BEAUTY UPON THE MOUNTAINS

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"   (Isaiah 52:7)


Imagine a world without telephones, email, internet and postal service. How would you feel if an event of huge importance happened and you were eager to relay such to those you knew who were in places afar? This is exactly what the world used to be like. Anciently messages were always delivered on foot by runners. There was great honour associated with carrying good news as the following example shows:

"In 490 BC the Athenians had miraculously defeated a much stronger force of invading Persians on the Plains of Marathon. Pheidippides was selected to carry the good news back to Athens. The fleet runner ran the grueling 25 miles as fast as he could. Upon reaching the walls of Acropolis, Pheidippides cried out, 'Rejoice, we conquer!' and promptly fell dead." (Webster's Word Histories, p. 291)

No need to further speculate where the term 'marathon runner' comes from. Isaiah considered those privileged to carry the most meaningful messages to have beautiful feet and none were more beautiful than the feet of the Saviour who indeed brought good tidings and published salvation, who proclaimed to Zion, 'They God reigneth'.

"The Spirit of the Lord...hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;...to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives...to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion.....beauty for ashes." (Isaiah 61:1,3)

There are no 'good tidings' that surpass those that Isaiah proclaimed in above-mentioned scripture. Why? Because this life is a vale of sorrow that we all must pass through but there is a power that can bind the brokenhearted and 'appoint unto them that mourn...beauty for ashes'. This is the greatest message Isaiah gives on behalf of Him who has cried our tears and known our sorrows. In today's world where we are buffeted by so much evil, sorrow and pain, the Saviour's message brings immeasurable hope for those weighed down beyond the breaking point with self-doubt, broken heart and spiritual fatigue.

The Saviour's mortality of pain and sorrow qualified Him experientially to understand the brokenhearted but the power of His Atonement qualified Him to bind the brokenhearted: "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:3,4).

Imagine what it was like for Jesus to go through this mortal life with the responsibility of establishing Himself as the promised Messiah and Saviour of the world. What mockery and ridicule He would have suffered as a man born in a stable to a woman who was pregnant before she was wed, a carpenter and a man of no educational and political significance and notoriety. The derision He suffered led to severe persecution and ultimate rejection: "Jesus experienced tragedy and sorrow throughout his life. Member of his own family did not accept him as the Messiah at first (John 7:5). People in his home town sought to kill Him (Luke 4:16-30). His countrymen, the Jews, rejected his messianic calling (John 1:11). One friend betrayed Him; another denied knowing Him (Luke 22:48, 54-62). In the end, 'all disciples forsook Him, and fled' (Matthew 26:56) and His enemies demanded His crucifixion (Matthew 27:22-23)" (Old Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings-Malachi)

Aside from the pain and sorrow of His personal life, the Saviour experienced and suffered every sorrow, pain and anguish of not just each of us on this earth but of all his creations of all the worlds He has created: "His Atonement is infinite...in that all humankind would be saved from never-ending death. It was infinite in terms of His immense suffering. It was infinite in time, putting an end to the preceding prototype of animal sacrifice. It was infinite in scope - it was to be done once for all. And the mercy of the Atonement extends not only to an infinite number of people, but also to an infinite number of worlds created by Him. It was infinite beyond any human scale of measurement or mortal comprehension. (Russell M. Nelson, "The Atonement", Ensign, Nov. 1996, p. 35)

Is it any wonder that an angel attended Him to strengthen Him as He carried our every burden and every sorrow? Elder Merrill J. Bateman described the heaviness of 'carrying of sorrows' it would have been for Him in the fated garden of Gethsemane: "For many years I thought of the Saviour's experience in the garden and on the cross as places where a large mass of sin was heaped upon Him. Through the words of Alma, Abinadi, Isaiah, and other prophets, however, my view has changed. Instead of an impersonal mass of sin, there was a long line of people, as Jesus felt 'our infirmities', bore our griefs....carried our sorrows...and was bruised for our iniquities....He learned about your weaknesses and mine. He experienced your pains and sufferings. He experienced mine. I testify that He knows us. He understand the way in which we deal with temptations. He knows our weaknesses, But more than that, more than just knowing us, He knows how to help us if we come to Him in faith." (Merrill J. Bateman, "A Pattern for All", Ensign, Nov. 2005, p 74)

Should we hesitate to seek the healing power of Him who experienced our pains and sorrows that come from sin, inadequacy, weakness, addiction, mental illness, affliction from others, physical illness, handicaps, poverty, divorce, death and every other painful condition of mortal life? He who has known and felt every feeling of our hearts has the power to make us whole. He is the Balm of Gilead, the only one who pleads our cause before the Father, who desires to save us and exalt us to eternal glory that awaits the faithful: "Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him - Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life" (D&C 45:3-5). The Saviour pleads with the Father for us on the basis of His righteousness, not ours, but we have claim on His righteousness because of our faith in Him. The power to save is all His and the power to heal is also His. Is this not the greatest news and the greatest message that should be carried to all the ends of the earth?

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that th everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth...giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eages; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faith." (Isaiah 40:28-29,31)