Area Leadership Message
Find answers in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ
In April 2023, President Nelson said: “Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ”.
I was reminded of this when my wife and I visited the Frederiksborg castle in the town of Hillerød north of Copenhagen, Denmark, together with some fellow members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints visiting from abroad.
The Frederiksborg castle is a beautiful castle built by the Danish king Christian IV between 1600 to 1625 in the Dutch Renaissance style. As part of the castle, a church and a prayer room for the king was also built.
After a devastating fire in 1859, the religious painter Carl Bloch was asked to decorate the newly restored little prayer room with paintings depicting the life of Christ. These paintings were forgotten by most of the world until the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1962 printed copies of the paintings to be used by teachers in Primary and Sunday school, and for parents at home.
We started our tour of the castle with our friends by first going to the prayer room to see the original Carl Bloch paintings. After pointing out the paintings, I went on to the neighbouring rooms to continue the tour of the castle. However, nobody followed me, so I went back to find the others.
When I came back to the prayer room, I found our friends still looking at the paintings, being deeply moved by what they saw. I realised to my own embarrassment that I had come to show our friends some beautiful paintings almost like a tourist guide, but they had stopped and taken the time and effort to see beyond what Carl Bloch had painted so beautifully on copper. Thus, they saw the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and they were moved by the messages of our Saviour.
After joining our friends again, we had a memorable time together looking at each of the 23 paintings separately, and talking about each event in His life and the messages we can learn. We started with the painting depicting the visit of the angel to Mary, telling her “Fear not Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David”.
After some time, we ended with the last painting depicting the resurrected Jesus Christ. This picture is a reminder for me of what Jesus Christ accomplished for all of us. This is summarised so well by Nephi in his joyous message: “I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell”.
The experience in the Frederiksborg castle in front of the Carl Bloch paintings, which I have seen many times, was an important reminder to me. We can look at paintings of Jesus Christ, or we can read stories of Jesus Christ, but we need to take the time and effort to contemplate the messages of His teachings and relate them to our life. This way we will better be able to “learn more about His Atonement, His love, His mercy, His doctrine, and His restored gospel of healing and progression” and find the answers to our questions and problems.