PROVO, Utah — Just two days after Christians around the world commemorated Palm Sunday — and five days before Easter Sunday 2025 — Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, an Apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, testified “of the living Son of the living God, our Savior, our Redeemer, the unexpected Messiah.”
Roughly 14,000 Brigham Young University students, faculty and staff filled the Marriott Center to the top rows to hear Elder Uchtdorf’s Christ-centered message delivered on a mild spring morning in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, April 15. He was accompanied by his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, at the devotional.
In the midst of what he called “arguably the most sacred week in the Christian calendar,” Elder Uchtdorf invited listeners to ask themselves:
- “Will I show Jesus Christ that I want Him to be my King?
- “Will I invite Jesus Christ to have His triumphal entry into my life?
- “Will I allow Jesus Christ to change my heart, to lift my vision and to teach me His higher and holier ways?”
The Apostle blessed listeners “with hearts that are open and wide as the gates of Jerusalem to joyfully receive the Messiah, the Savior, the King of kings.”
Triumphal entry
Noting the recent commemoration of Palm Sunday, Elder Uchtdorf invited listeners to turn their thoughts to the historic day “when Jesus Christ, the King of kings, rode triumphantly yet humbly into the holy city of Jerusalem.”
A multitude began to gather. Some spread their clothing, others cut palm fronds to lay on the road to honor Him. “The atmosphere was absolutely electric,” Elder Uchtdorf related.
The people were filled with eager anticipation — “but were they anticipating the right things?”
In time, the jubilation died away, and people went back to their regular activities. Jesus, meanwhile, conducted the quiet Last Supper and walked to the Garden of Gethsemane, where — alone — He took upon Himself the sins of the world.
By the end of the next day, Jesus was hanging on a cross, suffering a cruel, humiliating execution.
“Some observers must have been sincerely confused,” said Elder Uchtdorf, adding: “One of the thieves being crucified with Jesus verbalized what many people were surely thinking: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah?’ he said. ‘Save yourself and us.’” (See Luke 23:39.)
But the fact that Jesus chose to be the ultimate sacrifice to rescue all of God’s children, even though He had power to save Himself, “has become the supernal witness that He is indeed the Son of God — submissive to His Father’s will and committed to fulfilling His Father’s plan of salvation to the last breath,” said Elder Uchtdorf.
Those who are willing can know that is the case, Elder Uchtdorf assured. “He is the Messiah. But, my dear young friends, how would we have reacted in the moment, right there in Jerusalem or up in Galilee?”
Unfulfilled expectations
“Haven’t we all experienced an occasional disconnect between what we expect in life and what actually happens?” Elder Uchtdorf noted.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of high ideals that don’t always match the messy, mundane realities of mortality.
When the beautiful, eternal ideals of the gospel clash with the painful, mortal realities of life, remember two things: “Never give up on the ideal” and “Don’t disregard the real.”
Said Elder Uchtdorf: “Accept both.”
During the Crucifixion, one thief asked for the Savior to save them. The other thief, however, said the two were punished justly and said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:39-42).
The second thief was suffering just like the first, said Elder Uchtdorf. “He surely would have liked to be saved from his fate on the cross. But he trusted the Lord’s wisdom and timing.”
So when things don’t seem to have a good answer, before assuming that there is no good answer, take the advice from the book of Ecclesiastes: “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God” (Ecclesiastes 5:2 NIV).
See things differently
Just as someone who has hiked one of the “breathtaking peaks” surrounding Provo gains a new outlook, “God invites us to follow His way to a higher and holier perspective,” he said.
Elder Uchtdorf invited listeners to “connect with Heavenly Father daily, elevate your view and raise your perspective on life and your personal situation.”
As individuals intentionally make time for quiet, simple but deeply spiritual moments, they will discover that the Lord indeed knows them. “These moments can be to you like that holy, peaceful moment on a beautiful spring morning outside an empty tomb, when a young woman was weeping and the resurrected Jesus called her by name, ‘Mary,’” Elder Uchtdorf related, adding, “Remember, the Savior knows your name too.”
Just as Jesus triumphantly entered into Jerusalem, “the gentle Christ enters your lives, individually, if you will receive Him,” Elder Uchtdorf promised.
