He is Risen

This has been the echoing theme in my mind this week as I prepared for Easter. I've had an incredible week of scripture study as I prepared for Easter- actually preparing for Easter for the first time in my life- on my own, and not as an assigned study/lesson for seminary/institute/etc.

As I read my scriptures this week I studied the last week of the Savior's life, reading each day in the four gospels the chronological events as they happened. It helped to think each day of the things the Savior was teaching and doing in what He knew were his last days. I used the time on my daily subway commute to read articles from the March and April Ensigns, which focused on the things we can have in this life because of the Savior's Atonement and resurrection- peace, joy, comfort, hope.

Never have I been more focused, and never has my scripture study been so rewarding. Beginning with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, reading the sermons chosen to be His last messages, and ending with the events of the Atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection it was an incredible journey to really think about the importance and the effect of Christ's ministry here on this earth.

To the testimony given in D&C 76:22, I would like to add my own. "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!"

I think it is significant that this statement ends with an exclamation point- it is a declaration of an incredible truth. Jesus Christ lives! He came to this earth, born of a mortal mother and an immortal father, with the purpose of providing a way for us to return home to our Father in Heaven. Our Heavenly Father knew we would all make mistakes- He gave us the agency so that we could make our own choices- and because He loves us and wants us to return home He created a plan that would allow us to do that. The plan required a Savior, one who would atone for the sins of all the world, who would be willing to die, and to take up His life again.

As the eve of the Passover neared during that last week of Christ's life, He knew what was to come. He prepared His disciples, continued to teach the people, and instituted the Sacrament that we might remember the sacrifice He was soon to make. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane where he bled from every pore as he performed the miraculous and wonderful act of the Atonement, taking upon Him all our sins, all our sorrows. How beautiful and incredible is the love that both He and our Heavenly Father had for us to put in place a plan, and to fulfill a plan that allows us to be forgiven of the things that we will do during our mortal journey here on this earth, to allow us to one day return home and to reach our full potential as children of God.

Willingly he suffered the indignity of the so-called trials during His last night as He was taken and falsely accused, knowing that He must complete the task so that He might rise again- and thus allow all of us to rise again. He was crucified on Calvary, and then His body was placed in the tomb.

On Saturday I pondered what it must have been like the day after the crucifixion, after all the events and turmoil of the day before that next day must have been empty and dark, hollow. They could not have understood how Jesus Christ, the one who was supposed to have been their deliverer could have been taken from this earth. How could this be? How could they have been left alone?

I went to the Temple, and pondered the events of that Easter weekend as I entered the Celestial Room. I was the first to enter and was, for a moment, alone. As I sat in the chair I had an overwhelming feeling of peace and comfort that I was not alone, that truly I was not ever alone. Tears rolled down my face as I felt the love that my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ had for me, as I felt that undeniable truth that Christ's Atonement and Resurrection were for me. Me, personally. Me, individually. This was not just a blanket act with no thought of the recipients or the effect. This was done for each individual on an individual level, because He knows and loves us each individually. His disciples were not left alone, He had promised them before He left that after He was gone He would not leave them comfortless but would send the Comforter to be with them. We have that same Comforter with us today, we do not ever have to be alone.

After that terrible day, Sunday dawned as a new day. Arriving at the Garden Tomb, Mary Magdalene found it empty and the angel declared to her the words that give us hope in this life and for the eternities to come- "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said." (Matthew 28:6)

During the following days He would appear to more of His disciples and give them the charge to take the gospel to the world, to "feed His sheep."

He is risen. I know this to be true. Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer did atone for us, He died and rose again on the third day for us. For me. For you. For everyone. Because of Him we can return home to our Heavenly Father, able to reach our divine potential. We receive the gift of eternal life. And not just eternal life, period. But an eternal life with our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and our families. We can be sealed together for the eternities because we know that even after this short mortal life ends, we will be resurrected and continue on in the eternities. We have a Father in Heaven who loves us, so much so that He sent His Only Begotten Son to die for us that we might be able to live with Him again. I am so grateful for that love, and for my Savior, Jesus Christ.

On a beautiful, sunny Easter morning, this is the joy that I celebrate today. A knowledge of the Savior, of His overwhelming love for me, of the forgiveness available because of His Atonement, of the hope that comes because of His Resurrection, and the joy that we can have now and throughout eternity.