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
18 He said, Bring them hither to me.
19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and abrake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they atook up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

What is the spiritual lesson here? What aspect of Christ’s atonement can be seen so perfectly here? For me, it’s the lesson of grace. As Elder Holland has said, “Don’t worry about Christ running out of ability to help you.” His grace is sufficient. More than sufficient, even. His grace is plenty. Christ took the little they had—five loaves of bread and two fishes—blessed it, and there was enough that everyone was filled, at least 5000 people; but not only were they filled—there was still some leftover. There was more than enough. He is showing us that whatever little we are, He can infuse us with His grace and turn us into something far greater. He is showing us that whatever precious little we have to offer, in the way of our time, our talents, our energy, our effort, our money, he will turn it into something far greater, and then some. He is showing us that whatever small desires we have, desires to follow Him, desires to have greater faith, he can turn into something special. His grace is more than enough; He offers what we need, packed down, full to the brim, and overflowing.

Another point to note. If I’m reading this passage literally, and if I’m reading it correctly, the Savior learned of John the Baptist’s death, had gone to the desert to be alone and to ponder and mourn, but when people found out he was there, they went to him. He then saw the multitude, had compassion on them, and healed their sick. We don’t know how much time He spent healing their sick, but if His time in the Americas is any indication, it wasn’t a short drive-through healing. Then He blessed the bread, brake it, passed it to the multitude and they were filled; He did all that in the same day! After the Savior already had what we would all consider to be a draining day, full of mourning, some solitude, some healing, some comfort, He filled them. I can’t even imagine that: I found out my dog needed surgery back in November, and I was a wreck for about two days and of no use to anyone. But the Savior was, once again, showing us that he is in the business of loving and saving souls, proving that his grace is more than sufficient; with Him, there is more than enough.

Alma 7:11 states, “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind, and this that the word may be fulfilled, which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.”

Because He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, because he suffered pains, afflictions, temptations, sicknesses . . . He knows exactly how to succor us, or run to us. He can empathize with whatever challenges we face, because He descended below all things in order to ascend above them; he can lift us from where we are to where He is. Elder Maxwell said, “The marvelous atonement brought about not only immortality but also the final perfection of Jesus’ empathetic and helping capacity.” He knows exactly how to help us.