The amount of suffering Jesus had to endure was tremendous. Consider the number of people that living on the earth. As of 2009, there were approximately 6.8 billion people on the earth. Some estimates indicate the world population will reach 7 billion by the end of this year.
Now consider the number of people that have lived on the earth and died. Some estimates I’ve seen include 70 billion, 61 billion, and 110 billion. From this we can conclude several tens of billions have lived before this time. In addition we need to consider the number of people who are still waiting to come. These figures leave us with a vast multitude of people requiring the suffering of Jesus Christ for their sins. Assume your sins are average and you find thousands of sins per person.
When we take all of this into account, Jesus would have been required to suffer the consequences of hundreds of trillions of sins in order to redeem us all. What a marvelous task! No mere mortal could have done it. Fortunately, Jesus Christ carried divine birthright, giving Him the ability to endure the heavy burden.
The terrible task Jesus was to perform took place in the Garden of Gethsemane. This event can be found in the accounts of Matthew (Matthew 26:36-45), Mark (Mark 14:32-41), and Luke (Luke 22:39-46) found in the New Testament. In Gethsemane He suffered the pain and agony of the sins of the world. The weight of this pain and agony caused Him to bleed from every pour (Luke 22:44, Mosiah 3:7, Doctrine and Covenants 19:18) it was so great.
Yet Jesus knew this had to be done in order to bring us the hope of returning home to our Heavenly Father clean and free of sin. He endured the pain and agony for each of us individually. I know this wasn’t a mass suffering for the world. It was individual suffering. In the moment of suffering, He saw each of us individually and knew what He was suffering for. I don’t know how that worked. I just know it did.
Let me close this blog with personal thoughts on this suffering. I greatly appreciate the Savior Jesus Christ for His suffering sacrifice. I know many of my sins. I know there are many more I don’t know about. The idea that, without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, I would have to bear the weight of these sins is a very sobering and scary thought. I couldn’t do it. I’m so grateful that Jesus did it for me.
I know that I will still have to carry that weight if I choose to reject the Atonement if Jesus Christ. I must repent of my sins, devoting my life to improving myself and forsaking wickedness, or I will be accountable for my sins as if Jesus had not suffered for them. He did, but I only get the benefits of that freedom from the consequences if I do my part. It is the same for all of us.
Let me exhort you with all the energy of my soul to do your part. Jesus suffered for your sins. He saw you and knew you and suffered for you. I guarantee you that your sins—and yours alone—brought upon Him great pain and anguish. Don’t forsake that sacrifice and bring upon yourself that suffering. Show your gratitude to your Redeemer and work on forsaking your sins and becoming a better person.
I love my Savior Jesus Christ. To Him I am eternally grateful.
Websites used:
Google Public Data Explorers, “World Bank, World Development Indicators”,
LatterDayLogic.com, “Population 2: How many people have ever lived?”,
The Straight Dope, “How many people have lived on earth since the dawn of time?”,
I thoroughly enjoyed this post. It brought up things that I honestly take for granted and have never really thought about the number of people affected already and yet to come. I also thought that this post was more direct and seemed more from you. In the future I hope to have some intelligent remarks to add, but for now thank you is all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback. I really appreciate your input.
ReplyDeleteOne burden that seems the hardest to bear is the awful guilt that follows sin. It can be so consuming, so devastating, and so overwhelming. I can't even comprehend the awful guilt Christ must have had to suffer through. I sometimes think that guilt isn't a punishment for sin, but a blessing that encourages us to repent. I am so grateful for the great blessing of the Atonement!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the addition, King Family. I never really considered the guilt Jesus would have suffered in order to complete the burden. But it's true, He would have been required to. I'm so glad you shared those details.
ReplyDeleteI also feel guilt is sometimes I blessing. I don't like the feeling, but I do like how it inspires me to be a better person.