Easter Thoughts Etc 2025

[SilentOne]

In our mortal condition, no one is perfect. Even in our most diligent efforts to live the gospel, all of us will make mistakes, and all of us will sin. What a comforting assurance it is to know that through our Savior’s redeeming sacrifice, we can be forgiven and made clean again. This process of true repentance and forgiveness strengthens our testimony and our resolve to obey the Lord’s commandments and live our life according to gospel standards.
- Ann M. Dibb, I Know It. I Live It. I Love It.

I say unto you, that I know of myself that whatsoever I shall say unto you, concerning that which is to come, is true; and I say unto you, that I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. And behold, it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name.
- Alma 5:48

[SilentOne]

I testify that the tomb is empty, and He is risen. His grace, love, and power to become are available to all if we follow Him and allow Him to change our hearts.
- Valeri V. Cordón, Easter: The Most Important Religious Observance

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.
- Moroni 10:32-33

[Ironhold]

This Friday, there is going to be a new movie in theaters called "King of Kings". 

It's an animated faith-based movie in which a fictionalized version of Charles Dickens tells his son the story of Jesus. 

Check your local theaters to see if it's going to show up, as faith-based movies of this nature often don't last very long outside of major cities and/or massive multiplex facilities. 

[SilentOne]

I testify that God loves us because He sent His Son to atone for our sins and for the sins of all humankind everywhere. This is the most powerful manifestation of all. I felt it first as I prepared for baptism and now each week as I prepare to receive the sacrament.

The Atonement has been written about for centuries by prophets both ancient and modern, but is it written in our hearts? The Atonement is not an academic abstract that is learned like the multiplication tables. If we are prepared, like Nephi and Enos, the Atonement can sink deep in our hearts and fill us with wonder
-Rollin H. Hotchkiss, God Loves You

But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.
- 2 Nephi 1:15

[JohnsonJones]

17 hours ago, Ironhold said:

This Friday, there is going to be a new movie in theaters called "King of Kings". 

It's an animated faith-based movie in which a fictionalized version of Charles Dickens tells his son the story of Jesus. 

Check your local theaters to see if it's going to show up, as faith-based movies of this nature often don't last very long outside of major cities and/or massive multiplex facilities. 

Thank you for the heads up.

[SilentOne]

I bear my witness that the Savior’s Atonement is not only infinite in scope but also individual in reach—that it can not only return us to God’s presence but also enable us to become like Him—the crowning goal of Christ’s Atonement. Of that I bear my grateful and certain witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
- Tad R. Callister, The Atonement of Jesus Christ

...I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.
- Alma 36:3

[SilentOne]

Nothing done before or since has so affected mankind as the atonement wrought by Jesus of Nazareth, who died on Calvary’s cross, was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and on the third day arose from the grave as the Living Son of the Living God—the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
- Gordon B. Hinckley, The Greatest Miracle in Human History

And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.
- Alma 36:17-21

[Ironhold]

On 4/9/2025 at 4:50 PM, Ironhold said:

This Friday, there is going to be a new movie in theaters called "King of Kings". 

It's an animated faith-based movie in which a fictionalized version of Charles Dickens tells his son the story of Jesus. 

Check your local theaters to see if it's going to show up, as faith-based movies of this nature often don't last very long outside of major cities and/or massive multiplex facilities. 

OK. 

I saw it yesterday. 

From a Bible standpoint, it's basically the Cliffs Notes (C) version of the Gospels, which isn't surprising as it's meant to be a one-off family-accessible movie. 

From a movie standpoint, it's a masterpiece of voice acting and cinematography, which Hollywood should feel really bad about as it's putting a lot of their recent live-action releases to shame in that regards. 

[SilentOne]

Because Jesus owed no debt to justice, He could pay our debt and meet the demands of justice for every soul. And that includes you and me.

Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins.

All of them.

On that most important day in history, Jesus the Christ opened the gates of death and cast aside the barriers that prevented us from passing into the holy and hallowed halls of everlasting life. Because of our Lord and Savior, you and I are granted a most precious and priceless gift—regardless of our past, we can repent and follow the path that leads to celestial light and glory, surrounded by the faithful children of Heavenly Father.
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Behold the Man!

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
- Isaiah 1:18

[SilentOne]

And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
- Mark 11:8-10

May we today, on this Palm Sunday, spread out our robes of love and palm leaves of charity, walking in the footsteps of the Prince of Peace as we prepare to celebrate, this coming Sunday, the miracle of the empty tomb. As brothers and sisters in Christ, let us joyfully proclaim, “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.”
- Ulisses Soares, Followers of the Prince of Peace

[SilentOne]

Jesus did suffer and die for us. Through him, and only through him, can we have life and the joy thereof, both in time and in eternity.

