MATTHEW 26 Atonement Quotes
Matthew 26:30
Read Psalms 115-115 looking for The Atonement
The “hymn” the Savior and His disciples sang at the conclusion of the Last Supper was probably the traditional Jewish recitation from Psalms 113–18, called the Hallel. Psalms 113–14 were traditionally sung at the beginning of the meal, and Psalms 115–18 were traditionally sung as part of the formal closing of a Passover meal.
MATTHEW 26:36 Gethsemane. "Olive press"
Elder Christofferson Oct. 2016
It is poignantly symbolic that “blood [came] from every pore” as Jesus suffered in Gethsemane, the place of the olive press. To produce olive oil in the Savior’s time, olives were first crushed by rolling a large stone over them. The resulting “mash” was placed in soft, loosely woven baskets, which were piled one upon another. Their weight expressed the first and finest oil. Then added stress was applied by placing a large beam or log on top of the stacked baskets, producing more oil. Finally, to draw out the very last drops, the beam was weighted with stones on one end to create the maximum, crushing pressure. And yes, the oil is bloodred as it first flows out.
I think of Matthew’s account of the Savior as He entered Gethsemane that fateful night--that He “began to be sorrowful and very heavy. …
“And he went a little further, 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.”
Then, as I imagine the distress grew even more severe, He pleaded a second time for relief and, finally, perhaps at the peak of His suffering, a third time. He endured the agony until justice was satisfied to the very last drop. This He did to redeem you and me.
What a precious gift is divine love! Filled with that love, Jesus asks, “Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?” Tenderly He reassures, “Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come … will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.”
Will you not love Him who first loved you?
Matthew 26:37 sorrowful and very heavy
Elder Scott
“First, an enormous sense of responsibility, for He realized that except it be done perfectly, not one of His Father’s children could return to Him. They would be forever banished from His presence since there would be no way to repent for broken laws and no unclean thing can exist in the presence of God. His Father’s plan would have failed, and each spirit child would have been under the eternal control and torment of Satan.
“Second, in His absolutely pure mind and heart, He had to personally feel the consequences of all that mankind would ever encounter, even the most depraved, despicable sins.
“Third, He had to endure the vicious attack of Satan’s hordes while physically and emotionally pressed to the limit. Then, for reasons we do not fully know, while at the extremity of His capacity, at the time the Savior most needed succor, His Father allowed Him to shoulder the onerous responsibility with only His own strength and capacity” (“He Lives! All Glory to His Name!” Ensign or Liahona, May 2010, 76–77).
Matt 26:39. Let this cup pass
Elder Holland “The Lord said, in effect, ‘If there is another path, I would rather walk it. If there is any other way--any other way--I will gladly embrace it.’ … But in the end, the cup did not pass” (“Teaching, Preaching, Healing,” Ensign, Jan. 2003, 41).
Matt 26:39 Not my Will but thine
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:
“If you can leave your students with one principal commitment in response to the Savior’s incomparable sacrifice for them, His payment for their transgressions, His sorrow for their sins, leave with them the necessity to obey--to yield in their own difficult domain and hours of decision to ‘the will of the Father’ [3 Ne. 11:11], whatever the cost. They won’t always do that, any better than you and I have been able to do it, but that ought to be their goal; that ought to be their aim. The thing Christ seems most anxious to stress about His mission--beyond the personal virtues, beyond the magnificent sermons, and even beyond the healing--is that He submitted His will to the will of the Father” (“Teaching, Preaching, Healing,” Ensign, Jan. 2003, 41).
Elder Maxwell: “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!”
(“Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father,” Oct. 1995).
Matt. 26:40. Could you not watch with me one hour?
Elder Holland. "I think he asks that again of us, every Sabbath day when the emblems of his life are broken and blessed and passed."
Matt. 26:53 12 legions of angels=between 36 and 72 thousand
Gerald N. Lund,
“Imagine the Being whose power, whose light, whose glory holds the universe in order, the Being who speaks and solar systems, galaxies, and stars come into existence--standing before wicked men and being judged by them as being of no worth or value!
“When we think of what he could have done to these men who took him to judgment, we have anew and different sense of his condescension. When Judas led the soldiers and the high priests to the Garden of Gethsemane and betrayed him with a kiss, Jesus could have spoken a single word and leveled the entire city of Jerusalem. When the servant of the high priest stepped forward and slapped his face, Jesus could have lifted a finger and sent that man back to his original elements. When another man stepped forward and spit in his face, Jesus had only to blink and our entire solar system could have been annihilated. But he stood there, he endured, he suffered, he condescended” (“Knowest Thou the Condescension of God?” in Bruce A. Van Orden and Brent L. Top, eds., Doctrines of the Book of Mormon: The 1991 Sperry Symposium [1992], 86).
