A Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief

I love this picture of Christ. The first time I saw it was in my Branch President's office during a time in my life when I really needed it. I love how Christ is depicted in this painting with a smile on His face. You can just see the love and the hope on His face.

There was a devotional a few months ago where the speaker talked about the judgment day. He talked about all of our preconceived notions-- jokingly saying how he's going to have to beg to be allowed into the Kingdom of God. But then he became serious and said that in all honestly, he believes that the person who is going to be begging will be Jesus Christ. He's going to be begging us to just repent of our sins and accept Him as our Savoir. He's going to be pleading with us to apply His sacrifice, His Atonement, so that we may be cleansed from our sins and have a place with Him and the Father throughout all eternity.

This week I had an interesting insight. In my religion class, we watched this Mormon Message about this guy, Chris Williams, who was able to forgive a drunk driver for killing his pregnant wife and two children. It's not the first time I've seen that particular Mormon Message, but it just really touched me once again. I love how at the end, he talks about Christ, calling Him "a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:4). I thought about that all day. Why was Christ a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief? It's not like He was super sad all the time. I mean, He was sad when people didn't believe in Him and didn't accept Him, but I wouldn't say that that was what defined Him. So I turned to the scripture and read the rest of what it said of Christ, that He was:

"a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief...

Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows."

I love this. I love how this scripture teaches us that Christ is described such because He has taken upon Himself our sorrow and our grief. Sometimes that's the most important part of His Atonement. I think this idea also helps us become more compassionate for other people and their sorrow and grief. As Chris explains it, we all go through trials, we all have to come to know this Man of sorrows, but by so doing, we learn to love. In his words:

"I'm grateful that God allows tragedies and trials to occur in our lives. Not because they're easy or because they're desired, but because they help us love. And that too is a wonderful blessing. . . . Coming to know a Man of sorrow and One who is acquainted with grief as I've now come to understand, it is really why I was sent here, and it has been incredibly difficult to have to learn those lessons in the way that I've learned them. But I've always ended those episodes of grief with an assurance and a hope that one day, perhaps I will 'see Him as He is.' One day, hopefully, I will be like Him."

So, what I get out of this whole thing is this: Christ is our Savoir. He saves us from sin, from sorrow, from grief.

And I think I have a lot of trials left to go, because I'm so far from perfect and so far from being charitable and all those things that I need to become, but that's okay. Because that's how I'll become like Him and be able, one day, to see Him as He is.