Succor Me

I mentioned this in a comment to Jake on my post entitled, "The Depths Where it Glittering Lies," but I thought it deserved further treatment, so I'm giving it a post all its own.

I may not be very smart, but Alma 7:12 always used to trouble me. This is how it reads:

"And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities" (emphasis added).

The part in bold is the part I struggled with. You see, I believe in the omniscience of God, so the idea that Christ couldn't know how to succor us in sin, sickness, or sorrow without suffering never sat well with me. Isn't He perfect? Aren't the minds and hearts of Him, the Father, and the Holy Ghost one? If He needed this experience to understand our situation, how did Christ succor those who lived before Him...like Alma? Apparrently it didn't strike Alma quite right either, because he clarified this in the next verse, which, once I first understood a few years ago, made me feel all better. I was succored. Here's how the verse begins:

"Now the Spirit knoweth all things."

The Spirit knoweth all things. That's what I thought! Which means that Christ already knew all things, including how to succor us. He knew those things from the beginning, not just after his suffering and crucifixion.

So why did He suffer then? Was it just so He could be sympathetic and offer comfort? That doesn't seem like something that requires a perfect, eternal sacrifice to me. I can be sympathetic and offer comfort to those who are suffering the same things I've gone through. Why couldn't I have played this role, then? Was it so that he could understand what we were experiencing? That idea, to me, profanes the name of Christ. To say that He, God, the greatest of all, has to experience my puny infirmities before He can understand them is heresy in my book. Before I get carried away, let me give you the rest of that verse.

"nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me" (Alma 7:13).

So, did Christ's sufferings give Him special knowledge of how to succor us? Yes, but nothing He didn't already have, and nothing that wasn't available through the Holy Ghost. The real purpose of the suffering was not understanding but atonement.

Now, I know that this is not a new and groundbreaking idea to Latter-day Saints or any Christians. That Christ suffered to atone for sins is the radial hub of all of our doctrines. From it extend all other teachings, and to it they point. Because of the rest of this chapter and other scriptures, we know that the Savior's sufferings also atoned for not only death, but all other human imperfections, including sickness and pain of every kind. So, when you stub your toe, the pain you suffer is a result of your ungodly state. Christ atoned for that. When you get a cold, you experience a condition unique to a mortal body. Christ atoned for that. However great or small, anything we experience that pertains to imperfection is covered by the sublime sacrifice of the Savior.

Why? Because no imperfection, great or small, sinful or merely mortal, can exist in the highest degree of celestial glory. Even after repentance, baptism, and every other ordinance and covenant is fulfilled, we're still just scratch-and-dent Saints. The only thing that can take these flaws away is the sacrifice of one who is both perfect and willing. Christ literally took upon him not only the penalty for all sin, but the eternal impact of all imperfection of any kind.

Because none of the impurities he bore were his own, he was able to carry them through the purging fire and come out unburdened and unscathed. As the only child of God upon whom divine mercy had unencumbered claim, He was the only candidate capable of pleading our cases before the bar of divine justice. He asked the Father to add our flaws to his account and the Father, knowing Christ's personal spotlessness, was enabled by so doing to freely forgive all. Eternal laws were satisfied, God's love was made perfect, and we were given a way to eternal life through emulation of our emancipator, Jesus Christ.

This is the reason for Christ's suffering. It never was and never could have been some deficiency in His knowledge of how to help us. This is the "power of his deliverance" that Alma mentioned. Alma 7:13 may be the most overlooked verse in that chapter, but understanding it makes all the difference. As said Alma, so say I: this is the testimony which is in me.