“And It Came to Pass”
“And it came to pass that when the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease—for behold, they did last for about the space of three hours; and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours—and then behold, there was darkness upon the face of the land.” (3 Nephi 8:19)
Does some time seem longer than other times?
When Jesus entered into Jerusalem for the last time, He was taking his final walk to the cross and eventually to his death. A walk that no man or angel could walk for him. That day, the people cried out “Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38). The people knew that He was a good man, that he had healed the sick, that He cared for the sinner. But they did not understand who He was.
Many of these people had seen Him grow up as the carpenter’s son. They had heard Him preach a gospel of love for three years in his ministry, and yet they still did not understand his mission. Soon, their voices would be stilled and not one of them would praise the King of all the ages.
The Book of Mormon tells us in Jacob 4:14:
“But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.”
These people were looking for a Messiah to deliver them from their earthly bondage to Rome. But Jesus had come to deliver them—and us—from our sinful bondage and bring us back into God’s eternal presence. Although they praised him that day, it would be a few hours later that many of the same people would cry out “Let him be crucified” (Matthew 27:22). Their praise would turn to anger and their support to condemnation.
Try to picture a time when praise was not being given to God or to His Son, Jesus. From the time Jesus went from the Garden of Gethsemane, to Pilate’s judgment hall, through scourging, beatings, mockings, and His eventual nailing to the cross, no one praised Him.
Those voices, as prophesied by Jesus, had become silent, but somehow praise had to continue. Jesus told the Pharisees, “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40). What did He mean?
Where God dwells, there is continual praise. Whether it’s in heaven (“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” Rev. 4:8) or on the earth by us (“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15.)
But, when Jesus made His final walk to the cross, He was not being praised by His family or His followers. Peter denied even knowing Him.
God could not spare His own Son. He had to deliver Him to die. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).
If He spared his own son, God would have gone against his own Word, and the plan of salvation would have been frustrated. And neither God nor Jesus would allow this. Jesus came into this world to do the will of His Father – “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34). This was up to and including dying on the cross. “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matt. 26:39)
The Book of Mormon confirmed Jesus’ mission in 3 Nephi 27:13-14:
“Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.”
Three things are clear.
- God would not stop His Son from dying
- Jesus would walk the road to Calvary
- Praise to Jesus had to continue.
So where did the praise come from when Jesus was hanging on the cross?
Haggai 2:6-7 says, “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Haggai was prophesying not only about the coming of the Lord Jesus but the time when he would glorify God. Jesus going to the cross was glorifying God. “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.” (John 13:31-32).
Jesus then said in John 17:4-5, “ I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”
So, how did God glorify Jesus?
The God of all nature praised His Son as only He could when the voices of the whole human family became quiet. “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst” (Luke 23:44-45).
“And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Matthew 27:51).
God could not be angry with His Son for doing His will. He praised Him and showed His great love and approval in the only way He could without disturbing the greatest sacrifice ever made in the history of man. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He was badly beaten and He had lost most of His blood. He had a crown of thorns on His head and nails in His hands and feet. He barely could notice what was right at the cross (John and His Mother) let alone things at a distance.
But He knew it was dark, and He could feel the earth quake. He heard the rocks renting. God was confirming His love for His Son. God was letting Jesus know through nature this was His will and that God was well pleased.
God told the Nephites after Jesus was crucified, “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him” (3 Nephi 11:7).
When the sacrifice was complete and the earth was still, man again would start to realize who had just died on the cross and again begin to praise Him. “Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54).
God truly loved His Son, and He loved us so much to allow this great and terrible day to happen. When partaking of communion, we realize the tremendous sacrifice God made for us, but we also realize the wonderful excitement of partaking of the sacrifice while eating the bread and drinking the wine. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Let’s appreciate the great patience God had with us and this world on the day his Son was crucified. And the greatest appreciation we can show is leading a righteous life before Him and the world.
And it Came to Pass.
This article has undergone ministry review and approval.
0 Comments