8:24-25
In these two verses, there is a phrase that is repeated twice. Remember, this is during the three days of darkness when their world was turned upside down and many of the survivors’ families had been killed. “O that we had repented before this great and terrible day,”
How many of us will be alive at the “great and terrible” day when Jesus returns? It’s possible that no one reading this will experience that. Whew - that’s lucky right? Actually, every single one of us will experience our own “great and terrible” day where many of us will wish we had repented sooner. We will all die and leave this mortal life - many of us will feel this same regret of not repenting sufficiently before that day.
No one knows when our individual “great and terrible days” will come. My uncle just died a couple of days ago. Heart attack. We weren’t expecting that - it came suddenly. My heart is likely what will end my mortal experience. It may happen today or twenty years from now. I don’t know. But I do know that it will happen someday. I don’t want to arrive at that day feeling regret that I hadn’t “repented before this great and terrible day.”
9:13
At this time, there obviously needed to be a reset with the population. Jesus Christ generally works in the world of faith. He doesn’t appear to everyone. He doesn’t want us burdened with that knowledge and accountability. In this case, he is literally speaking to everyone. It must have been an extenuating circumstance.
“O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?” He’s asking them directly to repent. They still have their agency but he’s explicitly telling them to repent. They have knowledge from participating in this miracle of direct communication. How could they ever turn from that?? (Foreshadowing)
The ones who were spared are the more righteous. They actually were not the ones who had stoned the prophets. We learn this in 10:12 “And it was the more righteous part of the people who were saved, and it was they who received the prophets and stoned them not; and it was they who had not shed the blood of the saints, who were spared—” So, why in chapter 8 did we read that they were the ones saying
9:14
Jesus explains the key qualification for receiving eternal life, mercy and being blessed. “Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.”
What does it mean to come unto Jesus? Three major things:
Having faith. For us to take steps on the path towards Jesus, we must have faith in Him and his gospel and the plan of salvation and even ourselves that we can do it.
Changing direction. Repentance means change. It means adjusting our course towards the Savior. We are giving up our desires for what the Lord desires.
Moving. We can’t simply change directions. We must take steps towards the Savior. We must be intent on progressing. One foot in front of the other.
9:20
“And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.” Jesus was discontinuing the sacrifice of burn offerings. Instead, he was asking for a broken heart and contrite spirit.
What is a broken heart and a contrite spirit?
Broken heart.
State of deep humility and recognition of our complete dependence on God.
We recognize our sins and shortcomings and acknowledge our need to divine help and mercy.
It’s not about despair fur sincere submission, acknowledging God’s power and grace.
Contrite spirit.
This is a spirit that is truly repentant and remorseful for sins.
It embodies sincere sorrow for having strayed from God’s commandments and a genuine desire to make amends and align one’s life with God’s teachings.
A contrite spirit is characterized by earnest repentance and the resolve to forsake sin and follow God more faithfully.
We are sacrificing our will. We are fully embracing the remorse for our sins. We recognize that we need the Lord’s help!
10:4-6
Christ uses an interesting phrase about gathering us as a hen gathers her chickens:
“How oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings?”
“How oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings?”
“How oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not?”
“O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.”
It’s interesting how the phrasing changes slightly each time. He uses different tenses and phrases to explain his intent. He says that “I have gathered, would I have gathered, will I gather.” All we must do is repent and come un to him with a “full purpose of heart.” He doesn’t specify a limit on the amount of try’s we get. If we are willing to repent, he will continue to gather us.
10:8, 10
“And now it came to pass that after the people had heard these words, behold, they began to weep and howl again because of the loss of their kindred and friends.” It seems like they can’t keep focused on the important point. They are speaking with the creator of the universe. After he speaks they go right back to weeping over their loss. We humans can’t help ourselves.
It changes when the darkness leaves. Their mourning ends. “…their mourning was turned into joy, and their lamentations into the praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord Jesus Christ, their Redeemer.” Getting what we want has this effect. We do feel grateful for the new blessings. But, often, new blessings become old blessings. We get used to the blessings until we don’t appreciate them or, worse, consider ourselves as the source of these blessings.
11:3-6
In these verses, we learn about how Christ communicates. “And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn. And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not. And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came. And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them.”
