The following is the final testimony that I gave as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regarding my personal conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world:
JESUS THE CHRIST
Elder Joshua C. Merris
Introduction
Elders and Sisters, it will now be my opportunity and privilege to bear to you my testimony and witness of the Master whom I have served and love more than life itself. In so doing, I humbly recognize that my weak words are not capable of conveying the absolute wonder of His matchless love, nor the mighty power of His healing touch. Yet as one called to represent Him, I invoke the inspiration of the Almighty to enlighten our minds, that together, the eyes of our understanding may be opened.1 I plead for the guidance of the Holy Ghost as I speak in quiet reverence of Jesus the Christ, and that "redemption [which] cometh in and through the Holy Messiah."2
Christ's Foreordination and Birth
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."3 Long before His mortal birth to Mary, Jesus was Jehovah, the giver of God's word and law. He was God's "beloved and chosen from the beginning"4,"who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you [and for me and for all that you will ever know]."5
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."6
The Mortal Ministry of Christ
Born into a lowly manger, the Son of Man, the greatest of all, lay helplessly wrapped in swaddling clothes. Perhaps His chosen mother Mary did not yet fully realize, that the child she held safely in her arms would one day save her. And she would "call his name JESUS: for he [would] save his people from their sins."7 As a blazing light amidst agents of Apostasy, He would grow up before the Father as a "tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground."8 At the age of 12, the boy Jesus would be found conversing with the learned men in the temple as he went about His Father's business.9 And so began the beautiful mortal ministry of our beautiful beloved Savior. "Though sinless, He was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness."10 He "went about doing good"11, yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill. He entreated all to follow His example. He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the sons and daughters of God in the life to come."12
None can fully comprehend the wonder of His life and the absolute miracle of His ministry among men. None can fully understand the innate and unending love, which guided His every footstep and motivated his every gesture of kindness. Perhaps C.S. Lewis said it best when he declared, "I believe in Christ as I believe in the Sun at noonday, not that I can see it, but that by it, I can see everything else."13 Only He who is the "light and life of the world"14 can illuminate the understanding of everyone, everywhere in discovering their divine nature and potential. As our perfect exemplar and friend, His invitation to each of us is to come unto Him15, to follow Him16, and to walk with Him17. He knows the way simply because He is the "way, the truth, and the life."18 By coming to "the knowledge of the Son of God", even the natural man may "come unto a perfect man."19
Despised and Rejected of Men
From the moment of His birth in Bethlehem, when there was no room for Him in the inn, to His glorious escape from Joseph's tomb, the "Son of Man [had] not where to lay His head."20 "He came unto His own and His own received Him not."21 Indeed, He was and is a "light [which] shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not."22 "Despised and rejected of men"23, the Son of Man had no mortal friend to turn to for empathy or counsel. Surely the Savior had stalwart disciples who followed Him, but He would tread the winepress alone .24 The victory over sin, the conquering of the sting of death and Hell was not to be won by some collaborative team effort. The Atonement of Jesus Christ was a one man mission, inaugurated by the selfless, sacrificial words of the Savior, "Here am I, send me."25
The Father and the Son
Yet, had there not been a loving Father, there would not have been a loving Son. In every word, in every action, and in every thought, Christ sought not the glory of the world or of men, but to glorify God, the Father of both His body and spirit. Amidst the constant mocking of man, nothing could break His confidence in His Father. "For I came not down from Heaven to do mine own will," he declared - "but the will of Him that sent me."26 In perfect uprightness and obedience, the "Son ... [did] ... nothing of Himself, but what He [saw] the Father do."27 And then in that darkest hour, Christ sought Him whom he had always sought. "Abba, Father," he cried, "all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me."28 But it was not possible. And so in sublime submissiveness, Jesus embodied the rescuing power of humility as he exclaimed, "nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done!"29
Jesus in Gethsemane
In the Garden of Gethsemane, the crushing weight of the world's woes and iniquities rested upon the Savior's shoulders. There "appeared an angel from Heaven strengthening Him"30, yet the angel did not relieve Him of His pain or share the infinite and massive load which caused himself "even God the greatest of all to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore" as he " ...suffered both body and Spirit."31 The strain was so terrible, and the struggle so severe, that the Savior "being in an agony prayed more earnestly and He sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."32
