Not My Will, But Thine, Be Done - Lesson Outline

Lesson 25: “Not My Will, But Thine, Be Done”," New Testament Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, (2002)

1. Introduction

a) We are coming to the most important few hours that have ever occurred or will ever occur.

b) Christ’s Atonement for our sins in Gethsemane and on Calvary

c) Reading 1 - President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “In Gethsemane and on Calvary, He worked out the infinite and eternal atonement. It was the greatest single act of love in recorded history. Thus He became our Redeemer—redeeming all of us from physical death, and redeeming those of us from spiritual death who will obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 14).

d) Important distinction between Gethsemane and Calvary, the garden and the cross

i) Reading 2 – President Joseph Fielding Smith has written: We speak of the passion of Jesus Christ. A great many people have an idea that when he was on the cross, and nails were driven into his hands and feet, that was his great suffering. His great suffering was before he ever was placed upon the cross. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the blood oozed from the pores of his body: "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." (D&C 19:18.)

That was not when he was on the cross; that was in the garden. That is where he bled from every pore in his body.

Now I cannot comprehend that pain. I have suffered pain, you have suffered pain, and sometimes it has been quite severe; but I cannot comprehend pain, which is mental anguish more than physical, that would cause the blood, like sweat, to come out upon the body. It was something terrible, something terrific; so we can understand why he would cry unto his Father: "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (President Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation Vol I, Salt Lake City: Dereret Book Co. p. 130)

ii) Reading 3 – Several years before Elder Orson F. Whitney was ordained an Apostle, he received a vision of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane:

“I seemed to be in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony. I saw Him as plainly as ever I have seen anyone. Standing behind a tree in the foreground, I beheld Jesus, with Peter, James and John, as they came through a little … gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there, after telling them to kneel and pray, the Son of God passed over to the other side, where He also knelt and prayed. It was the same prayer with which all Bible readers are familiar: ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’

“As He prayed the tears streamed down his face, which was toward me. I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of pure sympathy. My whole heart went out to him; I loved him with all my soul, and longed to be with him as I longed for nothing else.

“Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling—fast asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach, untinctured by the least show of anger or impatience, asked them plaintively if they could not watch with him one hour. There He was, with the awful weight of the world’s sin upon his shoulders, with the pangs of every man, woman and child shooting through his sensitive soul—and they could not watch with him one poor hour!

“Returning to his place, He offered up the same prayer as before; then went back and again found them sleeping. Again he awoke them, readmonished them, and once more returned and prayed. Three times this occurred” (Through Memory’s Halls [1930], 82).

2. The Savior takes upon himself our sins and infirmities.

a) Reading 4 – Matthew 26:36-39

36¶Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

37And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

39And 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.

i) Verse 38 - Note footnote 38b – Watch - GR stay awake.

ii) Verse 39 – fell on his face

(1) Orson Whitney says tears are streaming down His face

iii) Verse 39 - if it be possible

iv) Verse 39 - let this cup pass from me

v) Verse 39 - nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt

vi) Christ was prepared from the foundation of this world for this moment, but it was so much harder than even He could imagine

b) READ – President Marion G. Romney said of this suffering, “The suffering [Christ] undertook to endure, and which he did endure, equaled the combined suffering of all men.” (C.R., Oct. 69, p. 57)

c) Reading 5 - Elder James E. Talmage taught: “Christ’s agony in the garden is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. … He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conceive as possible. It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. … In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world,’ could inflict. … In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 613).

d) READ – 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! (See Luke 22:43.)

The cumulative weight of all mortal sins—past, present, and future—pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow, too, a part of the awful arithmetic of the Atonement. (See Alma 7:11–12; Isa. 53:3–5; Matt. 8:17.) The anguished Jesus not only pled with the Father that the hour and cup might pass from Him, but with this relevant citation. “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.” (Mark 14:35–36.)

e) Reading 6 – Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19

16For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

17But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

18Which 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—

19Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

3. We need the Atonement of Jesus Christ

a) Why do we need the Atonement?

b) Reading 7 – Alma 34:9

9For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.

i) it is expedient that an atonement should be made

ii) according to the great plan of the Eternal God

iii) there must be an atonement made

iv) or else

v) all mankind must unavoidably perish

vi) Why?

vii) all are hardened

(1) All have sinned

viii) all are fallen and are lost

ix) must perish

x) except

xi) through the atonement

c) READ – Moses 6:48

48And he said unto them: Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe.

d) Effects of the Fall

i) Bodies became mortal

ii) Physical death – mortal bodies die

(1) Subject to temptation through our bodies as well as our spirits

iii) Separated from the presence of God

iv) Spiritual death – those who have sinned cannot be in the presence of God

(1) READ Romans 5:12 - 12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

v) Reading 8 – 2 Nephi 2:5-9

5And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.

6Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

7Behold, 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.

8Wherefore, 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.

9Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved.

e) Effects of the Fall and Mortality are Extensive

i) Mortal bodies are not only subject to death, they are subject to physical and mental illness, injury and pain

ii) We are not only afflicted by our own sins, we are also afflicted by the sins of others

(1) Abuse and neglect

(2) Physical and emotional harm

(3) Natural disasters and wars

f) The Atonement remedies all the effects of Mortality

i) READ – Alma 7:11-12

11And 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.

12And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; 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.

(1) suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind

(2) he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people

(3) he will take upon him death

(4) that he may loose the bands of death

(5) he will take upon him their infirmities

(6) filled with mercy

(7) according to the flesh

(8) that he may know according to the flesh

(9) how to succor his people

(a) ASK – What does Succor mean?

(b) To provide help, relief, aid, assistance

(10) according to their infirmities

ii) READ Isaiah 53:4-5

4¶Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5But 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.

(1) he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows

(2) the chastisement of our peace was upon him

(3) with his stripes we are healed

g) Reading 9 – Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has said: This reliance upon the merciful nature of God is at the very center of the gospel Christ taught. I testify that the Savior’s Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair. From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us both a reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our burdens and take up our salvation. There can and will be plenty of difficulties in life. Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says, “beyond [his] own.” The Savior reminds us that He has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.” Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.

h) READ – Romans 8:35,38-39

35- Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

4. Conclusion