SUCCOR MY PEOPLE
The scriptures are full of teachings about the atonement of
Jesus Christ; that great act, planned in the pre-existence, which allows us to
overcome physical death and spiritual death.
Amulek taught eloquently in Alma Chapter 11 that Christ would come and
redeem his people by taking upon himself the punishment for the sins of those
who believe on his name and that all shall be raised from the temporal death.
Before the birth of Christ, the atonement was frequently prophesied. Prophets taught the atonement would cleanse
us of our sins and raise our physical body of flesh and bones from death. For example:
Isaiah said: “ 5 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 53:5)
Nephi prophesied: “12 …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.” (2 Nephi 9:12)
However, a big part of the power of the atonement is
sometimes overlooked. Jesus Christ
suffered the pains, sickness, anguish, regrets, temptations, etc. of mankind so
that we can gain relief from these burdens when we take our inevitable turn to suffer
with them. This third gift of the atonement
is taught throughout the scriptures but it often goes un-used because it is over
looked, ignored, and misunderstood. A
few references to this part of the atonement are:
“18 For in that he himself
hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succor them
that are tempted.” (Heb. 2:18)
“1 Behold, and hearken, O ye elders
of my church, saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, your advocate, who
knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted.” (DC
62:1)
Alma clearly taught this third component of the atonement, when
teaching in verses 12 and 13 that Christ will blot out our sins and loose the
bands of death. In verses 11 and 12 he
said:
“11 And he shall go forth,
suffering pains and afflictions and
temptations of
every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him
the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 …and he will take
upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according
to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor
his people according to their infirmities. (Alma 7:11-12)
What this says is, the suffering of Jesus in Gethsemane and
on the cross exceeded the combined suffering from infirmities of all human
beings since the worlds were created.
Somehow he vicariously experienced all the temptations, grief,
heartaches, sickness, physical pains, handicaps, emotional burdens,
depressions, loneliness, unfairness, etc. of us and all the human family before
us and after us. He personally knows all
these things and this suffering because he lived and suffered them in
Gethsemane.
These experiences of pain and suffering that come to all
human beings at one point or another cannot just simply be whisked away by us
or God. The laws of this cause-and-effect
world do not allow it. The suffering is
a consequence of something. Through
prayer, we can seek relief from burdens, above which we cannot bear. The burdens do not simply disappear; they are
transferred to Christ’s shoulders to bear.
Christ literally knows how to succor his people because he descended
below all of us and experienced our infirmities. This parallels our casting the punishment for
sin on Christ’s shoulders through sincere repentance.
A few years ago an LDS author named Stephen Robinson wrote
the book, Believing Christ. One of the theses in the book is that many
members of the Church of Jesus Christ “believe in Christ” as the Son of God and
our Savior and Redeemer. But, they do
not always “believe Christ”; what Christ says and promises.
Christ says he will succor us and bear our burdens,
temptations, and grief, but we often never ask in prayer to use that portion of
the atonement but bear those burdens ourselves.
We ask for forgiveness of sin and hope for a glorious resurrection, but
forget that through the power of the atonement he also has his hand outstretched
and is offering to relieve us from life’s burdens that seem too heavy to bear.
In the Mission and in your life, you may struggle with
temptation, sickness and other ailments. I encourage you to believe Christ and put it
to the test. Ask for relief through the
power of the atonement. The Lord will
bless you and answer your request as you strive to live his commandments
because he stated:
29 For behold, the Lord hath
said: I will not succor my
people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that
they prosper not; and their doings
shall be as a stumbling
block before them.
30 And
again, he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they
shall reap the chaff thereof
in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison. (Mosiah 7:29-30)
President Robinson
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