I am writing this three minutes before midnight. It is good friday, and I have been sitting here pondering the Life of Jesus Christ.
I was blessed to write the narration for our Easter Program at church. As I typed and put together text for our narrator to read in between the songs we have prepared to sing as a ward choir, I was reminded of the amazing blessings available to everyone on the earth who decides to tap into the sacred healing power of the Atonement.
Here is the Narration for our Easter Sacrament Meeting program accompanied by the text of the hymns, anthems, and songs we will sing in praise to celebrate the Easter Holiday.
Enjoy!
Jenny Hatch
PS If you are local here in colorado please feel free to attend this service at 11AM on sunday at the Louisville Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The meeting is open to the public and you do not have to be a member of the church to attend!
Here is the text of the narration for you to read. It contains powerful scripture and quotes regarding the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Narration for the Louisville Ward Easter Program April 2006
That Easter Morn, 198 – Marion D. Hanks (© 1975 LDS)
1.That Easter morn, a grave that burst Proclaimed to man that “Last and First”
Had ris’n again And conquered pain.
2.This morn renews for us that day When Jesus cast the bonds away,
Took living breath And conquered death.
3.Thus we in gratitude recall And give our love and pledge our all,
Shed grateful tear And conquer fear.
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today, p.200 – Charles Wesley
1.Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth reply, Alleluia!
2.Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the vict’ry won, Alleluia!
Jesus’ agony is o’er, Alleluia! Darkness veils the earth no more, Alleluia!
3.Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
We’ll Sing All Hail to Jesus’ Name, 182 – Richard Alldridge
1.We’ll sing all hail to Jesus’ name, And praise and honor give
To him who bled on Calvary’s hill And died that we might live.
2.He passed the portals of the grave; Salvation was his song;
He called upon the sinbound soul To join the heav’nly throng.
3.He seized the keys of death and hell And bruised the serpent’s head;
He bid the prison doors unfold, The grave yield up her dead.
4.The bread and water represent His sacrifice for sin;
Ye Saints, partake and testify Ye do remember him.
Now Glad of Heart, Kayron Lee Scott
Now glad of heart be every one!
The fight is fought, the day is won.
The Christ is set upon his throne.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Who on the rood was crucified,
Who rose again as at this tide.
In glory to His Father’s side.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Who battled death and harrowed hell
And led the souls that loved him well
All in the light of lights to dwell.
Alleluia, alleluia!
To him we lift our heart and voice and
In his paradise rejoice
With harp and pipe and happy noise
Sing Alleluia, alleluia!
Then rise all Chirstian folk with me
An carol forth to Christ the King
That was and is to be.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Now glad of hearts be everyone
The fight is fought, the day is won
The Christ is set upon his throne.
Sing Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia!
NARRATION:
At the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the multitudes cried “Hosanna” and spread palm branches for Jesus to ride upon, thus demonstrating their understanding that Jesus was the same Lord who had delivered Israel anciently. These people recognized Christ as the long-awaited Messiah. The word Hosanna has become a celebration of the Messiah in all ages. The hosanna shout was included in the dedication of the Kirtland Temple and is now a part of the dedication of modern temples.
In the book of Matthew, chapter 21 verses 8 through 11 we read:
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Song – Hosanna by David H. Williams
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna, hosanna
Thou art the King of Israel
Thou David’s royal son,
Who in the Lord’s name comfort
The King and Blessed one.
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna, hosanna
The people of the Hebrews
With palms before thee went
Our praise and prayer and anthem
Before thee we present
All glory laud and honor
To thee redeemer King.
To whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring
Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna, hosanna
NARRATION: Jesus Final Teachings on the temple mount
ST JOHN
CHAPTER 14
Jesus speaks of many mansions; says he is the way, the truth, and the life; that to see him is to see the Father—He promises the first and second Comforters.
1 LET not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
11 Believe me that I am in the bFather, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my bname, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
15 If ye love me, keep my ccommandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my cname, he shall dteach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be ctroubled, neither let it be afraid.
