The Events of Holy Week

Near the end of his mortal ministry, Jesus Christ went to Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem, with his disciples. There he publicly raised his close friend, Lazarus, from the dead. 

Christ had performed many miracles during his ministry and raised at least two others from the dead, but this time was different. Most of his ministry had been private and focused on the individual. The others he had raised from the dead had died recently enough that word had not yet spread or Christ could claim they had just been sleeping. This time, Christ demonstrated his divine power in a public setting after Lazarus had been buried for several days. It was an undeniable witness that Christ had divine power, as He professed, and a fitting capstone to a ministry dedicated to inspiring faith in the Son of God and His ability, as the Messiah, to save us from sin and death.

Many of those who witnessed the raising of Lazarus believed in Christ, but some of them went to the Pharisees to report what they had seen. "Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation... Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death" (John 11:47-48, 53). The Pharisees would also try to kill Lazarus, who was walking evidence of Christ's miracle (John 12:9-11).

With the table set for his crucifixion, Christ went to the wilderness in Ephraim for a time. The Savior often retreated to the wilderness for spiritual preparation and revelation, and, though the scriptures do not specifically say it, we can expect that was again his purpose here. He knew that His time had come and so He turned to God in the face of trial for strength to do God's will.

We don't know how long Christ was in the wilderness. Some scholars speculate that it was about two weeks; others say more or less. What we do know is that his return to Jerusalem would start the events we now know as Holy Week.

Palm Sunday

When there was a temple in Jerusalem, faithful Jews would travel to the Holy City for Passover. This pilgrimage represented the Exodus from Egypt, or "the world" at lower elevations, up into the presence of God at the temple in Jerusalem. It also allowed Jews to participate in sacred rituals, including the sacrifice of the paschal lamb that would bring divine forgiveness and purification. It was on such a trip decades earlier that the twelve-year-old Christ was found teaching the priests in the temple.

After his time preparing in the wilderness, Christ began his journey to Jerusalem. He traveled on Sunday, the first day of the week after the traditional sabbath on Saturday. Before entering the city, Christ went around it and two miles beyond to visit Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, in Bethany. As Martha served supper, and despite a protest from Judas Iscariot, Mary lovingly anointed Christ's feet with a costly ointment and wiped his feet with her hair (John 12:2-8). This, Christ explained, was something she had saved for the time of his burial.

After supper, Christ traveled the two miles back to Jerusalem. Near the Mount of Olives, just outside of the city, Christ turned to two of his disciples and told them to go to a nearby village and retrieve a young donkey, which they did with the owner's permission (Mark 11:1-6, Luke 19:28-34). Matthew, whose primary purpose in writing was to prove to the Jewish people that Christ fulfilled the prophecies of the Torah, zealously records that Christ rode both a donkey and a colt into the city, as prophesied by Zechariah (Matthew 21:1-5, Zechariah 9:9). Most likely, Zechariah was just being poetic and the donkey and the colt are the same animal.

The crowds of pilgrims at Jerusalem had heard about Lazarus being raised from the dead. Word spread quickly that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and "all of the city was moved" to greet him. They spread their cloaks in the road as they would for a great king and took branches of palm leaves, symbolic for victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life. This must be the Messiah! This must be the man who would deliver them from Rome! As Christ passed, the multitude cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." (Matthew 21:6-11, Mark 11:7-11, Luke 19:35-38, John 12:12-18).

Some of the Pharisees in the multitude were less pleased and asked Christ to rebuke the people. They were plotting to kill him, after all, and that would be more difficult if "the world is gone after him" (John 12:19). Christ testified, "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out" (Luke 19:40). He was the promised Messiah; and even if the people were silenced, the earth itself would testify of its creator.

Yet, as he beheld the city, Christ wept for all the people did not see. The city would be destroyed, he prophesied, "because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation" (Luke 19:44). Their god had been among them, but they had been too skeptical, too preoccupied, or too proud to accept of all he could have shared with them.

Holy Monday

Christ was lodging in Bethany with Lazarus and his sisters, walking the two miles to and from Jerusalem each day. As he set out with his disciples on Monday, Jesus was hungry, "and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon" (Mark 11:13). It was not yet the season for figs, but fig trees bear fruit before their leaves so the leaves on the tree were a sort of announcement that the tree was laden with fruit. It turned out to be a deception; there was no fruit on the tree.

"The symbol was perfect-- a tree professing fruits and having none standing in the very shadows of the temple where a corrupt priesthood professed righteousness and devotion to Israel's God as they plotted the death of his Son" (Joseph F. McConkie, Studies in Scripture, Vol. 5: The Gospels, ed. by Kent P. Jackson and Robert L. Millet, 376). Christ cursed the tree, which immediately withered, as a symbol or foreshadowing of the "heaviest of all cursings" he has promised for those, like the chief priests and Pharisess, who profess his authority and yet reject him (D&C 41:1).

Continuing on to the temple, Christ destroyed the marketplace he found inside and cast out those who were doing business there, "saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves" (Luke 19:46). With the temple cleansed, he began to teach and healed the blind and the lame who came unto him. "And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased"  (Matthew 21:15). As the Pharisees had done the previous day, these rulers looked to Christ to refute the people. Instead, Christ reminded them that King David had prophesied these events in the ministry of the Messiah (Matthew 21:16, Psalm 8:2). Hearing this, "the chief priests and the scribes... sought to destroy him, And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him" (Luke 19:47-48).

