Sufferings and Death

As I listened to a Book of Mormon discussion yesterday, they mentioned that many verses in the Book of Mormon speak of the “sufferings and death” of the Savior.  For example, Mormon wrote to his son Moroni, “May Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever” (Moroni 9:25).  Here the prophet seemed to be teaching that both the suffering (in Gethsemane) and the death (on the cross) of Christ constituted His atoning sacrifice and gave Him power to lift us up over our troubles.  Alma taught something similar when he preached the words of Abinadi to his people “concerning that which was to come, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the redemption of the people, which was to be brought to pass through the power, and sufferings, and death of Christ, and his resurrection and ascension into heaven” (Mosiah 18:2).  This suggest that the sufferings of Gethsemane, the death at Calvary, and the resurrection of the Savior all constituted what allowed the Savior to bring to pass the “redemption of the people.”   

               Several other Book of Mormon passages similarly speak of the sufferings and death of Christ together.  For example, Aaron taught the Amalekites, “There could be no redemption for mankind save it were through the death and sufferings of Christ, and the atonement of his blood” (Alma 21:9).  He also taught the father of King Lamoni, “And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance” (Alma 22:14).  The suffering of Christ, which surely included all that happened from Gethsemane to Calvary, as well as His death on the cross, constituted the atonement for our sins.  The priests of the days of Alma taught about that “which must shortly come; yea, holding forth the coming of the Son of God, his sufferings and death, and also the resurrection of the dead” (Alma 16:19).  Again here Mormon mentioned sufferings and death together; the teachers at the time of Nephi, son of Nephi, similarly preached “boldly of the sins and iniquities of the people, and testifying unto them concerning the redemption which the Lord would make for his people, or in other words, the resurrection of Christ; and they did testify boldly of his death and sufferings” (3 Nephi 6:20).  Like these teachers, we should not be afraid to speak and testify boldly about the Savior’s sufferings and death in His great atoning sacrifice.   

            In our dispensation the Savior spoke about His atonement in terms of how He would address the Father as our advocate.  He revealed these words to Joseph: “Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:4).  Again here we see the emphasis on both the suffering and death of the Savior.  He fulfilled His great mission to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world as He suffered in Gethsemane and gave His life on the cross.