Ether 12: 29 – 34
29 And I, Moroni, having heard these words, was acomforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith;
30 For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed. And if he had not had faith it would not have moved; wherefore thou workest after men have faith.
31 For thus didst thou manifest thyself unto thy disciples; for after they had faith, and did speak in thy name, thou didst show thyself unto them in great power.
32 And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent bhope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared.
33 And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men.
34 And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.
Song: In my Father’s House by Walter W. Schurr
Let not your heart be troubled
Believe in God, Believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many rooms
If it were not so I’d have told you
In my Father’s house are many rooms
If it were not so,
I’d have told you
And I will come again
And receive you unto my self
That where I am ye too may be
If it were not so, I’d have told you
I’d have told you
I’d have told you
Let not your heart be troubled
Ye believe in God
Believe also in me.
Gethsemane
Elder James E. Talmage (1862–1933)
“From the Garden to the Empty Tomb,” Ensign, Apr. 2006, 12
“Gethsemane.—The name means ‘oil-press’ and probably has reference to a mill maintained at the place for the extraction of oil from the olives there cultivated. John refers to the spot as a garden, from which designation we may regard it as an enclosed space of private ownership. That it was a place frequented by Jesus when He sought retirement for prayer, or opportunity for confidential converse with the disciples, is indicated by the same writer (John 18:1, 2)” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 620).
President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972)
“We speak of the passion of Jesus Christ. A great many people have an idea that when he was on the cross, and nails were driven into his hands and feet, that was his great suffering. His great suffering was before he ever was placed upon the cross. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the blood oozed from the pores of his body: ‘Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink’ [D&C 19:18].
“That was not when he was on the cross; that was in the garden. That is where he bled from every pore in his body.
“Now I cannot comprehend that pain. I have suffered pain, you have suffered pain, and sometimes it has been quite severe; but I cannot comprehend pain, which is mental anguish more than physical, that would cause the blood, like sweat, to come out upon the body. It was something terrible, something terrific; so we can understand why he would cry unto his Father:
“ ‘If it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt’ [Matt. 26:39]” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:130).
President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994)
“On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took three of the Twelve and went into the place called Gethsemane. There He suffered the pains of all men. He suffered as only God could suffer, bearing our griefs, carrying our sorrows, being wounded for our transgressions, voluntarily submitting Himself to the iniquity of us all, just as Isaiah prophesied (see Isa. 53:4–6).
“It was in Gethsemane that Jesus took on Himself the sins of the world, in Gethsemane that His pain was equivalent to the cumulative burden of all men, in Gethsemane that He descended below all things so that all could repent and come to Him. The mortal mind fails to fathom, the tongue cannot express, the pen of man cannot describe the breadth, the depth, the height of the suffering of our Lord—nor His infinite love for us” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 14).
Elder James E. Talmage
“Christ’s agony in the garden is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. … It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. No other man, however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; for his human organism would have succumbed, and syncope would have produced unconsciousness and welcome oblivion. In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world’ could inflict. …
“In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world” (Jesus the Christ, 613).
President John Taylor (1808–87)
“Groaning beneath this concentrated load, this intense, incomprehensible pressure, this terrible exaction of Divine justice, from which feeble humanity shrank, and through the agony thus experienced sweating great drops of blood, He was led to exclaim, ‘Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me’ [Matt. 26:39].
He had wrestled with the superincumbent load in the wilderness; He had struggled against the powers of darkness that had been let loose upon him there; placed below all things, His mind surcharged with agony and pain, lonely and apparently helpless and forsaken, in his agony the blood oozed from His pores” (The Mediation and Atonement [1882], 150).
Song: Gethsemane by Sally DeFord
Gethsemane lay still and dark
Creation watched in silent awe
As Jesus suffered his Father’s will
To satisfy unyielding law
He knelt in earnest prayer alone
His friends, o’ercome with sorrow, slept
Beneath the burden of grief he groaned
Beneath the weight of sin he wept
And with his blood so freely spent
He bought my soul; he paid my debt
What work of love was wrought for me
In the stillness of Gethsemane
“This bitter cup wilt thou remove?