Holy Tuesday

On the walk into Jerusalem the following day, the disciples saw the withered fig tree and marveled. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matthew 21:21-22).

Returning to the temple to continue his teaching, Christ was confronted at the entrance by the chief priests, scribes, and elders who wanted to know by what authority he performed such marvelous acts. They had confronted him with the same question before, citing the "tradition of the elders" as the authority Christ and his disciples needed to follow (Mark 7:3; Matthew 15:2). During that earlier confrontation, Christ had refuted their tradition by showing how it contradicted the commandments and noting that "if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Matthew 15:3-14).

This time, Jesus turned the entrapment back on the leaders by asking whether the baptism of John was ordained of heaven or men. The leaders saw themselves as the ultimate authority-- the keepers and enforcers of the tradition of the elders. They disapproved of John, but their positions were also political in nature and they feared the majority who believed John was a prophet. "And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things" (Mark 11:33).

Christ then taught the leaders three parables. In the first, a man had two sons: one who refused to work at first but eventually did, and another who said he would work but never did. In the second, the owner of a vineyard hired men to work in his vineyard, but they killed his messengers and eventually even the son of the vineyard owner. In the third, a king invited people off the street to the wedding of his son because those who had been invited killed the servants who invited them and were subsequently destroyed by the armies of the king. The leaders knew all three parables condemned them and their behavior, but Christ also said as much explicitly: "Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you" (Matthew 21:31). The leaders' violent desires toward Christ were restrained only by their love of power and fear of the people in the crowded temple.

Christ continued to teach both the leaders and the people who had gathered around them. He answered all of the leaders' entrapments about tribute, marriage and resurrection, the greatest commandment, and how he could be the son of David if David worshipped him. He denounced hypocrisy and taught his disciples about the widow's mite.

Leaving the temple, Christ mourned over Jerusalem a second time. When Andrew and Phillip came to tell him that there were Greek Jews wanting to meet him, he taught and testified to them and all the people around them that he was sent by God to do His will. At the Mount of Olives, Christ taught his disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem, signs of the second coming, and the parables of the ten virgins, the talents, and the sheep and the goats.

Holy Wednesday

The scriptures don't specifically say what Christ did on the second day before Passover. Perhaps he continued to teach in the temple or around Jerusalem. Perhaps he retreated into the wilderness for rest and further preparation for the days ahead. He continued to lodge in Bethany, which protected him from the schemes of the Jewish leaders. Some Christians call this day "Silent Wednesday," suggesting a time for quiet contemplation and reflection.

Maundy Thursday

Joseph ben Caiaphas was the high priest in Israel, appointed by Rome, and among Jerusalem's elite aristocracy. With Roman support, he had held his position for more than fifteen years. In the aftermath of Lazarus being raised from the dead, the leaders of Israel had gathered at his palace and he had prophesied "not of himself... that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad" (John 11:51-52). Now the same leaders were gathered in his palace again, having been unsuccessful in all of their entrapments, to conceive a new plot to kill Christ. They knew it would cause an uproar if they acted on the day of the Passover feast-- they needed to be more subtle-- but they didn't have a plan until the appearance of an unlikely ally.

"Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver" (Matthew 26:14-15). Christ had recently prophesied that he would be betrayed and crucified (Matthew 26:1-2) and Zechariah had prophesied the sale for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13). Although it amounts to less than five hundred dollars in modern currency, it was the standard price for a slave in ancient Israel. It was also the amount named in a popular idiom, carried over from Sumerian culture, that something of trivial value was "a mere thirty shekels." Judas had trivialized Christ, an action he would deeply regret later, and agreed to help the leaders of Israel find a private opportunity to arrest the Savior.

Meanwhile, this was also the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and the disciples asked where they might prepare to eat the Passover. Christ told the disciples where they could find a room and there they made the necessary preparations.

As the Last Supper began, Christ identified Judas as his betrayer, warned him of the consequences of that betrayal, then conceded to the choice Judas had already made. "That thou doest," he said, "do quickly" (John 13:27).

The word "maundy" in "Maundy Thursday" refers to a mandate or a command. As the apostles ate with Christ for the last time, he commanded them to love one another, taught them about servant leadership, and encouraged them to follow his example. He instituted the sacrament and taught them about the Holy Ghost.

After supper, Christ began to wash the disciples' feet. This was a beautiful act of service, but it was also necessary to continue teaching the apostles all that Christ had to share with them. Cleansing rituals were common in Israel and a more thorough ritual was done when entering the temple; but if a person left the temple and returned the same day, they washed only their feet upon reentry. As the apostles sat in an upper room chosen by Christ, having been in the temple earlier that day, Christ reintroduced them into a temple environment. When Peter did not understand and objected, Christ taught, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me" (John 13:8). Peter then consented and we are left to understand that Christ taught his apostles about temple ordinances under the Melchizedek Priesthood.

The temple experience ended with a hymn and Christ and his disciples left for the Mount of Olives. Christ warned the disciples that they would be offended because of him that night, that Peter would deny him three times, and that they would be hated by the world. He again taught them to love one another, to turn to him as the true vine, and that he would send the Comforter. He taught them again about his Atonement and he prayed for them. Then he asked his First Presidency-- Peter, James, and John-- to continue with him a little farther while the rest of his disciples stayed where they were.

