Oh, It Is Wonderful

Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to share a few thoughts about a favorite hymn in front of the congregation at church. One of the first hymns I thought of was "I Stand All Amazed," but someone else had selected it first, so I chose another hymn, "God Speed the Right." Since I couldn't share my thoughts on "I Stand All Amazed" in Sacrament Meeting some weeks ago, I'd like to share them now.

I learned the hymn in Primary, but at the time, when I thought about the lyrics, I didn't want to sing it. The hymn is about the Atonement and Crucifixion, and the chorus of the hymn goes "Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me enough to die for me. Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me." But is wasn't "wonderful to me." The Atonement and Crucifixion were not wonderful events. The fact that Jesus Christ, the most righteous and pure person who ever lived, had to suffer and die for the sins of those who were less righteous and pure, is not wonderful. The fact that my sins caused Him pain is not wonderful. It didn't feel wonderful when I was in Primary, and it doesn't feel wonderful now.

But that's not really what the hymn is saying. The hymn says "it is wonderful that He should care for me enough to die for me." Not that it's wonderful that He had to die for me, but that it's wonderful that He loved me enough to do it since He had to. But I'm still not fully satisfied with that. Yes, it's wonderful that Jesus loves me, but I really, really wish that there had been another way. Sometimes, I wish that Jesus hadn't suffered for my sins. Sometimes, I would rather that I could suffer for my own sins so He wouldn't have had to. But I can't. (Well, I could, but it wouldn't do any good.) Because Jesus loved me, He already paid for my sins. All I can do now is gratefully accept His marvelous gift, and try not to add any more to my share of His burden.

The word "wonderful" doesn't always mean what we think it means. According to Dictionary.reference.com, wonderful could mean "excellent; great; marvelous" as in "We all had a wonderful weekend," or it could mean "of a sort that causes or arouses wonder," as in "The storm was wonderful to behold."Like "marvelous" and "amazing," wonderful sometimes means "awe-inspiring" rather than "good."

And Jesus' love certainly inspires wonder and awe. When Enos' sins were forgiven, Enos asked "Lord, how is it done?" I don't think he was wondering how the Atonement works. I think he was in wonder at how the Atonement could work on him. I've certainly felt like I couldn't be forgiven, but I've also felt that God forgave me anyway. It is marvelous and amazing that Jesus loves us enough to take our sins upon Himself. In that sense, I suppose it is wonderful.

It's not the word I might have chosen, but I guess it works, depending on your definition of "wonderful" and your feelings about Jesus' love. For me, I am certainly filled with wonder at the scope and depth of Jesus' love, and though I don't consider it an especially good thing that His love had to be manifest in such a painful way, I'm very grateful that it was. Jesus' love truly is wonderful, in both senses of the word.