Did Jesus have to die on the cross?

[Rivers]

My wife asked this question after listening to a song called Gethsemane. I thought it was a good question since we Latter-Day Saints believe that the atonement took place in the garden.  Was the death on the cross really essential after the suffering in Gethsemene was completed?

[PeterPear]

He also suffered on the cross. He cried out: "Father why has thou forsaken me!" He was left totally alone to take the full weight of everyones' sins, illnesses, burdens, all of Mortality, as He shall declare as written in D&C 133:50

[ksfisher]

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.

Alma 7:12

 

If Christ had not suffered some of the worst that life has to offer, how would he know how to succor his people who suffer terribly? 

[JAHS]

We don't believe that the entire atonement happened in the garden. The punishment for our sins happened there but the atonement wasn't complete until He gave up His life and was resurrected. The crucifixion was fulfillment of prophecy. Deuteronomy 21:23, may be viewed as a prophetic reference made by Moses to the future crucifixion of the Savior. 

"And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day." (Deuteronomy 21:22–23)

Not to mention all the other Old Testament prophetic references of the future savior being sacrificed. 

[The Nehor]

I have no idea if that form of death was required.

[JLHPROF]

15 minutes ago, JAHS said:

We don't believe that the entire atonement happened in the garden. The punishment for our sins happened there but the atonement wasn't complete until He gave up His life and was resurrected.

I don't believe Gethsemane was "the punishment" at all.  The price was paid on Calvary.  That was the punishment (satisfaction of the law).

It is important to remember the understanding of the atonement provided by the sin offerings in the OT.

Gethsemane was the placing of the sins upon the offering.
Calvary was the sacrifice of the offering.

Both are required to make an atonement.  No atonement was made in Gethsemane because no sacrifice was performed.  No atonement would have been made by Calvary alone as no sin would have been upon Christ without Gethsemane.

Together Gethsemane and Calvary were both necessary.
 

[PeterPear]

He bled from every pore in Gethsemame. So he sacrificed there. An angel appeared to strengthen him.

[Bobbieaware]

1 hour ago, Rivers said:

My wife asked this question after listening to a song called Gethsemane. I thought it was a good question since we Latter-Day Saints believe that the atonement took place in the garden.  Was the death on the cross really essential after the suffering in Gethsemene was completed?

The notion that Christ suffered for our sins ony in Gethsemane and not on the cross of Calvary is falling out of favor in the Church and is being taught less and less. Even Bruce R McConkie, who in his earlier years as a Church leader was a "Gethsemane only" proponent, changed his tune later on and repeatedly taught that Christ also suffered for our sins on the cross during the 3 hours of darkness when the Father withdrew his spiritual presence and support. Here is something more recent from Elder Oaks that I found after doing a very quick Google search:

"Jesus's atoning sacrifice took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. In Gethsemane He submitted to the will of the Father and began to take upon Himself the sins of all people... The Savior continued to suffer for our sins when He allowed Himself to be crucified—“lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world” (Dallin H Oaks)

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2016 by Bobbieaware

[JAHS]

11 minutes ago, JLHPROF said:

I don't believe Gethsemane was "the punishment" at all.  The price was paid on Calvary.  That was the punishment (satisfaction of the law).

It is important to remember the understanding of the atonement provided by the sin offerings in the OT.

Gethsemane was the placing of the sins upon the offering.
Calvary was the sacrifice of the offering.

Both are required to make an atonement.  No atonement was made in Gethsemane because no sacrifice was performed.  No atonement would have been made by Calvary alone as no sin would have been upon Christ without Gethsemane.

Together Gethsemane and Calvary were both necessary.
 

I agree they are both necessary but you can't say that the infinite suffering He experienced in Gethsemane was not at least part of the punishment. The final payment was made on the cross.

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith called it a punishment:
"It is impossible for us to comprehend the extent of his suffering when he carried the burden of the sins of the whole world, a punishment so severe that we are informed that blood came from the pores of his body, and this was before he was taken to the cross." (The Restoration of All Things, p. 199) 

 

[PeterPear]

You may even consider his entire life as the Atonement: His obeying His Father Commandments, keeping himself pure and sinless through His own agency, etc for He had to be spotless.

Imagine the patience out of love He had for others, with His knowledge and complete understanding; His ability to call down a legion of angels to protect Him if He so desired. Yet He never abused that power to harm or hurt others or for any selfish purposes. Thus I believe His Mortal life is part of the Atonement, even though the culmination of His mortal life is what we focus on.

