"Nevertheless"

This week in my New Testament class we discussed Christ’s infinite atonement.  We read Mark 14: 36 which reads, “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”  My professor explained why “nevertheless” is his favorite work in the English language – and it really opened up new insight into this verse, and the Savior’s atonement in general.  Nevertheless is the opposite of “therefore.” Therefore has a cause and effect relationship – for example, one might say, “It’s cold in here, therefore I’m going to put a jacket on.” Because that person was cold, they put on a jacket.  However, “nevertheless” has the opposite meaning. For example, “It’s cold in here, nevertheless I’m not going to put on a jacket.”  It has a cause and counter-effect relationship.  The second part of the phrase, the part that comes after the “nevertheless” always has more weight.  Understanding that brought a whole new meaning to Mark 14: 36.  If Christ would have yielded to the natural man, he would have changed the “nevertheless” in that scripture to a “therefore” and not completed the Atonement.  However, Christ perfectly submitted His will to the Father and did something he did not want to do.

            Now what does that mean for you and me?  We can learn from this example that it’s not a sin to not want to do something we know that we need to do.  Christ gave us that example.  However, it becomes a sin if we yield to the temptation of making it a “therefore” statement instead of a “nevertheless” statement.  We shouldn’t get down on ourselves if there are righteous things that we know we should be doing, but for some reason or another don’t want to do in that moment.  But we should always follow Christ’s example and put the will of the Father before our own.  So next time you find yourself in this situation, remember Christ’s “Nevertheless” example and have the faith to follow it.  I know that by doing so we will gain an even greater testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice.

The 10 Virgins

This week in my New Testament class we have discussed both the signs of the second coming, and what we need to do to prepare for it.  I want to focus specifically on a parable from Matthew 25.  It’s the parable of the 10 Virgins, and it’s found in verses 1-13.  To best understand this parable, we need to look at the question that spurred it.  That is found in JS Matthew verse 49: “Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?”  First of all, we need to understand what virgins symbolize. Christ used virgins in this parable to symbolize pure, good people.  We can think of this today as being the members of His church.  We read in the parable that there were five wise and five foolish virgins.  They were waiting for the bridegroom, and the wise brought extra oil with them but the foolish did not.  This is where I want to dig a little deeper.  We discussed in class that a very common understanding of the parable is that the lamp is our testimony and the oil is conversion.  However, Brother Griffin asked us to explore other meanings that the lamp and oil can have in our lives.  One that really stuck out to me was the idea that the oil is our covenants and the oil is the renewal of those covenants.  Every member of the church has made covenants with God to obey him and be an example of him.  However, not every member renews those covenants, which is where the true power comes from.  If we, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints only receive our covenants and stand idly by, we will not receive the benefit from them.  We must continually be renewing them and progressing (filling our lamps with oil) to reach our true potential.  The parable states that the wise virgins didn’t share their oil with the foolish ones, not because they were selfish, but because that oil is not something that can be shared.  We must each commit to becoming converted, we must each commit to renew our covenants with God.  We can’t do those things for anyone else but ourselves.  It was very powerful for me to realize that there could be more meaning behind the oil and the lamp than just a testimony and conversion.  Jesus’s parables are meant to be understood at many different levels, and I believe that we receive the benefit of those parables when we personally dig deeper.

Eternal Marriage

This week in my New Testament class, we discussed Matthew 21.  Specifically, we focused on the attacks by the Pharisees and Sadducees against Jesus.  In verses 23-30, we read of the specific confrontation.  The Sadducees come to Jesus trying to trick him by giving him a scenario.  They explain that there’s a husband and wife with no children and the husband dies, so the wife marries the brother.  This happens until all seven brothers have married this woman and subsequently dies.  They ask him in verse 28, “Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her.”  They were trying to trap Jesus between the resurrection and eternal marriage.  On a side note, this proves that Jesus did teach about Eternal Marriage, because if he hadn’t why would they be bringing this up?  Jesus responds to their question by saying in verse 30, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”  Jesus is teaching the sealing ordinance is something that takes place here, not in our next life – that’s why it’s so important to do temple work for those that have passed away.  This spurred the discussion that I want to focus on – the discussion that truly pertains to our situation.  We are blessed with the opportunity to be sealed with our companion for eternity.  This is something that is done in the holy temple, over an altar of God.  Brother Griffin explained that in Old Testament times, the alter was used to perform sacrifices.  The altar represented our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not insignificant that the only thing separating a man and wife performing the sealing ordinance in the holy temple is an altar.  This altar represents Christ and is a beautiful lesson about how our marriages should be structured.  The only thing that should come between a man and wife is Christ.  Satan desperately wants to take the place of Christ in our marriages because we will try to separate us.  He understands the importance of the sealing ordinance, and he will do everything in his power to destroy it.  Satan will never feel the love of someone else, he will never know the joy of marriage.  For that reason, he is jealous and wants everyone to be miserable like he is.  Marriage is the most wonderful blessing in my life, but it is also extremely hard.  But, as we strive to keep Christ at the center of our marriages, we will have greater access to His power, and we will be empowered to overcome anything Satan throws at us.