It must have been late into the evening when Christ, Peter, James, and John entered the Garden of Gethsemane. A traditional supper would have started around 6:00 p.m. and they had since received a great deal of instruction, including their temple experience. It was well after sundown and so, by the Jewish reckoning of time, it was already Friday.

Feeling sorrow "unto death," Christ asked Peter, James, and John to pray and watch. "And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mark 14:34-36). "And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:43-44).

Twice the Savior returned to Peter, James, and John, and woke them from their sleep and asked them again to watch and pray. When he returned the third time, he told them to rise.

He had scarcely done so when Judas arrived with a body of temple guards and a band of Roman soldiers. This opportunity was unique: normally, Christ was surrounded by people or staying the night in Bethany, but now he had only his apostles in the dark seclusion of Gethsemane.

Judas greeted Christ, saying, "Hail, master," and kissing his face. It was a common greeting, but Christ knew it meant something more to the ecclesiastical and military forces that Judas had brought. "Friend, wherefore art thou come?" he asked. Then the rebuke, "Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" (Matthew 26:47-50, Luke 22:47-48).

Turning to the officers who were sent to arrest him, Christ asked, "Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he... As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground" (John 18:4-6). If we take the biblical description literally, there could have been 300 - 600 soldiers present, yet, as Elder James E. Talmage observed, "Christ's presence proved more potent than strong arms and weapons of violence."

Christ asked again and identified himself again, asking this time for his apostles to be allowed to leave. Peter attempted to defend Christ with the sword, but Jesus rebuked him and healed the ear of Malchus that had been damaged by Peter's rash stroke. Submitting to the officials there to arrest him, Christ called out his oppressors for their cowardice. He had been in the temple every day and could have been arrested there, yet they chose to do their evil deed in the dark. As Christ was led away, the apostles fled except for Peter, who followed at a distance.

Good Friday

The soldiers illegally took Christ first to the house of Annas, the father-in-law to Caiaphas who had been the high priest two decades earlier. Annas asked Christ about his disciples and doctrine. Jewish law required that a hearing on a capital charge could only be held in the official courtroom of the Sanhedrin, that charges must be announced from the outset, and that the accused should be protected from testifying against themselves. Annas was violating all three of these laws, so Christ responded with a legal defense and invited Annas to ask those he taught. As he said this, one of the soldiers slapped him across the face. "Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?" (John 18:19-24).

Annas sent Christ to Caiaphas, the high priest, who assembled in his palace an informal and illegal meeting of the Sanhedrin, the governing council of Jewish leaders. Like Annas, these self-proclaimed devotees and upholders of the law searched, outside of the legal process, for any possible excuse for a death sentence.

Caiaphas first attempted to use false witnesses to convict Christ, but witnesses were hard to find in the middle of the night and the stories of those who could be roused conflicted. Caiaphas next tried to get Christ to react to the witnesses he had heard, but Christ did not respond. Finally, Caiaphas asked directly, "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am" (Mark 14:55-62). At this Caiaphas tore his clothes as a sign of his outrage and proclaimed Christ guilty of blasphemy. The council of leaders agreed, condemned Christ to death, and began to spit on him, humiliate him, and strike him repeatedly. The soldiers joined in, blindfolding Christ and asking him to prophesy who had struck his face (Luke 22:63-65).

When morning came, Christ was led to the official courtroom of the Sanhedrin and the facade of formal proceedings began. Informed by their illicit meeting held in the early morning hours, and continuing to ignore Jewish laws against self-incrimination, the council led off with the question they were sure would settle the matter. "Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go" (Luke 22:66-68). The council asked again, "Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am" (Luke 22:70). This was enough to pronounce a guilty verdict. Impossibly, Jehovah had blasphemed against Jehovah and was delivered to the Roman governor for questioning.

Pontius Pilate lived in Caesarea, on the coast, but he was in Jerusalem at that time because of the large numbers of people expected to be gathered there. The Roman judgement chamber was part of Pilate's house, so the Sanhedrin delivered Christ to the door but refused to go in lest they be defiled by the proximity of leaven and thereby become unworthy to partake of the paschal lamb later that day.

Pilate asked what the charges were against Christ. Caiaphas answered, in essence, "Trust us. He's a problem." Unsatisfied, Pilate told them to judge Christ themselves, but they reminded him that only the Romans could put a man to death (John 18:29-31). The Sanhedrin continued to fear that if they killed Christ by stoning, even with Roman approval, the people might revolt. "And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King. And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it" (Luke 23:2-3). Like "Ye say that I am," "Thou sayest it" is a a confirmation as clear in that time as a simple "yes" would be in ours.

After Pilate interviewed Christ, he returned to the Sanhedrin with a verdict. Christ was not guilty. "And they were more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place... And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at the time" (Luke 23:5, 7).

Herod, who had ordered the death of John the Baptist a few years earlier, was referred to as a king, though the Romans did not recognize him in that way. He was initially happy to see Christ because he had heard so many awe-inspiring things about him. Herod hoped that Christ would perform some great miracle for his amusement. Yet, as the interrogation began, Christ, out of mistrust or distain or simply a sound legal defense, did not answer. Instead of seeing something extraordinary, Herod is the only accuser who never heard the Savior's voice. Unable to pass a conviction, Herod and his soldiers mocked the Savior instead, dressing him in a gorgeous robe and sending him back to Pilate.

Pilate had already tried Christ and found him innocent of all wrongdoing. Neither Herod nor Annas had passed a conviction. Pilate recognized the jealous motives of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, which was hardly a reason for capital punishment. Pilate's wife had also warned him, as a result of a dream, that he should not harm Jesus.

