IN REMEMBRANCE

 

 

The approaching Easter is leading me to ponder a lot about the gift of resurrection. Two significant things have stood out to me from the Book of Mormon, that are leading me to rejoice about the resurrection of Christ:

•  When the Saviour instituted the ordinance of the Sacrament, He instructed His disciples to do this “in remembrance of my body which I give a ransom for you” (JST Matthew 26:26b). The emphasis here is on the broken body of Christ which was offered as sacrifice. When visiting the Americas, He instructed the Nephites, “this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you” (3 Nephi 18:7). The emphasis here is on the resurrected body of Christ. In other words, ‘even though I was broken and dead, I am now alive and well. Rejoice, for in me is life’. Each time we partake of the Sacrament, our sorrow for the broken body of Christ should be equaled with our joy for His resurrection and the gift of immortality.

• When yet in mortality, the Saviour told His disciples, “Ye are therefore commanded to be perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (JST Matthew 5:48). When visiting the Nephites, the Saviour included Himself in that statement by saying, “Therefore, I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (3 Nephi 12:48). Why did He include himself? Because you cannot become perfect without resurrection. I am not saying that Christ was not perfect in character and His spirit, which He was. I am talking about perfection as in completion. In other words: resurrected, complete, finished. This should help us understand that we can only become perfect on resurrection day. Not that resurrection alone will grant that perfection, but that having completed our mortal probation and being sanctified through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we will be resurrected to perfection of both body and spirit. Now that is something to rejoice about!

The glory and majesty of the resurrected Christ is unfathomable to me. I yearn for an experience such as this: “When I was doing missionary work with some of our brethren among the Indians…I found myself one evening in the dreams of the night, in that sacred building, the Temple. After a season of prayer and rejoicing, I was informed that I should have the privilege of entering into one of those rooms, to meet a glorious Personage, and as I entered the door, I saw, seated on a raised platform, the most glorious Being my eyes have ever beheld, or that I even conceived existed in all the eternal worlds. As I approached to be introduced, He arose and stepped towards me with extended arms, and He smiled as He softly spoke my name. If I shall live to be a million years old, I shall never forget that smile. He took me into His arms and kissed me, pressed me to His bosom, and blessed me, until the marrow of my bones seemed to melt! When He had finished, I fell at His feet, and as I bathed them with my tears and kisses, I saw the prints of the nails in the feet of the Redeemer of the world. The feeling that I had in the presence of Him who hath all things in His hands, to have His love, His affection, and His blessings was such that if I ever can receive that of which I had but a foretaste, I would give all that I am, all that I hope to be, to feel what I then felt!”   (Apostle Melvin J. Ballard, Temple Manifestations, p 153)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Risen Lord by Arnold Friberg)