Thy Will Is Done

In Matthew’s account of the crucifixion we have this description of the Savior’s final moments on the cross: “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, saying, Father, it is finished, thy will is done, yielded up the ghost” (JST Matthew 27:54). It is certainly significant that the final words spoken by Jesus would be a reference to His Father’s will. His entire life was devoted to doing what the Father required of Him. When He visited the Nephites shortly after His resurrection He summarized His life this way: “I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning” (3 Nephi 11:11). From the beginning He always did the will of the Father, even when it meant voluntarily enduring unfathomable agony and giving up His life for the sins of the world.

               From the beginning of His earthly ministry the Savior focused on doing what His Father in Heaven required. When his earthly parents found him in the temple at age twelve and chastised him for not coming with them, He responded, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Doing His Father’s business was what mattered most to Him. In the Sermon on the Mount He taught this strict requirement “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). He Himself lived according to that principle perfectly. In the Bread of Life sermon He declared, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38). His whole purpose in coming to the earth was to do the will of the Father. He confirmed this as He told the Pharisees, “I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). When Peter suggested that the Savior would not be killed in Jerusalem, unknowingly implying that the Father’s will for the Son would not be done, the Savior firmly responded, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:23). Even though it meant terrible suffering for Himself, He would not entertain in the least the idea that the Father’s will be done. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). In this most difficult moment of His life, doing the Father’s will was His focus and would be the expression of His dying lips.

              In our dispensation He described Himself this way, “I am Jesus Christ; I came by the will of the Father, and I do his will” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:24). That is a statement that describes His past, present, and future: “I do his will.” He lived and lives to do the will of His Father, and that is the perfect example for us to follow.