[MUSIC PLAYING]
Whenever I come to this great city of Jerusalem,
I feel a renewed reverence for Him who made this land holy.
Under the direction of the Father,
Jesus the Christ was Creator of this and other worlds.
He was Jehovah, God of the Old Testament.
Jesus was the promised Emmanuel, as prophesied by Isaiah.
More than 2,000 years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ
was born in nearby Bethlehem.
As the Only Begotten Son of Almighty God,
Jesus was the only perfect man to walk the earth.
In New Testament days, Jesus established
His Church, built on the foundation
of apostles and prophets.
He healed the sick and caused the lame to walk,
the blind to see, and the deaf to hear.
He raised the dead.
Yet He allowed His life to be taken
to make resurrection a reality and eternal life a possibility
for all humankind.
It was here in Jerusalem that the Savior spent His final days
in mortality.
I am standing on the Mount of Olives.
Here at the base of the mount, Jesus
came to the Garden of Gethsemane.
He came to submit to the will of his Father
and offered Himself as the sacrifice for the sins
and weaknesses, the pains and burdens of all
who would ever live.
In that garden, olives had been pressed under great weight
to squeeze precious oil from the olives.
In like manner, Jesus was literally
pressed under the weight of the sins of the world.
There He sweat great drops of blood, His life's oil,
which issued from every pore.
Not far from here is a hill named
Golgotha, meaning "skull," which symbolized death.
There upon the cross, the Savior of the world was lifted up.
He gave His life as part of His atoning sacrifice.
His subsequent Resurrection, His triumphant victory
over the grave, is recorded in holy writ:
that "now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the firstfruits of them that slept."
Because the Savior offered Himself
as the infinite Atonement, you and I
have the opportunity, the privilege,
to be forgiven when we repent.
We can also turn to Him for healing of our hearts,
for strength where we are weak, and for help to do things we
simply cannot do on our own.
By virtue of His transcendent offering,
Jesus also gave us the gift of immortality
and the opportunity for eternal life, proclaiming,
"I am the resurrection, and the life:
he that believeth in me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die."
Another testament of Jesus Christ comes from ancient
America, where God the Father introduced His Son
to the Nephites, declaring, "Behold my Beloved Son ...
hear ye him."
Modern prophets have also borne witness of Him, including
this declaration by the Prophet Joseph Smith:
"And now, after the many testimonies which
have been given of him, this is the testimony,
last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!"
I also declare that Jesus the Christ
lives, that His Church has been restored
to the earth, complete with His power and authority,
with apostles and prophets and essential ordinances
and covenants.
In a coming day, the Lord will return to this holy land.
Then "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together."
Then He will offer these words: "I was wounded
in the house of my friends.
I am he who was lifted up.
I am Jesus that was crucified.
I am the Son of God."
And then every knee will bow and every tongue
confess that Jesus is the Christ.
I testify that He is the living Christ, our Lord and Savior,
Exemplar, Redeemer, and Judge.
In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.