[Bobbieaware]

1 hour ago, Rivers said:

My wife asked this question after listening to a song called Gethsemane. I thought it was a good question since we Latter-Day Saints believe that the atonement took place in the garden.  Was the death on the cross really essential after the suffering in Gethsemene was completed?

 

Here is an example of McConkie's later teachings on the atonement:

"With great mallets they drove spikes of iron through his feet and hands and wrists. Truly he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.

Then the cross was raised that all might see and gape and curse and deride. This they did, with evil venom, for three hours from 9:00 A.M. to noon.

Then the heavens grew black. Darkness covered the land for the space of three hours, as it did among the Nephites. There was a mighty storm, as though the very God of Nature was in agony.

And truly he was, for while he was hanging on the cross for another three hours, from noon to 3:00 P.M., all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred.

And, finally, when the atoning agonies had taken their toll—when the victory had been won, when the Son of God had fulfilled the will of his Father in all things—then he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), and he voluntarily gave up the ghost." (Bruce R McConkie)

 

Edited March 23, 2016 by Bobbieaware

[Glenn101]

1 hour ago, Bobbieaware said:

 

Here is an example of McConkie's later teachings on the atonement:

"With great mallets they drove spikes of iron through his feet and hands and wrists. Truly he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.

Then the cross was raised that all might see and gape and curse and deride. This they did, with evil venom, for three hours from 9:00 A.M. to noon.

Then the heavens grew black. Darkness covered the land for the space of three hours, as it did among the Nephites. There was a mighty storm, as though the very God of Nature was in agony.

And truly he was, for while he was hanging on the cross for another three hours, from noon to 3:00 P.M., all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred.

And, finally, when the atoning agonies had taken their toll—when the victory had been won, when the Son of God had fulfilled the will of his Father in all things—then he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), and he voluntarily gave up the ghost." (Bruce R McConkie)

 

This is the only example that I have seen of someone teaching that the pains that Jesus suffered in the Garden recurred on the cross. I don't understand that teaching, since it is not recorded that Christ bled from every pore while on the cross. But my understanding of the actual mechanics does not really matter. What matters is that it did happen, and what ever did happen, i.e. in the Garden and on the cross was necessary and part of the Plan. And only Christ could do it for us. And He did.

 

Glenn

[Bobbieaware]

5 hours ago, Glenn101 said:

This is the only example that I have seen of someone teaching that the pains that Jesus suffered in the Garden recurred on the cross. I don't understand that teaching, since it is not recorded that Christ bled from every pore while on the cross. But my understanding of the actual mechanics does not really matter. What matters is that it did happen, and what ever did happen, i.e. in the Garden and on the cross was necessary and part of the Plan. And only Christ could do it for us. And He did.

 

Glenn

If you listen carefully, it is very rare that you will hear a general authority say Christ suffered for our sins only while in Gethsemane. Such a notion is clearly at odds with the scriptures and for that reason it is fast fading from view. The scriptures clearly testify Christ suffered for our sins while on the cross, not just in Gethsemane, and to believe or teach otherwise puts one at squarely at odds with the word of God. And it is for this reason that the "Gethsemane only" concept is fast passing away.

You say you are unfamiliar with the teaching that Christs sufferings in Gethsemane recurred while on the cross, and that Bruce R McConkie's declarations to that effect are the only time you ever heard such a thing. Well the two great LDS biographers of Christ are Bruce R McConkie and James E Talmage, and Apostle Talmage taught the exact same thing:

"At the ninth hour, or about three in the afternoon, a loud voice, surpassing the most anguished cry of physical suffering issued from the central cross, rending the dreadful darkness. It was the voice of the Christ: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" What mind of man can fathom the significance of that awful cry? 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." (Jesus the Christ, pp.660-661)

I also recommend you read Jeffery R Holland's April 2009 General Comference address, 'None Were With Him,' for further verification. The essence of Gethsemanic suffering is estrangement from God (feeling utterly forsaken of Him), and that experience of feeling completely and utterly alone, in hell, recurred when Christ was on the cross, the agony of which was enough to break the heart of the Son of God -- both literally and emotionally -- and cause an immortal being to become so weak that he was able to give up the ghost  and die.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Bobbieaware
Spelling

[Maedros]

Well, He had to die - the cross (I think) was fitting because it was (at the time) the most painful and ignominious way to be executed - in Gethsemane, He probably drank two thirds of the bitter cup and the cross was symbolic of "drinking to the dregs" the bitter cup that was prepared for Him. So, although we hold that the suffering for our sins and infirmities was made in the garden: it was not complete until He finished the cup on the cross.