Yet not my will, but thine be done.”
Behold his anguish and weep anew
For love of Christ, the sinless one
With his wounds my own are healed
My every pain o’ercome in his
My shame, my weakness, my grief untold
Find ransom in his priceless gift
For with his blood so freely spent
He bought my soul; he paid my debt
What work of love was wrought for me
In the stillness of Gethsemane
NARRATION:
Calvary
Elder James E. Talmage
“It seems, that in addition to the fearful suffering incident to crucifixion, the agony of Gethsemane had recurred, intensified beyond human power to endure. In that bitterest hour the dying Christ was alone, alone in most terrible reality. That the supreme sacrifice of the Son might be consummated in all its fulness, the Father seems to have withdrawn the support of His immediate Presence, leaving to the Savior of men the glory of complete victory over the forces of sin and death. …
“The period of faintness, the conception of utter forsakenness soon passed, and the natural cravings of the body reasserted themselves. The maddening thirst, which constituted one of the worst of the crucifixion agonies, wrung from the Savior’s lips His one recorded utterance expressive of physical suffering. ‘I thirst’ [John 19:28], He said. One of those who stood by, whether Roman or Jew, disciple or skeptic, we are not told, hastily saturated a sponge with vinegar, a vessel of which was at hand, and having fastened the sponge to the end of a reed, or stalk of hyssop, pressed it to the Lord’s fevered lips. …
“Fully realizing that He was no longer forsaken, but that His atoning sacrifice had been accepted by the Father, and that His mission in the flesh had been carried to glorious consummation, He exclaimed in a loud voice of holy triumph: ‘It is finished’ [John 19:30]. In reverence, resignation, and relief, He addressed the Father saying: ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit’ [Luke 23:46]. He bowed His head, and voluntarily gave up His life.
“Jesus the Christ was dead. His life had not been taken from Him except as He had willed to permit. Sweet and welcome as would have been the relief of death in any of the earlier stages of His suffering from Gethsemane to the cross, He lived until all things were accomplished as had been appointed” (Jesus the Christ, 661–62).
Song: How Great the Wisdom and the Love arranged by Sally DeFord
How great the wisdom and the love
That filled the courts on high
And sent the Savior from above
To suffer, bleed and die
His precious blood he freely spilt
His life he freely gave
A sinless sacrifice for guilt
A dying world to save
He marked the path and led the way
And every point defines
To light and life and endless day
Where God’s full presence shines
How great, how glorious, how complete,
Redemption’s grand design
Where justice, love, and mercy meet
In harmony divine!
Song: Easter Anthiphon by Robert J. Powell
O give thanks unto the Lord
For he is good
For his mercy ever endures ever more.
Now is Christ risen from the dead
And become the first fruits of them that slept
O give thanks unto the Lord
For he is good.
For his mercy ever endures evermore.
This is the day which the Lord hath made
We will rejoice, we will rejoice
And be glad in it.
Alleluia alleluia
Let us be glad
Let us rejoice
Let us be glad and rejoice
and give honor to him
NARRATION:
The Empty Tomb
President John Taylor
“As a God, He descended below all things, and made Himself subject to man in man’s fallen condition; as a man, He grappled with all the circumstances incident to His sufferings in the world. Anointed, indeed, with the oil of gladness above His fellows, He struggled with and overcame the powers of men and devils, of earth and hell combined; and aided by this superior power of the Godhead, He vanquished death, hell and the grave, and arose triumphant as the Son of God, the very eternal Father, the Messiah, the Prince of peace, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor [2001], 43).