All of this weighed on his mind as the Jewish leaders, and those they brought with them, gathered. Pilate offered a compromise: he would allow Jesus to be scourged, despite his innocence, but then he would be released. The multitude was not pacified and instead demanded that Christ be crucified. Unsure of how to proceed, and perhaps feeling overwhelmed, powerless, frustrated and vulnerable in the face of an irrational mob, Pilate conceded, washed his hands, and declared, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it" (Matthew 27:24).

Christ was mocked, scourged, and crucified on Golgatha. "And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written" (John 19:19-22). This was the first of many testimonies from the Gentiles to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

As Christ had suffered on the cross, darkness had covered the land. His death caused a terrible earthquake that ripped the veil of the temple and opened the Holy of Holies, previously reserved for the high priest, for all to see. A centurion standing near the cross during the earthquake, who had heard Christ forgive his oppressors and die of his own volition, added his testimony that Christ was "a righteous man" and "truly... the Son of God" (Luke 23:47; Mark 15:39).

It was late afternoon now and the Jewish officials who had not hesitated to demand the crucifixion of Christ to preserve their political influence began to worry that the burial of those crucified might infringe on the Sabbath and defile the land. With their pleading, Pilate consented to allow the legs of the crucified to be broken to hasten their deaths. Finding Christ already dead, a soldier pierced his side and water and blood rushed out. Like the paschal lamb, he was killed for the people without a bone of his body being broken.

With permission from Pilate, Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Christ, wrapped it in linen, and put it in his own sepluchre. Nicodemus, a Pharisee who had come to Christ early in his ministry, brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes as a traditional sign of respect, honor, and devotion. Matthew records that many women followed Christ through his trials and ministered unto him, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses (likely the sister of his mother, also named Mary), and Salome (Matthew 27:55-56). Now Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" followed behind and watched the burial. A large stone was rolled to the opening to close the door before the sun had set.

Black Saturday

The Sanhedrin returned to Pilate the next morning. It was the Sabbath, but they had another request. They had remembered that Christ said he would rise again after three days and they wanted to secure his burial place so that apostles could not steal the body and fake a resurrection. Pilate was tired of their requests and tells them, with a degree of annoyance, that they should secure it themselves. "So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch" (Matthew 27:66).

Beyond the veil of death, the scriptures record that there was a crowd of the just gathered in the world of spirits full of joy and gladness. There "the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful; And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance... And the saints rejoiced in their redemption, and bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell. Their countenances shone, and the radiance from the presence of the Lord rested upon them, and they sang praises unto his holy name" (D&C 138:18-19, 23-24).

Christ organized the faithful departed and assigned them to teach the dead who had not been faithful. He instructed and prepared them for their missions, including many of the great prophets, and gave them power to be resurrected after he had been resurrected. Then he departed.

Resurrection Sunday

As the Sabbath concluded in the early morning hours of the next day, the earth began to shake and two angels descended in glory. The guards at the scene fainted at first and then, when they had recovered, fled their post in fear as the angels rolled back the stone of the sepluchre.

When dawn came, the two Marys who had witnessed the closing of the sepluchre, with Salome and "certain others," took spices to the tomb to anoint the body of Christ as Nicodemus had done at the time of burial. As they walked, they considered whether any of them would be strong enough to roll away the stone at the door.

The group of women arrived to find an open sepulchre and walked into the dark tomb to find it empty with the grave clothes folded neatly. Perplexed and likely concerned, one can imagine the confused conversation that then commenced. Suddenly, the two angels appeared and the women bowed themselves to the earth. One of the angels spoke: "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen" (Luke 24:5-6). He reminded them that Christ had prophesied of his resurrection and told them to go share the good news with the apostles. Filled with joy, the women ran to to tell the apostles and "all the rest."

Mary Magdalene went to Peter and John, who came running and saw the empty tomb. John notes that the apostles still did not know that Christ would be resurrected, but that he entered the sepluchre and believed.

After the apostles returned home, but Mary Magdalene, who had returned with them, lingered at the sepluchre and wept. Christ was gone and neither Mary nor the apostles understood where or why. Still weeping, she stooped and looked into the sepluchre and saw the two angels there as before.

"And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou has laid him, and I will take him away" (John 20:13-16).

Mary had not yet seen the resurrected Christ, who was standing outside of her field of vision. But when he called her by name, she recognized his voice and turned with joy toward him, returning the salutation, "Rabboni; which is to say, Master" (John 20:16). Stopping short of an embrace at his direction, Mary obeyed Christ's direction to return to the apostles and testify of what she had seen. Christ then appeared to the other women who had come to the tomb and gave them a similar charge.

Even as many other faithful saints were resurrected and began to appear to the people in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin gathered in council to discuss the news brought to them by the guards of the sepluchre. With hard hearts and a persistent lust for power, they completely ignored and dismissed the miracle of the resurrection. Knowing that the guards could be executed for abandoning their post, the Sanhedrin bribed the guards with money and their lives to say that the body was stolen by the disciples.

Meanwhile, Christ appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus who rushed back to Jerusalem to join the apostles there. Then the resurrected Christ came to his apostles, who had gathered in a secure place to hide from the retaliation of the Jewish leaders. He admonished them for their lack of faith and then showed them his hands and his side. It was true! He had suffered and died on the cross; and now he had risen. He was the great Jehovah, the promised Messiah, their Lord and their God, and he had completed his Atonement for all mankind. As he had promised, Christ gave them the gift of the Holy Ghost and power to do his work. Over the next forty days he continued to teach them, to endow them with power from on high, and to command them to preach the gospel to all nations.

