The Full Atonement: Judas' Betrayal

Christ betrayal began with just a simple action, Judas "went unto the chief priests" (Matt. 26:14) It was there that the betrayal started and Judas turned against Christ. What was it that he betrayed Christ for? The sum of thirty pieces of silver. (Matt. 26:15) In those day that was enough money to buy a small farm or a field. (Matt 27:6-7) Judas betrayed Christ, the man who is our Savior and Redeemer and our

advocate with the Father, for a sum of money that would only buy him a field.

But that is not the only betrayal committed by Judas. There was betrayal in the sign he gave as to who was Christ.

"Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him."

(Matthew 26:48-49)

It is not just the fact that Judas betrayed Christ for money, but it is that He betrayed Christ with a kiss. A kiss is normally a sign of closeness between people, but at that moment it was the sign of Christ betrayal. One who was close to Christ and chosen by Him to be one of His apostles turned against Him and betrayed him to the scribes and elders. Judas Betrayed Christ to His murderers.

To those of us who may feel as though we have been betrayed by someone we love, our Savior, Jesus Christ, knows our pains. He too was betrayed by one who He loved and trusted. He can help us in our trials as we seek for his help.

Even being betrayed, Jesus Christ set the perfect example of forgiveness. Some of His last words on the Cross were "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

That is what we have been told to do as well. To forgive and love one another. We need to follow the example of Jesus Christ and love all those around us. Will you do that with me? Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and love one another?

The Full Atonement: The Suffering in the Garden.

It all seems to start at the garden. After the Passover meal with His disciples, Christ traveled out of the city of Jerusalem to the garden of Gethsemane. To add more significance to the garden think about what the word Gethsemane means.

The word Gethsemane means an olive press. Now how does an olive press add more significance to Christ going to a garden? For that answer we must compare the similarities of an olive press and Christ's Suffering in the garden.

The way an olive press works is first crushing the olives into a fine paste. After that the paste is put under immense pressure to get every drop of oil out of the olives. How does that compare to Christ Suffering?  It is because of the immense pressure of our sins that caused Him to bleed from every pore. (Luke 22:44)  It was in the garden that He pleaded to have the bitter cup of our transgressions taken from Him, but submitted to the will of the Father. (Mark 14:36) It was during the suffering in the garden that an angel came to strengthen and encourage Him. (Luke 22:43)

In the garden of Gethsemane Christ " borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows..."(Isaiah 53:4, Mosiah 14:4) The suffering did not end after the garden, but was truly just the beginning. Shortly after His suffering in the garden, Christ was betrayed by Judas, one of his own disciples. That night in the garden, Christ suffering had only begun.

Introduction to "The Full Atonement"

Who knows what the word Atonement means? In Romans 5:8-11 is talks about us being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, "by whom we have now received the atonement."  In the Old testament in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers we hear of the sacrifices preformed to "atone" for the peoples sins.

Since it is because of sin that we are no longer in harmony with the laws of our Father in Heaven and thus are separated from his presence, an atonement would have to do exactly what the word means. At-one-ment, it would have to bring us back to being at-one with God, or one with the will of God. Christ has made that atonement for us.

Now here is a question for the ages. How many parts are there to Christ's Atonement? When you break it down you'll find there are many different little parts to the Atonement. I want to keep it simpler than that. Because even though Christ does numerous things for us, I believe all the things He has done can be grouped together, and simplified that we might better understand and remember what it is he has done for us.

The Big Question I have now is how many groups can we narrow it down to? Fifty? Ten? Five? One? I have currently come up with about five groups we can use to break down the Atonement into. Only four of the five groups have to do with all that Christ has done for us. The last group is what Christ expects from us.

The First Three Groups are:
One: Christ's Suffering in the Garden
Two: Christ's Death on the Cross
Three: Christ's Resurrection on the Third Day

You will have to wait to figure out what the last group is. You are welcome to guess. There are no wrong answers. They just might not be what I am looking for. If you follow this closely I hope that I can show you the many things Christ did to Atone for our sins.

While you wait, think on what might be the other group.

Passport to Heaven

There are many places to see and different countries to visit. However, in all our travels outside of our country, we need one thing to be able to return to the country we call home. We need a passport.

It is the same for our travel we call life. We left the presence of God's to come down to earth and gain experiences we could not have at His side. We were to be tried and tested to see if we would still follow God's plan. However, in order to enter God's presence again we need to have a passport issued from home.

In John 3:5 Christ tells us exactly what that passport is. "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (emphasis added) Baptism is our passport back to Heaven. As Christ says in John, except we are born of water, are baptized, and the of the spirit, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we cannot enter into God's kingdom, or in other words, we cannot live with God. 

But like all passports, it must be issued, or done, by the proper authority to be valid. No country or government would accept a forged passport, and neither will God. He will only accept that which is done by His authority, and under His direction.

We are blessed to live in an age when God's authority is on the earth today. That authority is called the Priesthood. God has restored the Priesthood to the earth through his prophet Joseph Smith. I am so grateful to have that blessing in my life.