The Will of the Father

Today I went to Witness Music’s performance of Lamb of God, an inspired oratorio written by Rob Gardner.  It was an incredible experience and a powerful witness of the Savior.  As the portrayal of the crucifixion was taking place, the narration spoke of how Christ gained a total victory as He died because He did it without the presence of His Father.  I’ve been thinking about that idea of His death being a victory; we typically speak of His resurrection as a great victory over death but we don’t often speak of His victory in death. 

I believe it was indeed a complete victory over the greatest challenge in mortality: turning our wills over to God.  Elder Maxwell’s famous quote is that “the submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar” (General Conference Oct. 1995).  The last few days of Christ’s life showed that He was able to successfully “suffer the will of the Father in all things” (3 Nephi 11:11). He clearly did not want to suffer the infinite pain that He did: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”—but He did not let His own desire win the day: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39).  He had complete power to stop the great suffering that He endured at any point.  He told Peter: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53)  And yet He resisted any temptation He may have had to shirk from going through with His Father’s plan, and He became victorious over His own mortal will.  As He had said previously, “I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:29).  All of us have the same great, continual challenge in our lives: to put “off the natural man” and “submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon” us in our lives (Mosiah 3:19).  Christ was the only one who did that perfectly, and the moment of His death was the greatest victory in the history of mankind.  None of the rest of us can “always” or “in all things” do the will of the Father, but each day we can seek to emulate the Savior’s perfect submission with our own faltering attempts to put our will on the altar.