A few weeks before, Lazarus had emerged from his tomb and put away the grave clothes that he would need again. "And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection. But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ. He is the light and life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death" (Mosiah 16:7-9).

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Five Scripture Passages to Broaden Our Perspective on Death

Before we were born, we lived as spirits with our Heavenly Parents. We were eager to obtain a physical body, like they had, and journey to this world to live and laugh and love and learn.

"The spirit and the body are the soul of [every person]" (D&C 88:15). These were joined together when we passed through the veil of our birth; and they are separated with our death.

Death has sometimes been described as walking through a doorway from one room to another, but some doors are heavier than others. When someone we love has passed through the veil of death, it evokes pangs of sorrow and shock among those left behind. We are rarely ready to let go. Though it may vary from time to time and person to person, the hurt is real. The only length of life that seems to satisfy the longings of the human heart is life everlasting.

Mourning is a natural response and deep expression of genuine love. President Nelson has taught that "the only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life." This is the way it is intended to be. The Lord commanded us to "live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die" (D&C 42:45).

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord also promised: "blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). His comfort is found as we turn to him, study his gospel to understand more clearly, and seek to live our lives more aligned with his laws that govern comfort, healing, and happiness.

A broader, more eternal perspective can provide peace "which passeth all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). Our lives are like a long-awaited trip. Before we left our heavenly home, we sought assurance of a round-trip ticket. There was a plan developed for our salvation-- collectively, but also individually. Like the trips we have all experienced, returning home is one of the best parts of the journey. For those of us still here in our mortal destination, the only way home is through the doors of death that cannot be circumvented.

There are several scriptures that help us adopt a broader, more eternal perspective on the life that continues after death. Consider these five passages, for example:

Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection-- Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they are good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.

And then it shall come to pass that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow... until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works.

The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body, yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame (Alma 40:11-12, 21, 23).

Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death. The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame... and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.

Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame... and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit... to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil (Alma 11:42-44).


For it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him. For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.

Wherefore it must needs be [that] an infinite atonement [is provided for us]-- save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man [meaning the fall] must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace!... And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave. And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death [or the separation of mankind from God], shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.

... and all men [and women] become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect (2 Nephi 9:5-13).


And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection. But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.

He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death (Mosiah 16:7-9).


And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us-- That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him; Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those [few]... who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him (D&C 76:40-43).


This life is a time to prepare to meet God (Alma 34:32). We will all die, but through Christ we will also all be resurrected or, in other words, saved from physical death to live in a kingdom of glory.

Yet, our ability to be redeemed from spiritual death and return to our heavenly parents to live the life they enjoy, also called eternal life, depends on the choices we make in this life. That redemption is available to each of us, no matter what has happened in the past, if we remain willing to make and keep covenants with the Lord. This begins with having faith in Christ, repenting of our sins, covenanting with the Lord through baptism for the remission of sins, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and continuing to strive throughout our lives.

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:20).

Some doors are heavier than others, but through Christ we can receive the steadfast hope and comfort that what I have shared today from the scriptures is true. We can receive assurances of our own ability to return to live with God as we make covenants with him and strive to keep them. Our families can be sealed together for time and eternity through temple ordinances. We can satisfy the longings of our hearts for life everlasting. And we can look forward to being reunited with those we love, resurrection to a perfect, immortal body, and the gift of eternal life that God desires to give each of his children.

The Parable of the Pearl and the Box

Our area's mission president shared a parable with us at stake conference. He said he heard it from a general authority at a training session. I've since found it other places online, including in a talk by Elder Boyd K. Packer in 2000, Elder Bednar's book, Act in Doctrine, and a 2017 Facebook post by Elder Renlund, but it made an impression and bears repeating here.

There was a certain man who sought after precious jewels. After a great search, he found a perfect and very large pearl. The pearl was the prized jewel in his collection and of greater worth than all the other jewels he had ever found.

The man decided he wanted to share his treasured discovery with the world, so he hired an expert craftsman to build a display box for the pearl. The box was superbly made with ornate woodwork and lined with blue velvet. It was a box worthy of the treasure it held.

When the man put his pearl of great price on display, he watched as people came to see it. As they admired the box, many commented on the quality of the woodwork or the beauty of the blue velvet. Each saw the beautifully crafted box, but very few even noticed the valuable treasure inside.

The man was very sad that so many people-- people who could have rejoiced with him at the great treasure he had found-- could not even see the great pearl because they were so focused on the box.

The prophet Jacob wrote that the ancient Jews suffered from spiritual blindness, "which blindness came by looking beyond the mark" (Jacob 4:14). We can also mistake beautiful temples, robust church programs, innovative technologies, and friendly wards and branches for the pearl of great price. 

Edwin Markham once wrote:

We are all blind, until we see

That in the [universal] plan

Nothing is worth the making if

It does not make the man.

Why build these [buildings] glorious,

If man unbuilded goes?

In vain we build the [world], unless

The builder also grows.

In reality, even the church itself with its priesthood, rites, ordinances and covenants is part of the ornate box designed to hold and present that which is of greatest value. These may be closer to the mark, it is true, but one can become so focused on even very good and necessary things that they forget why they are doing them.

