He Suffereth It

The word suffereth is used in a few places in the Book of Mormon to describe the life and atonement of the Savior.  In 1 Nephi 19:9 Nephi wrote, “Wherefore, they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it.  Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.”  The word as used here clearly has double meaning, implying both that He allows the pain and rejection and humiliation, and also that He did indeed suffer while on earth.  Jacob said it this way: “It behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him” (2 Nephi 9:5).  Again the word suffereth implies both voluntary submission and physical pain.  After Abinadi quoted Isaiah’s famous passage about the Savior’s suffering, he testified to the priests of King Noah: “[He] suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people” (Mosiah 15:5).  Abinadi’s message was that even though Christ was the “very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth” He still allowed Himself to be mocked and scourged and ultimately treated in the most awful way by those for whom He had created the very earth.  How do we develop such submission to life’s challenges and that kind of ability to endure our own little sufferings?  Moroni 7:45 tells us both what we need and what Christ has: “And charity [or Christ] suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in inquity.”  Clearly this is a description of who Christ is in addition to the ideal of what we are to become.  It was because of Christ’s perfect charity that He was able to suffer the greatest of afflictions and not shrink or let the bitter cup make Him bitter.  I guess we start our own meager attempts to develop that kind of love by doing what Mormon exhorted: “Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love” (Moroni 7:48).  And ultimately, if we will seek to follow the Son, it is the Father who will “bestow” this love upon us as a gift.