The Ending that Made all New Beginnings Possible

Today is Good Friday. My thoughts are turned to the events that occurred so many years ago on the Hill of Calvary. In a way I feel a little ashamed of myself. I have never before had such overwhelming feelings during the Easter season. Until now, when considering Easter and all of the events that surround it, I have felt grateful and inspired. But this year, I feel as if for the first time in my life, I am coming to truly know my Savior and what His life and sacrifice make possible. I feel like I'm coming to know what it means in Mosiah 4:11, "...as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love...I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility..."

Today we remember the day that Christ's mortal life ended. It was an ending that made all new beginnings possible. During this time in my life as I experience grief and sorrow, I know that a new beginning is waiting just around the corner.

I think Joseph B. Wirthlin said it best in his message Sunday Will Come.

"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ

was lifted up on the cross.

On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew

dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth. Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse.

On that day they stood triumphant. On that day the veil of the temple was rent in twain. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus,

were both overcome with grief and despair. The superb man they had loved and honored hung lifeless upon the cross.

On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior--the man who had walked on water and raised the dead--was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies.

On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled. It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God. I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world's history, that Friday was the darkest.

But the doom of that day did not endure. The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind. And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.

Each of us will have our own Fridays--those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays. But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death--Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come."