The mark of the gospel is the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the pearl of great price. Without his life, his suffering, his death and his resurrection, the church with its beautiful buildings and robust programs and books of scripture would be as hollow as an empty box.

Because Christ lived a sinless life, atoned for us and was resurrected, the box is not empty and the gospel is not hollow. Through faith in Christ, we can repent, be baptized and receive a remission of our sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us the power to overcome temptation, sin and death; to be united forever as families; and to benefit from church programs designed to build individuals and families.

If we accept the two great invitations of the scriptures-- to hear the teachings of Christ (Mark 9:7) and to come to Christ (Matthew 11:28)-- we can avoid spiritual blindness. We will be able to see how the prophets and the programs and the scriptures lead each of us closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we, like Jacob's family, "talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies," we will find that we're not only following a program or a prophet. We are not only engaged in the work of building a church for Christ; He is engaged in the work of building each of us.

Receive the Holy Ghost

In the six weeks that followed the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the apostle Peter undergoes a miraculous transformation. It is a change that has had lasting impacts on the history of the Church and the world; and a similar change is within all of our reach.

Simon Peter is a prominent figure in Christ's ministry. He was the Savior's chief apostle, the "rock" and future leader of Christ's church and one of the Lord's most devoted friends. It is Peter that has the faith to walk a step or two on the water, who learns by the spirit and testifies that Jesus is the Christ, who witnesses the transfiguration and the most sacred miracles of Christ, and who cuts off the ear of Malchus in defense of Christ immediately prior to his crucifixion. In simple terms, Peter was a good guy.

Yet, when the Sanhedrin seized the Savior and sentenced him to die, Peter wasn't feeling so good. He was recognized three times as he followed the proceedings and each time Peter denied his association with the accused. When he realized what he had done he went out and wept bitterly. Then, when the Lord was gone, he went back to his fishing boat aggrieved. It must have seemed like it was over-- like there was nothing more to hope.

Six weeks later, everything looked different. Peter and John noticed an older man in front of the temple who had been lame from his birth. When they heal the man, a crowd gathers and Peter testifies of the same Christ who the leaders in the crowd had just crucified. Peter and John were then brought before the Sanhedrin themselves, where Peter boldly declares:


Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand before you whole (Acts 4:10).

What could have made such a difference in so little time? Yes, he had been with Christ for 40 days after the resurrection; but he had been with Christ three years before his infamous denial. He had testified that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God" before he decided he'd go back to being a fisherman (Matthew 16:16). Now he and John were defying a direct order from the Sanhedrin, ignoring threats of violence against them, and "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name" when they were imprisoned and beaten (Acts 5:41).

The difference wasn't the prints of the nails in the Savior's hands or his resurrected glory alone, as wonderful as it must have been to witness the Resurrected Lord. Peter had seen Christ's glory, witnessed the raising of the dead on more than one occasion, and had a testimony of the Savior's divinity even prior to his crucifixion. It also certainly wasn't that like-minded individuals had assumed political power or that the risk of association had diminished. To the contrary, Christ had prophesied that Peter would be crucified for his testimony. So what else could it have been?

In the closing moments before the Savior's ascension into heaven, he repeated a promise to his apostles that he had made before. "Ye shall receive power," he said, "after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

A week later, "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). A crowd of 3,000 people gathered in Jerusalem that day and Peter taught them the gospel. The hearts of the people in the crowd were softened until they asked Peter and the disciples, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter responded, "Repent, and be baptized... and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:37-38).

Peter had experienced the power of the Holy Ghost prior to the resurrection. When he had testified of Christ's divinity in Ceasarea Phillipi, Christ's response confirmed that "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 16:17). He had participated in the first sacrament and the ordinance of the washing of feet. These spiritual experiences and others like them were intermittent however, and in many ways insufficient to facilitate full conversion. In between spiritual high points, Peter was left to himself and the weakness of his own flesh.

It is only after Peter and John receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost that they really begin their ministries. Only then do they have the boldness to stand in a crowd of Jewish leaders and testify of those leaders' sins and their ignorance of the teachings of all the prophets regarding Christ's return and the restoration of the gospel. Only after Peter is "filled with the Holy Ghost" does he have the courage to stand before the Sanhedrin and preach of the same Christ that was hated and crucified by them. Only then do the apostles perform many signs and wonders in defiance of the high priest and then explain with plainness that "we ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost brings confidence, sanctification and peace of conscience, knowledge of all things, strength to endure all things and a desire to share that gift with all of the children of God. It helps Peter overcome his fear of men and transform from student to teacher, from follower to disciple and from having a testimony to being converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only natural that, given the opportunity to teach the people after experiencing the gift of the Holy Ghost, he teaches the goal and promise of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Peter's teaching is for us, too. The Lord stands ready to bless each of us with the power that is accessory to the gift of the Holy Ghost, but we have to be ready to receive it. Elder Bednar explained:

 These four words-- "Receive the Holy Ghost"-- are not a passive pronouncement; rather, they constitute a priesthood injunction-- an authoritative admonition to act and not simply be acted upon. The Holy Ghost does not become operative in our lives merely because hands are placed upon our heads and those four important words are spoken. As we receive this ordinance, each of us accepts a sacred and ongoing responsibility to desire, to seek, to work, and to so live that we indeed "receive the Holy Ghost" and its attendant spiritual gifts ("Receive the Holy Ghost", October 2010).