The voice of Heavenly Father, the Lord and the voice of the Spirit have the same effect. These aren’t loud voices. They are “small” but powerful. I love the phrase “pierce them that did hear to the center.” I think the voice of the Lord is the most familiar voice we’ll ever hear. I think we’ve been listening to him teach for millennia. We will love the sound of his voice.
I think it’s interesting that it takes three times for the people to finally hear the voice. This is demonstrative of how willing the Lord is to reach out to us. We may not listen. But our lack of listening won’t dissuade God from attempting to reach us multiple times.
It sounds like there’s a difference between hearing and “opening our ears.” We can hear a sound without giving it much attention and focus. We may hear promptings but not slow down enough to understand. It’s important that, if we hear the Spirit speaking to us, that we look “towards the sound thereof.”
We live in a world filled with distractions and deadlines. We are busy. Our minds our busy. Our ears are often filled with ear buds. I know mine are. I’m always listening to something. Some of it is helpful and other stuff is just entertainment or distraction for my busy brain. I think there can be some good come from listening to podcasts that will uplift and inform. I do need to realize that I am drowning out the potential communication that I could be getting directly from the Spirit. I must focus more on being silent and listening for the things that the Spirit wants me to know or act on.
11:11
Of course, the first thing that Jesus says is important. He makes four main points in his first sentence:Jesus “And behold,
“I am the light and the life of the world;” Together, "light and life" reflect Jesus' dual role in illuminating the way to truth and eternal happiness, while offering the gift of eternal life through His grace and sacrifice. He is the one who leads us out of darkness, both in this life and in the life to come.
“and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me,” Jesus is explaining his willingness to physically and spiritually suffer for us. He is emphasizing that it was his choice to partake.
“and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world,” Jesus is declaring that His ultimate act of obedience to God the Father—suffering for the sins of all humanity through the Atonement—brought glory and honor to the Father and fulfilled His divine purpose.
“in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.” When Jesus says “the beginning” he’s talking about his willingness to follow his Father’s will even in the premortal world. He lived a perfect life of obedience and submission to God’s will - ultimately in his great sacrifice of his atonement.
I think it’s interesting that Jesus main point in his first statement to the people is how he is doing what his Father wanted. He is the Savior of the world and his first impression for these people is to put attention on his Father. Sounds like something Jesus would do.
11:15
“And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.” That would take a while! Hours and hours of Jesus standing letting the people touch him. He wanted them all to have a personal witness that he was who he claimed to be.
I love that every single person is important to God and his Son. If you think about it, every one of us is a potentially infinite source of additional generations of descendants of Heavenly Father. Universes on top of universes will be created with a single righteous couple. It’s hard to comprehend but helps us see why every soul is precious in the sight of God.
11:28-29
“And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.” There must have been controversy about points of doctrine back in those days. It is going to be more so this way in the years to come for us. False doctrines and apostasy will be the death of many members’ testimonies. It won’t be sin, it will be disputations about doctrine.
“For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.” Too often, justify contention with the idea that we’re defending truth. Of course we must defend truth but we must do in a non-contentious way. We can disagree and explain and testify without the contention.
My willingness to be contentious with strangers is a challenge for me. I can get so angry so quickly. It’s easy for me to be critical. The gospel of Jesus Christ needs to permeate me enough that I can look past any minor frustration I experience interacting with another of God’s children.
11:37-38
Whoever Jesus repeats himself, we should take note. “And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things. And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.”
So, what does it mean to become as a little child? To “become as a little child” means to cultivate humility, trust, purity, and a teachable spirit. It requires us to repent, let go of pride, and approach God with the same openness, innocence, and faith that a child has toward a loving parent.
This transformation is essential for entering the kingdom of God because it enables us to rely fully on Christ’s Atonement and live in harmony with His teachings. Jesus is inviting us to adopt these qualities in order to walk closer with Him and live in a state of spiritual readiness to receive His blessings.
Because children don’t know a lot, they walk in faith much of the time. They are willing to jump into a parent’s arms because they have faith. They are willing to go to a strange place on the first day of school because their parent assures them that it’ll be good for them. They will hide behind a parent’s legs when confronting a stranger because they have faith that their parent will protect them. We should cultivate this type of faith in Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. This childlike faith will help us progress in this life and throughout all eternity.
Opmerkingen