On Thursday, November 24th we had District Meeting at our apartment. Afterwords we celebrated Thanksgiving with a delicious meal Kim had prepared (including homemade pumpkin pie and whip cream) Portugal and Brazil both played today in the World Cup. The outside temperature was 55 degrees and rainy. A very unique Thanksgiving!
SCRIPTURE POWER
Why did Christ suffer and bleed at every pore?
The suffering in Gethsemane as described by Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Matthew said: “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.” (Matt. 26: 36-44)
Mark said:“And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, 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: 32-36)
Luke the physician said: “And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,” (Luke 22: 39-45)
Jacob states: “And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam. And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day.” (2 Ne. 9:21-22) The resurrection was conditioned upon Jesus’s suffering.
King Benjamin said: “And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people. And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary. And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him. And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men. For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Mosiah 3:7-12)
Revelation given through the prophet Joseph Smith: “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power; and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit.” (D & C 19:16-20)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie in his final General Conference talk said: “while he was hanging on the cross for another three hours, from noon to 3:00 p.m., all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred.” (“The Purifying Power of Gethsemane”, Ensign, May, 1985)
In this same General Conference Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: “Later, in Gethsemane, the suffering Jesus began to be “sore amazed” (Mark 14:33) or, in the Greek, “awestruck” and “astonished.” Imagine, Jehovah, the Creator of this and other worlds, “astonished”! Jesus knew cognitively what He must do, but not experientially. He had never personally known the exquisite and exacting process of an atonement before. Thus, when the agony came in its fulness, it was so much, much worse than even He with his unique intellect had ever imagined! No wonder an angel appeared to strengthen him.” (“Wiling to Submit”, Ensign, May, 1985)
Luke, the physician said: “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an 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)
Elder James E. Talmage said: “The frightful struggle incident to the temptations immediately following the Lord’s baptism was surpassed and overshadowed by this supreme contest with the powers of evil.” (“Jesus the Christ”, page 613).
Agon-Greek meaning conflict, struggle, fight or contest. Facing an opponent.
President Brigham Young said: “At the very moment, at the hour when the crisis came for him to offer up his life, the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, and cast a vail over [Jesus]. That is what made him sweat blood. If he had had the power of God upon him, he would not have sweat blood; but all was withdrawn from him, and a veil was cast over him, and he then plead with the Father not to forsake him” (in Journal of Discourses, 3:206).
While hanging on the cross-“And about the ninth hour [this would be 3PM] Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46) Jesus quotes from Psalms “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Psalms 22:1)
When we sin the Spirit withdraws.(Mosiah 2:36; Hel. 6:35; Hel. 13:8) As Jesus who never sinned experienced the combined weight of all of our sins this would cause a loss of the Spirit something He had never experienced before. He therefore became “sore amazed”. He felt forsaken and totally alone because for the first time He was alone. Without the Spirit to strengthen Him He bore “the sins of the world.”
The phrase “the sins of the world” never appears in the Bible (except for a verse the Prophet Joseph Smith revised in JST Lk.3:5) The use of the singular word “sin” in John 1:29 “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” could easily be misunderstood as referring to the supposed “original sin” of Adam.
However, the phase “the sins of the world” appears 17 times in the most correct book, the Book of Mormon. ( 1 Ne. 10:10; 1 Ne. 11:33; 2 Ne 31:4; Mosiah 26:23; Alma 5:48; Alma 7:14; Alma 30:26; Alma 34:8,12; Alma 36:17; Alma 39:15; Alma 42:15; 3 Ne. 11:11,14; 3 Ne. 28: 9,38; 4 Ne. 1:44) also in (JST Lk.3:5; D & C 21:9; D & C 53:2; D & C 54:1) the “sins of the world” caused Him to bled from every pore. At His second coming “the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat.” (D & C 133:48) “And his voice shall be heard: I have trodden the wine-press alone,… and none were with me;” (D & C 133:50)
Jesus first recorded words in scripture occurred in the pre-mortal world: “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.” (Moses 4:2)
Jesus, first recorded words in mortality when 12 years old: “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49)
Jesus last words in mortality while hanging on the cross: [with] “a loud voice, saying Father, it is finished, thy will is done, yielded up the ghost” (JST Matt. 27:54)
Jesus first words as a resurrected being after appearing to the righteous gathered at the temple in Bountiful were: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.” (3 Ne. 11:10-11)
Elder C. Max Caldwell said: "“Why did Jesus Christ bleed from every pore when He was wounded for our transgressions? Brigham Young said it was because the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from Him (see JD, 3:206). That makes a lot of sense to all of us who have sinned. We know that when sin occurs, when wounding takes place, the Spirit leaves. Well, if Jesus was wounded because He was bearing sins, even though they were not His own, naturally the Spirit would leave. For the first time in His life, this supersensitive, spiritual soul found Himself being forsaken by the Spirit, and He was spiritually alone. He bled from every pore because the pain of sin was so intense, and He was without the Comforter.” (“Power From On High” by C. Max Caldwell)
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