Alma makes an indirect reference to the words of Isaiah 53 (See commentary for Mosiah 14), he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities (Isa 53:4-5). But these beautifully written words are more than just poetic. They carry the message of a cruel reality—that the great Jehovah would have to suffer every kind of suffering for his people. His great omniscience in the Spirit could not compensate for the personal experiences of the flesh. In this, there is a pattern for all of us. We may have understood and appreciated the importance of obedience in the spirit world but to be tried as a mortal is something altogether different.
Although no mortal can full comprehend the infinite atonement, this does not mean we should not spend the rest of our lives trying. In our meager mortal attempts to understand its vast width and depth, we should examine all that Christ took upon himself as listed in this chapter. We are told that he suffered pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind. He took upon himself the sicknesses of his people. He took upon himself death itself—the great and tragic consequence of the Fall. In essence, he took upon himself all things, both physical and spiritual, which keep men away from God. The incomprehensively infinite experience gave Him a perfect understanding of every kind of physical pain, spiritual suffering, emotional anguish, and sumptuous temptation.
Howard W. Hunter
"We are indebted to the prophet Alma for our knowledge of the full measure of His suffering:
'He shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
'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 7:11-12.)
"Think of it! When his body was taken from the cross and hastily placed in a borrowed tomb, he, the sinless Son of God, had already taken upon him not only the sins and temptations of every human soul who will repent, but all of our sickness and grief and pain of every kind. He suffered these afflictions as we suffer them, according to the flesh. He suffered them all. He did this to perfect his mercy and his ability to lift us above every earthly trial." (Teachings of Howard W. Hunter, pp. 6-7)
John Taylor
"There came upon Him the weight and agony of ages….Hence His profound grief, His indescribable anguish, His overpowering torture, all experienced in the submission to the eternal fiat of Jehovah and the requirements of an inexorable law….Groaning beneath this concentrated load, this intense, incomprehensible pressure, this terrible exaction of Divine justice, from which feeble humanity shrank, and through the agony thus experienced sweating great drops of blood, He was led to exclaim, 'Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.' (Matt 26:39)" (Tad Callister, Infinite Atonement, p. 124)