I love the Savior. I feel that as he hung upon the cross and looked out over the dark scene, he saw more than mocking soldiers and cruel taunters. He saw more than crying women and fearful friends. He remembered and saw even more than women at wells or crowds on hills or throngs by seashores. He saw more, much more. He, who knows all and has all power, saw through the stream of time. His huge, magnanimous, loving soul encompassed all eternity and took in all people and all times and all sins and all forgiveness and all everything. Yes, he saw down to you and to me and provided us an all-encompassing opportunity to escape the terrible consequences of death and sin.

And even as he suffered for all of us, he voiced that most beautiful of all requests, “Father, forgive them.”
- John H. Groberg, The Beauty and Importance of the Sacrament

Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered. Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.
- 2 Nephi 2:7-8

[SilentOne]

Jesus was often misunderstood and rejected. But He felt most forsaken and alone on Calvary—just as the final act of the Atonement was enveloping mankind in His eternal love. Ironically, during the moments when in agony He was benefiting billions upon billions of mortals, He was attended by only a faithful few.

His infinite atonement affected every age, every dispensation, and every person. Hence the appropriate symbolism of His bleeding at each and every pore—not just some—in order that “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
- Neal A. Maxwell, "Answer Me"

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who is willing to have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth which is in Christ Jesus, who is the Only Begotten Son of God, and ordained to be a Mediator between God and man; who is one God, and hath power over all men. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
- 1 Timothy 2:3-6 (with JST in verse 4)

[Carborendum]

All four gospels depict the cleansing of the temple.   John is peculiar in this respect because he places this cleansing at the beginning of His ministry.  The other three place it at the end (at about the Triumphal Entry).

What we might conclude is that He cleansed the temple twice.  He book-ended His ministry with a cleansing of the temple.  I believe this tactic was to emphasize the need for temples and to keep them sacred.  And we need to keep in mind that virtually all our doctrines are pointing to the temple, which points to Christ.  And the temple ceremony (including the narrative) tells us of so many of the fundamental points of doctrine that we teach every day.  But we simply don't get the connection until we start purposefully cleansing the inner vessel and looking for the wisdom of the Lord in all He has given us.

One of the most important things they did in the ancient temples that we do not do anymore is the offering of animal sacrifices.

After the cleansing and the sermons He gave on the Mount of Olives, the suffering in Gethsemane, the arrest, the judgment/trial, etc.  an interesting point of history was portrayed.

The scriptures say there was a custom "at that feast" to release one prisoner.  That is peculiar because that didn't happen.  There was no such custom to release a prisoner at the Feast of the Passover.  But there was such a custom among the Romans to do so at the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).  During Yom Kippur, a sacrifice is made of a goat and a sheep.  Some say it was two goats.  That wouldn't really provide the same symbolism if that is true.

The modern Jews say that they kill one goat as a sacrifice (a sin offering).  Then they release the goat that escapes (the Scapegoat) to "carry away their sins" as the goat is released into the desert.

Some say that this was Pilate trying to find some way to save Jesus without causing too big a rebellion.  Hey, you do this at this other feast every year.  I'm going to do this at this feast at this time of year.  So, he put Jesus up against a murderer/thief/political terrorist (Barabbas).  He was hoping if there was a choice between these two, SURELY they'd want Jesus to be released.  But no.  They did not.

I make no statement about whether or not this happened as the narrative indicates.  But all four gospel authors wanted to make a point about the Atonement of Christ.  That's why all four of them say that this "releasing of the goat" happened at the crucifixion of Christ -- at Passover.

• Some scholars believe that the sacrificed animal was a sheep, not a goat (prior to the diaspora).  And the goat was set free. 
• Or it was a combining of Passover (where a paschal lamb was killed) with the Day of Atonement (where the goat was set free). 
• Both sacrifices were done in the temple which Jesus just cleansed.
• Christ was the Lamb without blemish.  Barabbas was the corrupted goat that can go free because Christ was sacrificed as an atonement for him. 

Symbolically, we are all Barabbas -- the sinner -- the goat -- set free because the Lamb of God died for us.

How better to combine the meaning of the Passover and the meaning of the Atonement at the same time?

As we look back on the meaning of the entire process from the cleansing of the temple, to Gethsemane, the trial, scourging, and crucifixion, we focus on the suffering of the Lord.  Somehow, knowing that we are the goat makes it more real to me. 

Knowing that He gave up the ghost (no man taketh it from me. I have power to lay it down.  And I have power to take it up again.) means that some barrier was removed as He came forth from the tomb.  The barrier was somehow changed.  It was not a solid stone that was sealed up.  Christ came forth from what should have been an impenetrable wall.  Because that gate is now open, we can all come forth in the resurrection.

And after we come forth and be judged, we will receive our eternal reward.  Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption. 

The mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil.

Edited 10 hours ago by Carborendum

[Ironhold]

Check your local movie theaters. 

I just tried checking the site for my local multiplex. It was sluggish to load, as if they were still in the process of updating everything, but it seems that "King of Kings" is getting a second weekend. 

[SilentOne]

51 minutes ago, Ironhold said:

Check your local movie theaters.

The closest theater to me has showings listed through next Thursday