Each year at Easter time, I’ve tried to make it a time of study and reflection about the last week of the Savior’s life. Many years ago, I made a book of Easter week reading for my family.  I went through all four gospels and tried to combine everything Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote into a fairly comprehensive study of that week.  I added pictures and music.  We read together what Jesus taught His apostles and followers when He knew His time with them was nearly over. We went with them to the triumphal entry, where they all waved palm branches and praised the Lord.  We were upset, right along with Jesus, at those defiling the temple, and then moved to tears by His gentle healing after the harsh cleansing.  We asked ourselves, as He questioned His apostles, if we, too, would go away, and answered like Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” We were heartbroken by His suffering and jubilant at His resurrection.

One year, we took our Easter week study with us on our Disneyland trip.  Before we went to the park, my children knew we would do our reading and singing.  Hopefully, even if their excited anticipation of Disneyland distracted them, they knew it was important enough to me to gather them for the study time, even on vacation.  

“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” 2 Nephi 25:26

We have a similar tradition for Christmas, to gather together for the Christmas story in Luke, before rushing downstairs to find stockings and gifts. When my oldest son was on his mission, he told me he was thankful for all the times we’d studied the last week of Jesus’s life, but that he didn’t know nearly as much about the rest of His life.  Because of that, I changed my Easter and Christmas reading to one of the four gospels in December and March or April, depending on when Easter falls, so we learn about Christ’s life and teachings more evenly, and not just His birth and last week.

When my oldest daughter was almost three years old, she got the flu, quickly becoming dehydrated. She began to lose coordination and control of her body.  I was terrified and didn’t know what was happening. I took her to the hospital and they admitted her.  They wanted to take blood and told me I couldn’t come with them because they liked to keep the unpleasant stuff separate so the child didn’t associate it with the mother. I was young, and believed doctors knew best.  I let them take her for a few torturous minutes. She needed fluids and they set up her IV and got her all settled, then I was able to stay with her the rest of the time she was there.  I was so scared and all alone, until my parents and husband could get away from work to come. At night, I slept on a cot in her room. They didn’t bring me food (I was eight-and-a-half months pregnant), so I had to run down to get something at the cafeteria, asking the nurse to sit with her for a minute. I hated to leave her for even 10 minutes.  After a couple of days of antibiotics for an ear infection and an IV to rehydrate, she recovered and returned to her sweet, bright, happy self. We were thrilled to get home to her little sister and our beds! But I couldn’t rest. I kept remembering, seeing her when she couldn’t hold the popsicle I’d given her or talk coherently. I had severe anxiety at home, and my brain kept playing that scene over and over, reliving my panic.  As I prayed, trying to find peace, I had the impression that my pain and fear at watching my little daughter so sick, was a tiny glimpse of the agony my Heavenly Father endured watching His Son suffer and die for each of us.  I knew my experience was miniscule in comparison, but as a mother seeing my child so ill, my pain and distress were overwhelming. I understood a little better how much Heavenly Father loves me, and all His other children, to allow Jesus to go through all He did to atone for our sins and carry our grief.

Christ’s life was all about love.  He taught the apostles, by lovingly washing their feet, that the greatest shall be the servant. He prayed the most beautiful prayer for us—all who believe in Him. He told His apostles that He wouldn’t leave them comfortless, and likewise gives each of us the opportunity to receive the Holy Ghost, if we choose. Every action, every healing, every word, every drop of blood showed His infinite love for us.

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5

My mom is the only member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in her family. She joined the church when I was 10 years old. Her parents and siblings were exposed to many of the teachings of the church through our family but weren’t interested in hearing more. After my grandpa’s death, my parents, my husband, and I went to the temple to do the baptism for him, by proxy, offering him the opportunity to accept that ordinance if he wanted to. I stood by the baptismal font while my husband performed the baptism, with my dad acting as proxy for Grandpa. At the moment Dad came up out of the water, I felt an overwhelming feeling of the presence of my grandpa.  I’d never felt that before, and tears flowed for both me and my husband as we felt strongly that Grandpa was there and accepted the gift of baptism we offered him. It was a tender mercy to feel such a powerful witness that there is life after this one, and through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we are given the gift of repentance and resurrection.

Easter is a celebration of faith, life, and renewal through Jesus Christ. Hallelujah—Praise the Lord!

“We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.” The Living Christ