Matt: 27:46 Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:
“With all the conviction of my soul I testify that He did
please His Father perfectly and that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son
in that hour. Indeed, it is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal
ministry the Father may never have been closer to His Son than in these
agonizing final moments of suffering. Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice
of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father
briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His
personal presence. It was required, indeed it was central to the significance
of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong
nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of
us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite
and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but
spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw,
leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone.”
“…Brothers and sisters, … because Jesus walked such a long,
lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey
brought great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of
our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the
consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both
sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of
these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of
the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from
the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor
unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us
all said: “I will not leave you comfortless: [My Father and] I will come to you
[and abide with you]” (“None
Were with Him,” Ensign or Liahona, May
2009, 87–88).