[Glenn101]

2 hours ago, Bobbieaware said:

If you listen carefully, it is very rare that you will hear a general authority say Christ suffered for our sins only while in Gethsemane. Such a notion is clearly at odds with the scriptures and for that reason it is fast fading from view. The scriptures clearly testify Christ suffered for our sins while on the cross, not just in Gethsemane, and to believe or teach otherwise puts one at squarely at odds with the word of God. And it is for this reason that the "Gethsemane only" concept is fast passing away.

You say you are unfamiliar with the teaching that Christs sufferings in Gethsemane recurred while on the cross, and that Bruce R McConkie's declarations to that effect are the only time you ever heard such a thing. Well the two great LDS biographers of Christ are Bruce R McConkie and James E Talmage, and Apostle Talmage taught the exact same thing:

"At the ninth hour, or about three in the afternoon, a loud voice, surpassing the most anguished cry of physical suffering issued from the central cross, rending the dreadful darkness. It was the voice of the Christ: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" What mind of man can fathom the significance of that awful cry? 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." (Jesus the Christ, pp.660-661)

I also recommend you read Jeffery R Holland's April 2009 General Comference address, 'None Were With Him,' for further verification. The essence of Gethsemanic suffering is estrangement from God (feeling utterly forsaken of Him), and that experience of feeling completely and utterly alone, in hell, recurred when Christ was on the cross, the agony of which was enough to break the heart of the Son of God -- both literally and emotionally -- and cause an immortal being to become so weak that he was able to give up the ghost  and die.

The talk you reference by Elder Holland lines up very closely with the way I have come to understand the Atonement. Truly Christ's suffering was not only in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it was there that He suffered for our sins to the point that He bled from every pore. I have found no scriptural basis to conclude that Jesus suffered a second time on the cross the same agonies that He suffered in the Garden.

The words from Jesus Himself in D&C 19:

 16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

 17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

 18 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—

Pretty much indicates the the actual Atonement for our sins happened in the Garden.

But maybe that was not the worst that Christ had to bear. Christ had already foreseen that His disciples, even the chosen twelve, would desert Him when the crisis was upon them. But, as Elder Holland noted in the talk that you referenced, Christ may not have been fully prepared for the utter hopeless feeling of despair that overcame Him when His father in heaven withdrew His support and left Him alone.

"Now I speak very carefully, even reverently, of what may have been the most difficult moment in all of this solitary journey to Atonement. I speak of those final moments for which Jesus must have been prepared intellectually and physically but which He may not have fully anticipated emotionally and spiritually—that concluding descent into the paralyzing despair of divine withdrawal when He cries in ultimate loneliness, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

But, again, it does not matter if we do not understand or agree on the actual mechanics of the Atonement. I think we can and do agree that it happened and is the greatest thing that has ever happened.

Glenn

[Bobbieaware]

4 minutes ago, Glenn101 said:

The talk you reference by Elder Holland lines up very closely with the way I have come to understand the Atonement. Truly Christ's suffering was not only in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it was there that He suffered for our sins to the point that He bled from every pore. I have found no scriptural basis to conclude that Jesus suffered a second time on the cross the same agonies that He suffered in the Garden.

The words from Jesus Himself in D&C 19:

 16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

 17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

 18 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—

Pretty much indicates the the actual Atonement for our sins happened in the Garden.

But maybe that was not the worst that Christ had to bear. Christ had already foreseen that His disciples, even the chosen twelve, would desert Him when the crisis was upon them. But, as Elder Holland noted in the talk that you referenced, Christ may not have been fully prepared for the utter hopeless feeling of despair that overcame Him when His father in heaven withdrew His support and left Him alone.

"Now I speak very carefully, even reverently, of what may have been the most difficult moment in all of this solitary journey to Atonement. I speak of those final moments for which Jesus must have been prepared intellectually and physically but which He may not have fully anticipated emotionally and spiritually—that concluding descent into the paralyzing despair of divine withdrawal when He cries in ultimate loneliness, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

But, again, it does not matter if we do not understand or agree on the actual mechanics of the Atonement. I think we can and do agree that it happened and is the greatest thing that has ever happened.