The gift of the Holy Ghost is sometimes called the "baptism of fire". In ancient Hebrew culture, fire was a symbol for the presence of the divine. Thus, we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost only after we repent and are baptized by the proper authority for the remission of sins. Only then are we worthy of the presence of the divine.

Likewise, after this gift has been bestowed upon us, it operates in our lives as we remain worthy of it. Elder Bednar taught, "Receiving the Holy Ghost starts with our sincere and constant desire for His companionship in our lives." When we desire to live in the presence of the divine, we invite the companionship of the Holy Ghost as we make and keep sacred covenants, seek virtuous thoughts and actions, strengthen appropriate relationships with friends and family and commune with God through scripture study and prayer.

In short, we can be transformed by the presence of the divine if we're willing to leave old habits behind and heed the priesthood injunction to receive the Holy Ghost. If we will do this, the promise of the Lord is that, come what may, we will receive power-- power to know all things, to overcome all things, to endure all things, and to witness in our homes, our communities, on social media and to all people foreign or domestic. Most miraculous of all, through the gift of the Holy Ghost we receive power to change ourselves, the legacy we leave for our families, and the entire world.

Seven Critical Lessons of the Seventh Day

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. He created the light and divided it from the darkness. He created the atmosphere and the clouds, the dry land and plants to cover it, and the sun and the moon and the stars. He made every living creature. He made mankind in his image and gave them dominion over the whole earth. And God saw everything that he had made that it was very good (Genesis 1).

In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it (Exodus 20:11, Genesis 2:2-3).

As with all the works of Christ, our Great Exemplar, the events of the creation provide patterns and doctrines intended to help guide our lives. Among these are what I call the Seven Critical Lessons of the Seventh Day.

The scriptures state that the Lord rested from all his work on the seventh day. This is the First Critical Lesson. President Spencer W. Kimball once observed that “sometimes Sabbath observance is characterized as a matter of sacrifice and self-denial, but it is not so. It is merely a matter of shifting times and choosing seasons. There is time enough, particularly in our era of the world’s history, during the six days of the week in which to do our work and play”.

Though we live in the world, it is critical for our spiritual health to rest each Sabbath from the profane, secular, temporal and worldly things that are in constant competition for our attention and priorities. President Kimball taught:

We have become largely a world of Sabbath breakers. On the Sabbath the lakes are full of boats, the beaches are crowded, the shows have their best attendance, the golf links are dotted with players. The Sabbath is the preferred day for rodeos, conventions, family picnics; even ball games are played on the sacred day… To many, Sabbath-breaking is a matter of little moment, but to our Heavenly Father it is disobedience to one of the principal commandments.

The Lord invites us to find a safe port from the storms of life by following his example and resting from our daily cares on the Sabbath day.

But we should know that the rest of the Lord is different from simply dropping anchor for a long nap. The scriptures say that the spirits of the righteous, after they die, are “received into a state of rest” (Alma 40:12). Yet, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that such are “exalted to a greater and more glorious work” and President Brigham Young taught that “there is an almighty work to perform in the spirit world” (Teachings, 326; JD, 4:285). Though we rest from the things of the world, when engaged in the work of the Lord the Sabbath day may sometimes be our busiest.

Again quoting President Kimball, “If one merely lounges about doing nothing on the Sabbath, he is breaking it.” Rather, the Lord has said:

And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors and to pay thy devotions unto the most high. Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times; But remember that on this, the Lord's day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord. And on this day thou shalt do none other thing...

The word "sacraments" originates from the Latin words for "solemn oath" and "sacred". Oblations are our gifts to God; he asks for a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and also that we devote our time and talents to building up his kingdom on the earth. We may not have a great deal of time to seek forgiveness of our sins, prepare to renew our covenants, build our faith through gospel study or serve others during the week, but these are all things we can do as we rest from worldly cares on the Sabbath. That we should be anxiously engaged in a good cause on the Sabbath is the Second Critical Lesson.

The Third Critical Lesson is to remember the Lord has blessed the Sabbath day and he blesses us for observing it. Christ taught his disciples that “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). In the same breath that the Lord admonishes us to attend church he promises that so doing will help us keep ourselves unspotted from the world. Later in that same chapter, he says:

And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances... Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours... But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come (D&C 59:5-23).

Observing the Sabbath is not a sacrifice but rather the path to individual and collective peace and prosperity. To the children of Israel, the Lord promised that if they would keep the Sabbath day holy:

Then will I give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit… and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land (Leviticus 26:2-6).

These blessings are readily available to us if we will honor the Sabbath day.

Fourth, the Lord hallowed the Sabbath day. In the same way church buildings and temples are dedicated spaces for the Lord’s work, the Sabbath day is time that has been sanctified and consecrated to the work and glory of God. Just as temples are holy places, the Lord has commanded the faithful in every dispensation to, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).

Our willingness to forego worldly things and focus only on holy activities is an indication to the Lord that we’re willing to keep the covenants we have made with him. President Russell M. Nelson has taught:

I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father. With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don’ts. When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, ‘What sign do I want to give to God?’ That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear (“The Sabbath is a Delight”, April 2015).

The Fifth Critical Lesson is to notice the symbolism of the seventh day. In Hebrew, the number seven is symbolic of completion and perfection. The tabernacle was built in six days and dedicated on the seventh, likewise heaven and earth were made over six creative periods and sanctified on the seventh. The Sabbath day completed the Creation and made the work that had been done acceptable before a God that is and must be intolerable of the least degree of imperfection.