Read Psalms 115-115 looking for The Atonement
The “hymn” the Savior and His disciples sang at the conclusion of the Last Supper was probably the traditional Jewish recitation from Psalms 113–18, called the Hallel. Psalms 113–14 were traditionally sung at the beginning of the meal, and Psalms 115–18 were traditionally sung as part of the formal closing of a Passover meal.
MATTHEW 26:36 Gethsemane. "Olive press"
Elder Christofferson Oct. 2016
It is poignantly symbolic that “blood [came] from every pore” as Jesus suffered in Gethsemane, the place of the olive press. To produce olive oil in the Savior’s time, olives were first crushed by rolling a large stone over them. The resulting “mash” was placed in soft, loosely woven baskets, which were piled one upon another. Their weight expressed the first and finest oil. Then added stress was applied by placing a large beam or log on top of the stacked baskets, producing more oil. Finally, to draw out the very last drops, the beam was weighted with stones on one end to create the maximum, crushing pressure. And yes, the oil is bloodred as it first flows out.
I think of Matthew’s account of the Savior as He entered Gethsemane that fateful night--that He “began to be sorrowful and very heavy. …
“And he went a little further, 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.”
Then, as I imagine the distress grew even more severe, He pleaded a second time for relief and, finally, perhaps at the peak of His suffering, a third time. He endured the agony until justice was satisfied to the very last drop. This He did to redeem you and me.
What a precious gift is divine love! Filled with that love, Jesus asks, “Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?” Tenderly He reassures, “Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come … will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.”
Will you not love Him who first loved you?
Matthew 26:37 sorrowful and very heavy
Elder Scott
“First, an enormous sense of responsibility, for He realized that except it be done perfectly, not one of His Father’s children could return to Him. They would be forever banished from His presence since there would be no way to repent for broken laws and no unclean thing can exist in the presence of God. His Father’s plan would have failed, and each spirit child would have been under the eternal control and torment of Satan.
“Second, in His absolutely pure mind and heart, He had to personally feel the consequences of all that mankind would ever encounter, even the most depraved, despicable sins.
“Third, He had to endure the vicious attack of Satan’s hordes while physically and emotionally pressed to the limit. Then, for reasons we do not fully know, while at the extremity of His capacity, at the time the Savior most needed succor, His Father allowed Him to shoulder the onerous responsibility with only His own strength and capacity” (“He Lives! All Glory to His Name!” Ensign or Liahona, May 2010, 76–77).
Matt 26:39. Let this cup pass
Elder Holland “The Lord said, in effect, ‘If there is another path, I would rather walk it. If there is any other way--any other way--I will gladly embrace it.’ … But in the end, the cup did not pass” (“Teaching, Preaching, Healing,” Ensign, Jan. 2003, 41).
Matt 26:39 Not my Will but thine
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:
“If you can leave your students with one principal commitment in response to the Savior’s incomparable sacrifice for them, His payment for their transgressions, His sorrow for their sins, leave with them the necessity to obey--to yield in their own difficult domain and hours of decision to ‘the will of the Father’ [3 Ne. 11:11], whatever the cost. They won’t always do that, any better than you and I have been able to do it, but that ought to be their goal; that ought to be their aim. The thing Christ seems most anxious to stress about His mission--beyond the personal virtues, beyond the magnificent sermons, and even beyond the healing--is that He submitted His will to the will of the Father” (“Teaching, Preaching, Healing,” Ensign, Jan. 2003, 41).
Elder Maxwell: “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!”
(“Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father,” Oct. 1995).
Matt. 26:40. Could you not watch with me one hour?
Elder Holland. "I think he asks that again of us, every Sabbath day when the emblems of his life are broken and blessed and passed."
Matt. 26:53 12 legions of angels=between 36 and 72 thousand
Gerald N. Lund,
“Imagine the Being whose power, whose light, whose glory holds the universe in order, the Being who speaks and solar systems, galaxies, and stars come into existence--standing before wicked men and being judged by them as being of no worth or value!
“When we think of what he could have done to these men who took him to judgment, we have anew and different sense of his condescension. When Judas led the soldiers and the high priests to the Garden of Gethsemane and betrayed him with a kiss, Jesus could have spoken a single word and leveled the entire city of Jerusalem. When the servant of the high priest stepped forward and slapped his face, Jesus could have lifted a finger and sent that man back to his original elements. When another man stepped forward and spit in his face, Jesus had only to blink and our entire solar system could have been annihilated. But he stood there, he endured, he suffered, he condescended” (“Knowest Thou the Condescension of God?” in Bruce A. Van Orden and Brent L. Top, eds., Doctrines of the Book of Mormon: The 1991 Sperry Symposium [1992], 86).