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"As in all things, Jesus is also our attitudinal
Exemplar as to cheerfulness.
"When, just prior to the
great intercessory prayer in Gethsemane, Jesus told Peter, James, and John to
'be of good cheer,' such an attitude was certainly not justified because of
immediate circumstances. Instead, it was possible because Jesus had 'overcome
the world.' Contemplate, however, the grim experiences that then lay
immediately ahead, scarcely justifying an attitude of cheerfulness. Gethsemane
was imminent. So were Judas's betrayal; the capturing of Jesus, who was Peter,
James, and John's beloved leader; Peter's disheartening disavowal; and Jesus'
unjust trial. The populace's chilling preference for Barabbas rather than Jesus
would soon echo in the air. The Shepherd would be smitten and the sheep
scattered. Then there would be those awful, final moments on Calvary.
"Therefore, what, pray
tell, was there to be cheerful about? Yet in the face of all of this, Jesus
told them to 'be of good cheer'!
"The glorious,
irrevocable, and long-awaited Atonement was about to be accomplished. The
adversary had failed to stop it. The resurrection was assured. Death was soon
to be done away. Christ had overcome the world-not the reverse. These
irrepressible realities, both then and now, give rise to gospel gladness,
permitting us to be of good cheer even in the midst of tactical
tribulation." (Even As I Am [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982],
99.) –Neal A. Maxwell
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