The very name of the place, "Gethsemane" is derived from the Hebrew words "get" or "gat", meaning "press", and "shemen" meaning oil. Jesus Christ's suffering for sin began in the garden of the oil press. As Truman G. Madsen explains, "To produce olive oil, the refined olives had to be crushed in a press. The mellowed and seasoned olives were placed in strong bags and flattened on a furrowed stone. Then a huge crushing circular rock was rolled around on top, paced by a mule or an ox and a stinging whip. Another method used heavy wooden leavers or screws twisting beams downward like a winch upon the stone with the same effect: pressure, pressure, pressure - until the oil flowed."33
But it was not oil which flowed from His every pore. It was life giving blood which fell to the ground as rain. He Himself had taught the children of Israel that "... the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."34 With the earth as His alter, Jesus fell foward upon His face35 as he gave more than any man could give. True it is that He would yet lay down his mortal life that He might take it again36, but it was there in Gethsemane that the Savior began to give the life of his soul as he struggled to utilize every muscle, but more importantly all of His heart in answering the demands of justice. Since the days of Adam, animals had been sacrificed in similitude of the Only Begotten as a scapegoat for sin. Yet, in this moment there was no scapegoat to turn to. "There was no ram in the thicket to spare Him, this friend of Abraham and Isaac."37 The moment had come in which justice demanded an infinite and eternal price to be paid, and only Jesus Christ had power to pay the cost. The will of the "Son was swallowed up in the will of the Father" as "the Son made intercession for the children of men" with His blood.38
In these darkest moments, our Beloved Savior took from us the cup of trembling, that we should no more drink it again.39 "Though He never needed it, ... [His pain and suffering] ... provided that perfect plan of progress, repentance."40 The bitter cup of which He partook had no bottom. The burning taste of its caustic contents was unending. Yet, as Elder Neal A. Maxwell observes, "Jesus partook of history's bitterest cup without becoming bitter."41
Alma taught that the Savior "suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon Him the sins of His people"42, meaning that He felt as a man would feel, yet endured as only a God could do. There was no easy escape. There was no antidote to remedy the noxious impact of the bitter cup's bitter poison. The Savior literally felt what all men have felt and walked where all men have walked.
Infinite Yet Intimate
To the mortal mind it is difficult to comprehend how one could suffer infinitely and yet individually in a finite period of time. I have learned that just as the Savior was able to perceive in mortality the faith filled touch of the diseased woman amidst the multitude, He too, amidst His suffering, could in His omniscient capacity, recognize the individual hands of faith which would reach out to Him for needed strength. I believe that in some moment amidst His suffering, He saw your face and mine. I believe that in that instant, no matter how small it may have been, His great love for you and for me caused Him to press on and to stay the course.
Though infinite and eternal, His sacrifice was also intimate and individual. He was "a man of sorrows and aquainted with grief"43 because He was aquainted with you and with me, and with all mankind. The more I have learned of Him, the more I believe that He in His infinite love, would have suffered it all had it been for only one.
Jesus Tried Before Men
As he arose from the pressing pains and mounting agonies of His suffering, he was greeted with scorn and betrayed with a kiss. Judas and the other servants of debauchery led the Son of Righteousness away as a common criminal to be tried by unrighteous men.
The lawmaker was condemned by the Law of which He was author. He who is the Word was derailed by the adulterated skewing of words He had decreed by the mouths of those holy prophets whom He had called.
Jesus the Master of Self Mastery
He was then brutally beaten - beaten with forty stripes save one, the maximum punishment legally given to a transgressor of the law. In divine nobility, the Savior stood as the Master of Self Mastery. "All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made."44 Think on that carefully. After reeds of wrath rained blows upon his aching, quivering back, He was stung and torn by a whip whose woven leather and cutting metals had been created by Him. He who is Lord of the Vineyard, He who was Eden's Gardner and had power with His words to wither a fig tree, had His trembling brow pierced with a plated crown of thorns. "He that formeth the mountains"45, struggled in exasperation to reach the pinnacle of the mount upon which He would give up the Ghost. All things were subject to Him, yet it "behooveth ... [our] ... Great Creater" to subject Himself to those tortuous elements which He Himself had created and had power to govern.46 The manly restraint and self mastery which enabled our omnipotent Savior to withhold His mighty power, that very power through which the "worlds are and were created"47, is beyond mortal comprehension.
