Post 2: Abraham and Isaac

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Abraham and Isaac. However, the reason it is my favorite is because of an insight that often goes overlooked. The story of Abraham and Isaac is a two-part story, with the biblical part being the second half. The story actually begins in the Pearl of Great Price.

In Abraham 1, we read about how Abraham himself was nearly sacrificed by the hands of his own fathers:

5. My fathers, having turned from their righteousness, and from the holy commandments which the Lord their God had given unto them, undo the worshiping of the gods of the heathen, utterly refused to hearken to my voice;

7. Therefore they turned their hearts to the sacrifice of the heathen in offering up their children unto these dumb idols, and hearkened not unto my voice, but endeavored to take away my life by the hand of the priest of Elkenah. The priest of Elkenah was also the priest of Pharaoh.

While Abraham's father wasn't the person trying to sacrifice Abraham, he at the very least allowed it to happen. It was only at the intervention of the Lord that Abraham was saved from being sacrificed.

I am an adamant believer that Abraham, after experiencing the betrayal of his own father, made a promise to himself that he would never allow any of his children to have to go through what his father forced him to endure.

With this in mind, let's return to the story that most are more familiar with. Abraham, many years later, was commanded to sacrifice his son. This commandment was not received from a dumb idol, but from God. This was by design. God knew about Abraham's previous trials, and he knew what Abraham had promised himself. That is exactly why God commanded him to sacrifice Isaac.

Sometimes, revelation comes that makes absolutely zero sense from our limited perspectives. Sometimes, God wants to test our faith to see if we really would put Him before ourselves, our plans, our hopes and dreams. Sometimes, God asks us to sacrifice our own Isaacs, so to speak. Sometimes, our trials can be to do something we have promised ourselves we would never do, all as a test to leave those promises behind us and place our trust in God and Christ.

I don't think it was a coincidence that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son. I know that our own personal trials aren't coincidences either. God knows what tests will permit us to grow more like Him. With that perspective, we should remember that the experiences given to us in mortality can become sacred growth opportunities, if we allow them to be so. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

First Post: Other Aspects of Christ's Atonement

The other day, I was reading in the book of Matthew, chapter 26. This chapter talks of the Last Supper, and Christ's suffering and betrayal. This chapter is a well-known one, but one of the aspects of this part of the Savior's life can go easily overlooked. Before Christ entered the Garden of Gethsemane, He spoke with His disciples:

37. And He took Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

38. Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

In the footnotes, "watch" can be translated to "stay awake." In other words, Christ was asking His friends, "please stay with me; please don't leave me alone." In this moment, Christ demonstrated one of His mortal attributes. He was afraid.

We don't typically associate fear with something Christ experienced. Christ was the most courageous person who ever walked the earth. How could He ever have been afraid at any moment of His mortal experience? There are two points to this story that I would like to make:

First off, it was by design that Christ went through this. Alma the Younger spoke of this in Alma 7 when he was preaching to the people of Gideon:

11. And He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind, and this that the word might be fulfilled with 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.

13. Now the Spirit knoweth all things, nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that He might take upon Him the sins of His people, that He might blot out their transgressions according tot he power of His deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

Christ, in order to understand us better, had to endure fear. Christ didn't want to be alone before the most difficult moment of His mortal ministry, much like how we don't want to be alone during the trials that we face. Thankfully, because of Christ's suffering in the Garden, we don't have to. Christ understands us better than anyone else because He experienced that same fears that we face.

Second, sometimes we don't like to think that Christ was afraid. A lot of times, we believe that fear is a sign of weakness. In reality, this emotion that Christ showed was what made Him even greater. The fact that He was fearful for what was ahead of Him, but that He did it anyway shows greater faith than we could ever possibly imagine. He overcame His fear with faith. This provides an example for us. Sometimes we'll be put in situations where God will ask us to rely on Him. Through the Atonement, we can overcome our trials, but only after the moment we place ourselves and our faith in Him.

I know that Christ lives. I know that He loves us. I know that He not only died for us, but He lived and lives for us now. Let us never forget His love. These things I testify of in His name, even Jesus Christ, amen.