This pattern is repeated throughout the Lord’s plan of happiness. In the Book of Moses, the Lord reminds us that the creation story of Genesis refers to the spiritual creation of heaven and earth:

For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air; (Moses 3:5)

It was on the seventh day that the Lord finished his work, watering the face of the ground, providing physical bodies for Adam and Eve and placing them in the Garden of Eden. It was on the seventh day that the creation was made completely perfect and perfectly complete.

The conclusion of this first Sabbath day ushered in six thousand years of mortality. At the end of these six thousand years will come the Millennial day of rest. Joseph Smith, clarifying a scripture in Revelation chapter 8, taught:

As God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of the dust of the earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the salvation of man, and judge all things, and shall redeem all things (D&C 77:12).

This second great Sabbath day we will rest from the temptations of the evil one, complete the missionary and temple work to be done, and be resurrected from mortality to immortality. The next seventh day, the Millennial Sabbath, will complete and perfect the work of mortality.

With so much emphasis on the seventh day, which is actually Saturday, the Sixth Critical Lesson addresses briefly why most Christians now worship on Sunday, which is the first day of the week.

The short answer is that they don’t. Christians don’t worship on the first day of the week, but rather on the eighth day of the week. Let me explain:

Until the Atonement of Christ was complete, the faithful worshipped on the seventh day of the week. Then something happened. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, died for us on a Friday, the sixth day of the week symbolic of man and rebellion (i.e. Adam and Eve’s creation on the sixth day). On the seventh day, the Savior rested and visited the spirit world. On the next day, the eighth day, a Sunday, Christ was resurrected.

The number eight is symbolic of covenants and new beginnings. It’s symbolic of resurrection and salvation. Israelite males were circumcised at eight days old as a sign of God's covenant with them. We are eight years old when we may be baptized or “reborn”. And, through the ordinance of the sacrament administered on the eighth day of each week, we renew our covenants with God and his promise to forgive us our sins, allowing us to be reborn again on this eighth day of every week.

The pattern of going from seven to eight is also frequently repeated in scripture. The desert tabernacle had seven pieces of furniture while Solomon’s temple had eight. There are seven covenants in the Old Testament and an eighth in the New Testament.

Finally, the Seventh Critical Lesson is to recognize that all of this has been meticulously planned and perfectly executed as an example for you and I. The Savior wants us to come unto him and partake of his rest each week. He wants us to renew our covenants and begin each week without the weight of the last. He wants us to stay unspotted from the world and enjoy peace and prosperity. He offers to give us greater light and knowledge from heaven if we take the time to seek it.

If we are going to heed his command to, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), we are going to need a day to complete our most important work, to dedicate ourselves and to be sanctified and made acceptable to God. This is why, after the Lord who labors for our immortality and eternal life created the light and the atmosphere and the plants and animals and Adam and Eve, as a capstone to his creation, on the seventh day the Lord made the Sabbath.

Because of Him

Your Personal Restoration

In 1820, the young Joseph Smith saw God, our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, starting a domino chain of events that would lead to the restoration of the organization, doctrine and authority of Christ's ancient church. This restoration brought back the gospel in its purity, filling in gaps and correcting popular theologies in a way only achievable by the divine. Once completed, the modern gospel looks exactly like the old one, and is a vibrant, living pattern of revelation and salvation.

Likewise, Alma teaches that each of us will be restored: "Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself" (Alma 41:2). He continues: "Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame-- mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption" (Alma 41:4).

Alma is, of course, speaking of the resurrection. Thought of, as Alma teaches, as a restoration, we can compare our resurrection to the restoration of an old car.

The rusted frame of the old car might catch a skilled mechanic's eye as he wonders through a junkyard or drives down a lonely country road. Carefully, the mechanic will transport the old car to his garage and go to work. He will search for engine parts, a new dash, tires, seats, and mirrors. Over time, he will return the pieces of the engine to their proper places to make it run; he will install floorboards, upholstery, windows and a radio; he will sand and paint the frame-- usually with flames-- and shine chrome bumpers and hubcaps. When it is finished, the master mechanic will have restored the car to its new condition-- sometimes better than new.

So it is with us. Christ, our creator and master mechanic, has made possible our restoration through his atonement and resurrection. He wants to restore us to the presence of our Heavenly Father (Alma 42:23). But just as a mechanic cannot restore a '59 Chevy into anything other than a '59 Chevy, however, Christ cannot restore us into something we are not.

Alma explains: "The meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish-- good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful" (Alma 41:13). We could continue that list: lust for lust; joy for joy; appetite for appetite; friendship for friendship; grudge for grudge; thought for thought; etc. "And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there..." (D&C 130:2).

If we will be restored to the same creatures we turn ourselves into, the call to action is clear. Again, Alma teaches: "Therefore... see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again. For that which ye do send out shall return to you again, and be restored" (Alma 41:14-15, emphasis added).

Like it or not, we all live the golden rule. As we do unto others, even so will God, who owns all vengeance, all mercy and all that is, restore likewise unto us. And so we become our own judges, in a way, and decide our own fate. Let us choose the fate of kindness, of long-suffering, of generosity and goodness. Let us choose to be the kind of people we want to be when we're resurrected, for "all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame--mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption-- raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil" (Alma 41:4). Let us then choose to behave as though the kingdom of God were already here; for only then can we assure that we'll be here when it arrives.