I stand all amazed to consider the condescension of God. He who is King of Kings was "brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not His mouth."48 In utter humiliation, Jesus was stripped by a whole band of soldiers and dressed in a scarlet robe. Legions of Heavenly warriors could rescue Him. By His own mouth, the Master who had stilled the tempest with three words could have ended all conflict and chaos with a simple command. Though "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, ... he opened not his mouth."49
"And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews."50 Little did they know, that this would not be the only time that their knee should bow before the King they derailed. Little did they know, that their filthy, venomous tongues would one day be bound to confess the Holy name in absolute deference.
"And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head."51 Their foul saliva ran down His beautiful face. He whose hand had spanned the Heavens and all that in them are52, did not so much as lift his hand in defense. He literally followed his own teaching to "turn the other cheek."53
The Crucifixion of Christ
"And after they had mocked Him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify Him."54
"And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in [the] Hebrew Golgotha."55
"Crucify Him!" they had cried with evil malice. "Crucify Him!"56 Even after their evil request had been granted, these evil fiends could not satisfy their sickened hearts of hate. President Spencer W. Kimball laments, "Even a bull tires of goring its victim - even a cat tires of playing with its captive mouse, but these tyrants, these bloodthirsty men - would they never tire of blasphemous conduct? Would they never get their fill? How low can the children of God go! How base can man become! - he who may be a little lower than the angels, he who is created in the image of God. What would they do when their victim could suffer no more and no more please their depravity? They would have his sore and bruised and bloody body carry the weighty implement of his own death."57
Love filled the Savior's heart as he looked upon the Roman soldiers who would drive spikes of iron in a merciless manner through his tender, loving hands. That pure love would later be vocalized as He pled for His persecutors in crying, "Father Forgive them, for they know not what they do."58
As He hung upon the cross, it seems that the merciless pains and agonies of Gethsemane recurred. "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"59
One may wonder why it is that the Savior again endured the merciless agonies He had already overcome in the Garden. Could it be that the Savior would now know how to "succor" both the lost and the found, the wicked and the righteous, the reliant and rebellious. In Gethsemane He was strengthened by an angel but on Golgotha He would know how it felt to be utterly forsaken and to suffer the consequences of sin without God's influence to guide. Perhaps amidst such grave wickedness and sin, the Spirit manifesting God's presence not only chose to withdrawl but was bound to depart the encompassing darkness. Perhaps it was then that the Savior would learn perfectly through experience how to "draw all men unto Him."60 No man could say they had gone too far to be reclaimed, for the Savior had been to the uttermost ends of sin's darkest lonesome boundaries. Even if one did not remember Him, He would always remember them, for no matter how far they wandered, they were always within the Good Shepherd's grasp of understanding.
Then when all had been fulfilled, He declared in triumph, "It is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost."61 Though only Christ had power to lay down His life62, Elder James E. Talmage notes, ".. there was of necessity a direct physical cause of dissolution ... the strong loud utterance immediately following which he bowed His head and "gave up the ghost" when considered in connection with other recorded details points to a physical rupture of the heart as the direct cause of death ... Great mental stress, poignant emotion either of grief or joy, and intense spiritual struggle are among the recognized causes of heart rupture."63
Christ's Glorious Resurrection
Both literal and symbolic, the Savior's broken heart, broke the bands of death and sin which had plagued the world since the days of Adam. " But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."64 "O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is they victory?"65
Though preceded by death, Christ's glorious resurrection marked the birth of His postmortal ministry in which He would reign and rule on the right hand of the Father as the living Son of the living God.
