Again, if the Atonement saves us from redemption by wrath, did Christ suffer an infinite redemption by wrath?
I mentioned before the statement of Jesus on the cross that His Father had abandonded Him. The other statement Christ makes to the Father is of course Matt 26:39,
"O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Clearly the 'cup' Jesus refers to is given by His Father. John 18:11 backs that up when Jesus is arrested after Gethsemane.
"Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?"
Jesus was experiencing wrath from the Father to pay the demands of justice, just as Isaac had received of his father Abraham.
Isaiah, 51:17, hundreds of years earlier makes the same direct analogy with God's wrath and the bitter cup.
"Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out."
Imagine a child drinking a cup from a parent that is not yet old enough to hold it themselves. Imagine that cup being filled with something the child refuses to drink. It is a difficult image. Maybe even more than the proposed sacrifice of Isaac.
How much the Savior would have wanted to turn from the task! How much the Father would have wanted to hold the cup away from His lip. It only was possible as Gods convened in the name of their mission - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
It puts new recognition to the Savior's initial words to the Nephites, 3 Nephi 11:11,
"And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and 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."
To show that the Savior suffered the same redemption by wrath - albeit infintely, that those who do not choose redemption by mercy will also face. (Again D&C 19) Read what Alma says in the chapter that launched this whole line of thinking in the first place. Amazing to find the same imagery that was the logical solution to the study, Alma 40:26,
"But behold, an awful death cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs of a bitter cup."
A couple of other references that advance the imagery of the cup as the wrath of God.
Jerimiah 25:15, "For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it."
Revelations 16:19, "And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath."
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
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1 comment:
What a way to start the day, Jason! I intend to get those scriptures out and join you in your insightful study. Thank you!
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