Glenn

What Elder Holland is describing is suffering for sin, also known as spiritual death. What more evidence does one need that the Savior suffered for our sins while on the cross, not just in Gethsemanie? The essence of the suffering that comes as a consequence of sin is estrangement from God, or being cut off from the presence of God. This is what Christ experienced while on the cross at the. climax of his suffering. This same experience of estrangement from God is what the Lord also experienced in Gethsemane. He experienced what it's like to die spiritually in Gethsemane and on Calvary's hill. But you are free do disagree with McConkie and Talmage.

It's off to to work.

[rodheadlee]

He had to die to conquer Death. Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

[Glenn101]

14 hours ago, Bobbieaware said:

What Elder Holland is describing is suffering for sin, also known as spiritual death. What more evidence does one need that the Savior suffered for our sins while on the cross, not just in Gethsemanie? The essence of the suffering that comes as a consequence of sin is estrangement from God, or being cut off from the presence of God. This is what Christ experienced while on the cross at the. climax of his suffering. This same experience of estrangement from God is what the Lord also experienced in Gethsemane. He experienced what it's like to die spiritually in Gethsemane and on Calvary's hill. But you are free do disagree with McConkie and Talmage.

It's off to to work.

I agree with what Elder Holland is saying. One of the consequences of sin is an estrangement from God. That actual withdrawal did not appear to have happened in Gethsemane where an angel was sent to strengthen him while He prayed and suffered through his agony that caused him to bleed from every pore.

As I have noted, nowhere in any scripture does it say that he also bled from every pore while on the cross. We are all estranged from God here upon this earth to a lesser or greater extent and it does not bother us as much as it should. It certainly does not cause us such agony that we bleed from every pore.

But that agony in Gethsemane was so that those who repent of their sins will not have to suffer that same type of agony in hell. however, for those who do not repent, they will have to suffer as Jesus described it in D&C 19 "and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not."

I cannot argue with Talmadge or McKonkie. They are no longer with us to question.

Glenn

[Rain]

On Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 11:57 PM, Glenn101 said:

This is the only example that I have seen of someone teaching that the pains that Jesus suffered in the Garden recurred on the cross. I don't understand that teaching, since it is not recorded that Christ bled from every pore while on the cross. But my understanding of the actual mechanics does not really matter. What matters is that it did happen, and what ever did happen, i.e. in the Garden and on the cross was necessary and part of the Plan. And only Christ could do it for us. And He did.

 

Glenn

I had this question several years ago and really tried to find the answer.  It amazed me later how much I had been missing.  When someone shared the McConkie quote with me I really wondered what it meant that it recurred on the cross and why.  The definition of recurr can make for some different things that might have taken place on the cross depending on how you use it.  I've never found the answer to those questions. I don't think it necessarily means that he bled from every pore again though. 

I can't get to my notes on this right now,  but Marion G Romney said something about it as well.  

Edited March 24, 2016 by Rain

[Bernard Gui]

Jesus said his death on the cross is symbolic and was part of the plan required by the Father:

Quote

 3 Nephi 27:14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

 15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.

Also, it was the fulfillment of Nephi's and Jacob's prophecies....

Quote

1Nephi 11: 33 And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.

Jacob 1:8 Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi. 

Edited March 24, 2016 by Bernard Gui

[Robert F. Smith]

On 3/23/2016 at 10:35 PM, PeterPear said:

He bled from every pore in Gethsemame. So he sacrificed there. An angel appeared to strengthen him.

Earlier you said correctly that "He also suffered on the cross. He cried out: "Father why has thou forsaken me!" He was left totally alone to take the full weight of everyones' sins, illnesses, burdens, all of Mortality, as He shall declare as written in D&C 133:50 "

The Passover Lamb of God had to be killed in order to complete the sacrifice.   We celebrate the body and the blood during the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper each week in memoriam.

[Bernard Gui]

19 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Earlier you said correctly that "He also suffered on the cross. He cried out: "Father why has thou forsaken me!" He was left totally alone to take the full weight of everyones' sins, illnesses, burdens, all of Mortality, as He shall declare as written in D&C 133:50 "

The Passover Lamb of God had to be killed in order to complete the sacrifice.   We celebrate the body and the blood during the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper each week in memoriam.

Quote

D&C 138:35 And so it was made known among the dead, both small and great, the unrighteous as well as the faithful, that redemption had been wrought through the sacrifice of the Son of God upon the cross.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Bernard Gui

[Bobbieaware]

10 hours ago, Glenn101 said:

I agree with what Elder Holland is saying. One of the consequences of sin is an estrangement from God. That actual withdrawal did not appear to have happened in Gethsemane where an angel was sent to strengthen him while He prayed and suffered through his agony that caused him to bleed from every pore.