For God So Loved the World
If men and women everywhere began to understand the undeviating character of Christ, they would be begin to understand our unique message to the world. They would know that "He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up freely for us all, ... with Him will freely give us all things."66
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son."67 He did not love part of the world or the world for a time. He that notices the fall of every sparrow68, and knows the lilies of the field69 surely notices and knows all of His children. As "no respecter of persons"70, the resurrected Christ ministered to His other sheep gathered at the land Bountiful. "Jesus Christ [who is] the same yesterday, ... today, and forever"71, does not deny the faithful of today the blessings of yesterday. If men and women everywhere began to comprehend what happened to Jesus the Christ as he knelt in the Garden, they would begin to comprehend what happened to Joseph the Prophet as he knelt in the Grove now called Sacred.
My Final Witness
In closing, I wish to bear pure testimony of Jesus the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. In so doing, I wish to recall and reflect upon two defining moments which occurred early in my life. Though personal in nature, I share them with you as they have formed a firm foundation of my love and witness of Christ.
Amidst the earliest memories that my mind is capable of recollecting, is an experience that I had while only three years of age. While playing in our home in Houston, Texas, my older brother accidentally slammed the door on my right hand, severing the tip of my right middle finger. I can still remember being rushed to the hospital as my mother held a clean rag over my bleeding hand. I was rushed into the emergency room, where a surgery was performed upon my hand that was pain wrenching and was known to cause even grown men to faint. In wrenching pain and anguish, my little toddler body held firmly upon the operating table, I began to shout in desperation for one who could save me from my pain. “I want my Mom!” I yelled. When my request was denied, I called for my Dad, and then my Grandmother, and so on. But then, as a three year old boy, I called for one the Doctors had never heard a child plead for. I called upon the help of Jesus Christ.
Years later, as a sixth grade student at Landisville Elementary School, I, like most others of that age, sought for acceptance and friendship from my peers. I seemed to be successful in my efforts to be “popular”, as I had developed respect among my classmates and had many friends. However, there was a young boy named Chris in my class who didn’t have any friends. Chris had been raised by parents that were hardly ever home. He dressed differently than the other boys because he had been left with no choice but to dressed himself his entire life, and struggled socially to find someone to call a friend. The students in our class not only refrained from being Chris’s friends, but many of them indulged in becoming a plaguing nightmare to Chris as they routinely made fun of him at the smallest given opportunity. Their remarks were bitter, their deriding jeers utterly senseless. On one occasion, I remember one of my classmates spitting upon Chris and telling him that he never should have been born.
I along with one other student in the class named Mike became friends to Chris. In the process, my desire to become popular became overshadowed by my desire to become more like Christ. In developing my friendship with Chris, I lost many so called friends. One day, our sixth grade teacher called Mike and I from the room and told us as she failed to hold back tears that Chris had nearly committed suicide but had refrained because of the friendship he had with us. In that moment I learned what it meant to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord. In my mind, I developed an awareness of the worth of a soul, and faith in the change that is wrought by the touch of the Master’s hand.
I share these experiences with you in no way to point to myself, but to point to Him who is the greatest of all. I share them with you to illustrate that despite my many inadequacies and shortcomings, despite all that I do not know, I have always know that Jesus is the Christ. I've known it since I was a boy. And ever since I was a boy, I have desired to follow Him and to walk with Him. I love Him more than words can tell.
And as pertaining to my mission, in which I have been given the sacred honor of bearing His holy name, I may well say as did the Apostle Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."72 But as pertaining to my life, I solemnly witness that I will waste and wear out my every effort and energy until I shall kneel at His feet and confess His holy name, even Jesus the very Christ.
I have never been to the place called Gethsemane, but I feel that I have traveled there in spirit dozens of times. And every time that I have stood at the Garden’s gate, wrenching in anguish of the pain which lie ahead, a hand has reached out to me, bearing the nail marks of Calvary’s cross. The Master comes. He always does.
To echo the words of our beloved prophet, "From everlasting to everlasting, He will reign and rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. To His dominion there will be no end. To His glory, there will be no light. None other can take His place. None other ever will. Unblemished and without fault of any kind, He is the Lamb of God to whom I bow and through whom I approach my Father in Heaven."73 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
