Throughout His ministry, Jesus Christ was continuously proclaiming himself as the Only Begotten of the Father who had come to earth to save the people. Yet, the Savior came and sought to save men’s souls by teaching them of love, compassion, and mercy and to ultimately die for us so that we may be redeemed of our sins. Yet, this image of a gentle man coming, teaching, and dying did not fit the picture of the coming Savior that so many people of the time had painted in their heads. Even Peter, one of His chosen disciples, doubted that the Savior would die and be raised again. Peter did not understand why Jesus had to be killed. In Matthew 16: 21, Jesus is again telling His disciples that He will die and rise in three days time. In verse 22, Peter tells the Savior that this will not be and the in the following verses Jesus rebukes Peter for his lack of support of the Savior’s chosen, difficult path ahead.

            This misunderstanding of the Savior mission on earth is consistent in the book of Matthew. Jumping ahead to Chapter 26, the disciples once again demonstrate their ignorance concerning the Savior’s purpose on earth. This chapter contains the story of the woman who visited the Savior while he dined and anointed his head with precious oils. The disciples rebuked the woman for using such expensive anointments that could have been used to help the poor. The Savior defends the woman in verses 11 and 12 by pointing out that they will always have the poor to help, but He will not always be with them. The woman was anointing Him for His own burial because she knew that His time left was short and she would not have the opportunity later.

            It must have been so hard for the Savior to be sent to the earth to tread such a long, difficult, painful, and lonely path. It must have been difficult to face something so difficult and to not even have your chosen, closest disciples and friends understand or support the path you have chosen. Indeed, notice in verse 14 that as soon as Jesus defends the woman and supports her efforts to anoint Him for His burial, Judas betrays Jesus to the priests for 30 pieces of silver. Perhaps at this moment, Judas realized that Jesus was not the powerful warrior or prophet that many thought He would be. He is not coming in glory to physically and dramatically save all the people from bondage. He was coming in humility to gently teach the people that then suffer humiliation and ultimately death at the hands of the priests and scribes. Perhaps part of the reason Judas did what He did was because He could not come to terms with this new image of the Savior. It seems that no one truly understood or supported the Savior’s path.

            Jesus was taken, questioned, brutally treated, and crucified. Yet in three days time, He did indeed rise again in glory to visit His disciples. As He visited them in Galilee (Ch 28), some still doubted. I believe power, glory, love, courage, and godliness demonstrated in the Savior’s crucifixion and resurrection will forever be an object of speculation, incredulity, and doubt. I don’t believe we could ever understand the importance and potency of the Savior’s sacrifice. I hope that as I continue to study the scriptures and grow closer to my Savior, I may erase some of my doubt and confusion and truly love my Savior and appreciate as much as I can, His glorious and merciful Atonement. 

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