As I have noted, nowhere in any scripture does it say that he also bled from every pore while on the cross. We are all estranged from God here upon this earth to a lesser or greater extent and it does not bother us as much as it should. It certainly does not cause us such agony that we bleed from every pore.

But that agony in Gethsemane was so that those who repent of their sins will not have to suffer that same type of agony in hell. however, for those who do not repent, they will have to suffer as Jesus described it in D&C 19 "and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not."

I cannot argue with Talmadge or McKonkie. They are no longer with us to question.

Glenn

I believe the reason why one rarely, if ever, hears a general authority still say Christ's suffering for sin only occurred in Gethsemane is becaus the leaders of the Church came to realize such a notion is at odds with the scriptures. I also believe the Church leaders came to realize the 'Gethsemane only' idea was unnecessarily creating a big obstacle of doctrinal contention between the Church and non-LDS Christians who could easily point to the many New Testament verses that teach Christ suffered and atomed for our sins on the cross. Using the New Testament to shoot down the 'Gethsemane only' approach, to make the Latter-day Saints appear to be  brazenly heretical. was so easy for our non-LDS critics to do that it was like shooting those proverbial ducks in a barrel. The 'Gethsemane only' approach is an untenable position to maintain and the Church is now, thankfully, moving beyond it. And if there's any Church member who doubts the centrality and overriding eternal significance of of Christ's atoning suffering on the cross, all he or she needs to do is reflect on the supreme importance the crucifixion plays in the higher ordinances of the Gospel...

 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1)

Edited March 24, 2016 by Bobbieaware

[JAHS]

Here's the way I see it. Because sin involves infractions of a spiritual nature, the suffering required to pay for our sins must also be of a spiritual nature; not physical temporal suffering imposed by a few mortal men. How could a few hours physically suffering on a cross be sufficient to pay for all the sins made by all mankind? He was hung on a cross between two mortals, who were also being crucified for the temporal civil crimes they had committed. How could a similar punishment they received for their individual mortal crimes be enough suffering to pay for the sins of all mankind? Christ, being part mortal, did indeed suffer pain on the cross and spilled His blood, but that alone could not pay the price for our sins. That price was also paid by Him spiritually as only He, being God, could do, as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and bled at every pore. 
The idea that the church doesn't want to be at odds with other Christian religions is I think the main reason they don't mention the Garden suffering as much now. But I think our past prophets were right about the major portion of the suffering happened in the garden. It makes sense to me. 

"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)

Edited March 24, 2016 by JAHS

[pogi]

On March 23, 2016 at 9:38 PM, Rivers said:

My wife asked this question after listening to a song called Gethsemane. I thought it was a good question since we Latter-Day Saints believe that the atonement took place in the garden.  Was the death on the cross really essential after the suffering in Gethsemene was completed?

It was essential for a couple reasons.  The first reason was to fulfill his own prophecy.

Quote

. . . Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:6, 7).

This prophecy was required to fulfill the type of Him from the Old Testament.  The symbol of the serpent was used anciently as a symbol of divinity and salvation.  That is why Lucifer presented as a serpent.  It was a very symbolic gesture that he intends to take the place of God.  With that in mind:

Quote

Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.' So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived (Numbers 21:8-9, NKJV).

Compare that with:

Quote

when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself (John 12:32).

Christ on the cross was a fulfillment of the type in the Old Testament of the serpent on the pole.

There is one more powerful symbolic representation of the cross that may be less understood.  In the Book of Mormon, the Tree of Life is said to represent the "love of God".  It's fruit is described as "the most precious and most desirable above all other fruits." and "is the greatest of all the gifts of God."  In the D&C, salvation is called "the greatest of all the gifts of God".  In the same book, eternal life is also called the "greatest of al the gifts of God".  Do you see the correlation between the love of God (Tree of Life), eternal life, and salvation?

Is it any coincidence that the greatest expression of God's love, which made salvation and eternal life possible, took place in a garden (Gethsemane) and on a tree (cross)?

In a very powerful symbolic display, Christ “hung on a tree” (Gal 3:13), much like the fruit of the Tree of Life.  Christ then became the first fruits of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20).  It is interesting to note that the three events of the atonement which redeemed us from the fall use three words in their description: "garden", "tree", and "fruit".  The atonement happened in a garden and on a tree, which bore the first fruits of the resurrection; all these things pointing back to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, which represents the love of God, salvation, and eternal life. 

Quote

Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life (Alma 5:34).