President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985)
“Only a God could bring about this miracle of resurrection. As a teacher of righteousness, Jesus could inspire souls to goodness; as a prophet, he could foreshadow the future; as an intelligent leader of men, he could organize a church; and as a possessor and magnifier of the priesthood, he could heal the sick, give sight to the blind, even raise other dead; but only as a God could he raise himself from the tomb, overcome death permanently, and bring incorruption in place of corruption, and replace mortality with immortality. …
“No human hands had been at work to remove the sealed door nor to resuscitate nor restore. No magician nor sorcerer had invaded the precincts to work his cures; not even the priesthood, exercised by another, had been brought in use to heal, but the God who had purposefully and intentionally laid down his life had, by the power of his godhead, taken up his life again. …
The spirit which had been by him commended to his Father in Heaven from the cross, and which, according to his later reports, had been to the spirit world, had returned and, ignoring the impenetrable walls of the sepulcher, had entered the place, re-entered the body, had caused the stone door to be rolled away, and walked in life again, with his body changed to immortality, incorruptible—his every faculty keen and alert.
“Unexplainable? Yes! And not understandable—but incontestable. More than 500 unimpeachable witnesses had contact with him. They walked with him, talked with him, ate with him, felt the flesh of his body and saw the wounds in his side and feet and hands; discussed with him the program which had been common to them, and him; and, by many infallible proofs knew and testified that he was risen, and that that last and most dreaded enemy, death, had been overcome.
“And so we bear testimony that the being who created the earth and its contents, who made numerous appearances upon the earth prior to his birth in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is resurrected and immortal, and that this great boon of resurrection and immortality becomes now, through our Redeemer, the heritage of mankind” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 17–18).
President Gordon B. Hinckley
“Then dawned the first day of the week, the Sabbath of the Lord as we have come to know it. To those who came to the tomb, heavy with sorrow, the attending angel declared, ‘Why seek ye the living among the dead?’ (Luke 24:5).
“ ‘He is not here: … he is risen, as he said’ (Matt. 28:6).
“Here was the greatest miracle of human history. Earlier He had told them, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life’ (John 11:25).
But they had not understood. Now they knew. He had died in misery and pain and loneliness. Now, on the third day, He arose in power and beauty and life, the firstfruits of all who slept, the assurance for men of all ages that ‘as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive’ (1 Cor. 15:22).
“On Calvary He was the dying Jesus. From the tomb He emerged the Living Christ. The cross had been the bitter fruit of Judas’s betrayal, the summary of Peter’s denial. The empty tomb now became the testimony of His divinity, the assurance of eternal life, the answer to Job’s unanswered question: ‘If a man die, shall he live again?’ (Job 14:14).
“And so, because our Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith. But what shall we use? No sign, no work of art, no representation of form is adequate to express the glory and the wonder of the Living Christ. He told us what that symbol should be when He said, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’ (John 14:15).
“As His followers, we cannot do a mean or shoddy or ungracious thing without tarnishing His image. Nor can we do a good and gracious and generous act without burnishing more brightly the symbol of Him whose name we have taken upon ourselves. And so our lives must become a meaningful expression, the symbol of our declaration of our testimony of the Living Christ, the Eternal Son of the Living God”
3 Nephi 13 – 17
13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:
14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.
16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:
17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.
Song: Crown him with many crowns by Richard Proulx
Crown him with many crowns
The lamb upon his throne
Hark! How the heavenly anthem
Drowns all music but its own.
Awake my soul and sing.
Of him who died for thee.
And hail him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.
Crown him the Lord of Life
Who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife
For those he came to save.
His glories now we sing.
Who died and rose on high
Who died eternal life to bring
And lives that death may die
Crown him the Lord of love.
Behold his hands and side,
Rich wounds yet visible above
In beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky
Can fully bear that sight
But downward bends his burning eye
At mysteries so bright
Crown him the Lord of peace,
Whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease
Absorbed in pray’r and praise.
His reign shall know no end
And round his pierced feet
Fair flowers extend their fragrance ever sweet.
Crown him the Lord of years,
The potentate of time.
Creator of the rolling spheres
Ineffably sublime.
All hail redeemer hail
For thou hast died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail
Through-out eternity.