EASTER 2023

Bennett, Richard E. “‘It Is Finished’: The Divine Accomplishment of the Crucifixion.” Celebrating Easter: The 2006 BYU Easter Conference, ed. Thomas A. Wayment and Keith J. Wilson (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, Religious Studies Center, 2006), 177–99.https://rsc.byu.edu/celebrating-easter/it-finished-divine-accomplishment-crucifixion

Johnson, Camille N. "Jesus Christ Is Relief." General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. April 2, 2023.

Ogden, D. Kelly. “Our Savior’s Love Manifest in Resurrection.” Our Savior’s Love: Hope & Healing in Christ, ed. Alonzo L. Gaskill and Stanley A. Johnson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City, 2015), 77–101.

Olson, Camille Fronk. “They Ministered unto Him of Their Substance: Women and the Savior.” To Save the Lost. ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Kent P. Jackson (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009), 61–80.

Seely, Jo Ann H. “From Bethany to Gethsemane.” From the Last Supper Through the Resurrection. Ed. Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas A. Wayment. 

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“. . . in the walk from the Mount of Transfiguration through Gethsemane and finally to Golgotha, Christ left nothing to chance. He was careful to prepare His disciples for that which must occur. He was careful to fulfill all prophecy. He was careful in allowing evil men to work their wrath upon Him. And He was careful that His death came as a sacrifice. In all this, He accomplished all that His Heavenly Father desired of Him.” Richard E. Bennett.

“Martha’s four statements to Jesus teach what the disciples needed to learn to be prepared for the Passion week. First, the Lord has power: “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died” (11:21), acknowledging that the Lord can heal us and that He is able to protect us from harm or even death. Second, the Father will bless Him in whatever He asks: “I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee” (11:22). Her plea suggests that she wanted Jesus to bring her brother back to life. When challenged by Jesus that her brother would rise again, she made her their response, that there will be a resurrection: “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (11:24). And finally, when taught by the Lord that He is the resurrection and the life, that “whosoever liveth and believers in [Him] shall never die,” Martha responded to His question “Believes thou this?” with these words: “Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world” (11:26-27). 

If those present had understood the full import of Martha’s four declarations, the confusion and pain they experienced during Jesus’ final hours would have been greatly reduced. The disciples, in particular, would have known that Jesus did have the power to save Himself from all that came upon Him; that if asked, the Father could indeed have removed the bitter cup; that although Jesus was dead, He would rise again in three days; and that He was the very son of God, the promised Messiah.” Jo Ann H. Seely.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that Mary anointed Jesus in preparation for His being proclaimed king:

“Mary of Bethany, in the home of Simon the leper, as guided by the Spirit, poured costly spikenard from her alabaster box upon the head of Jesus, and also anointed His feet, so that, the next day, the ten thousands of Israel might acclaim him King and shout Hosanna to His name. We see Jesus thus anointed and acclaimed, heading a triumphal procession into the Holy City.”

“It was a private setting in which the anointing of the Savior took place, in contrast to the public entrance that He would make into Jerusalem on Sunday. Mary took precious spikenard ointment, anointed Jesus, and reverently wiped His feet with her hair while the aroma of the costly ointment filled the air. This was more than an act of worship by a beloved friend of the Lord; it was symbolic of His death and burial that would take place in just a week’s time. 

Significantly, the anointing of Jesus took place while Jesus was alive, focusing on the richer meaning inherent in this act. The title Christ, or Messiah in Hebrew, means “anointed one,” and Jesus came in fulfillment of the messianic prophecies.”

Jo Ann H. Seely

“Among the women who approached the tomb that glorious morning were Mary Magdalene; Mary, the mother of James the Younger and Joses (Joseph); Salome, the mother of Apostles James and John; and Joanna, wife of Chuza, steward of Herod Antipas (see Luke 8:3; 24:10). We also cannot help but wonder whether the two beloved sisters from Bethany, Martha and Mary, along with some of the Apostles’ wives, were also present.

Among the women disciples who followed Jesus, Mary Magdalene seems to have served in a leadership capacity. She is mentioned first in several listings of female followers (see, for example, Matthew 27:56; Luke 24:10), and she was first to see the resurrected Lord (see John 20:1–18). Mary of Magdala appears to have had a preeminent relationship with Jesus of Nazareth.” D. Kelly Ogden

"What is relief? It is the removal or lightening of something painful, troubling, or burdensome, or the strength to endure it. It refers to a person who takes the place of another. It is the legal correction of a wrong. The Anglo-French word comes from Old French, the word relever, or “to raise up,” and from the Latin relevare, or “raise again.”

Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is relief. I testify that He did rise again on the third day and, having fulfilled the loving and infinite Atonement, stands with open arms, offering to us the opportunity to rise again, be saved, and be exalted and become like Him. The relief He offers us is everlasting.

Like the women visited by the angel on that first Easter morning, I wish to “go quickly” and with “great joy” to bring the word that He is risen. President Camille N. Johnson - https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/04/42johnson?lang=eng