Jesus—Savior and Redeemer

Marion G. Romney, “Jesus—Savior and Redeemer,” New Era, Apr 1984, 33

Taken from an address delivered to the student body of Brigham Young University on February 5, 1978.




During this season our thoughts are naturally directed to the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. In harmony with these thoughts, I shall in these remarks emphasize the manner in which he became and is our Savior and Redeemer.

First I shall call attention to a few fundamentals which are essential to an understanding of him and his ministry. The most important of these fundamentals is a knowledge of God the Father, man, and their relationship to each other. Without such knowledge it is impossible to realize the manner in which Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer.

The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another” (Joseph Fielding Smith, comp., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345; hereinafter referred to as TPJS). In reporting his first vision, the Prophet wrote concerning God as follows:

“I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

… [In it] I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other—“This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (JS—H 1:16–17).

Later the Prophet said that “the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s” (D&C 130:22). He also declared that “if … God … was to make himself visible, … you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man” (TPJS, p. 345).

Such teachings seemed blasphemous in the days of Joseph Smith. It will help us to appreciate their impact if we remember that the Athanasian Creed was then, and so far as I know still is, the generally accepted concept of God held by the so-called Christian world. It reads:

“We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost is all one; the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet there are not three eternals, but one eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreate, but one uncreate and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty; and yet there are not three almighties, but one almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God” (History of the Church, 1:85).

The clear and simple truth concerning God revealed through and taught by the Prophet was certainly a great contrast to this mystifying confusion.

A knowledge of the Prophet’s teachings concerning God and a personal testimony that they are true is a prerequisite to an understanding of the way in which Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. Next in importance to an understanding of Jesus and his mission is an understanding of what and who men are. On this subject the Lord has revealed the truth that men are souls and he has revealed the fact that a soul is a dual being, a spirit and a body combined—that each of us is a spirit clothed in a physical body. The Lord has further revealed the truth that God, who is an immortal, exalted, glorified, eternal soul, is the Father of our spirits. Paul was referring to our spirits when, in his great speech on Mars’ hill, he said: “In him we live, and move, and have our being; … For we are … his offspring” (Acts 17:28).

The scriptures repeatedly confirm this truth. God the Father himself declared that we are his children.

“At a time when Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain,

“… He saw God face to face, and he talked with him, …

“And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, …

“And behold, thou art my son” (Moses 1:1–4).

Another truth we should keep in mind as we consider how Jesus is our Savior is the universal law that the offspring of all reproducing life has the capability to become, in full maturity, like unto its parents. In harmony with this law, we, the offspring of God, have the capability of becoming like him. To bring us to that likeness is what the gospel is all about.

The gospel, frequently called the plan of salvation, is so called because it is the program by and pursuant to which we, spirit children of God, come to the earth, receive corporeal bodies, are placed between the forces of good and evil, are given our free agency, and by the choices we make here on earth prove ourselves worthy—or unworthy—to return to God’s presence and receive eternal life, which is the type of life God the Father and Jesus enjoy and which they have made it possible for us to enjoy. The gospel is called the gospel of Jesus Christ because he, Jesus Christ, was the firstborn spirit son of God, and volunteered, in the great pre-earth council of spirits, to come to earth and implement—that is, put into operation—the gospel plan.

We learn of that great heavenly council and something about what took place in it in Abraham’s account of it as reported in the Pearl of Great Price.

“Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

“And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

“And there stood one among them that was like unto God [that, of course, was Jesus Christ—the spirit Jesus Christ], and he [Jesus Christ, understanding at that time the gospel plan] said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell [we were all there, and he was talking about a dwelling place for us as spirits];

“And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

“And they who keep their first estate [referring to those who would be faithful there in the spirit world] shall be added upon [that is, given bodies]; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate [of course, this referred to those who would and did reject the gospel plan there in the spirit world and who followed Satan. They are not to have glory in the same kingdom with those who there followed Christ]; and they who keep their second estate [that is, those mortals who prove faithful in this estate] shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.”

This refers, of course, to those who accept and live the gospel here in mortality. They are the ones who will “have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.”

With reference to a Redeemer, which the gospel plan required, the Father said, in that great council,

“Whom shall I send? [That was to be the Redeemer.] And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.

“And the second was angry and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him” (Abr. 3:22–28).

There is a followup on this account in the book of Moses, in which the Lord said to Moses—Moses was on the mount and had an interview with the devil and they did not agree; so Moses told him where to go, and he went. And so the Lord appeared to Moses and said,

“That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me [referring to the spirit council in heaven] saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.

“But, behold [said the Father to Moses,] my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.

“Wherefore, [continued the Father,] because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;

“And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice” (Moses 4:1–4).

Speaking of this event, John the Revelator wrote:

“And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

“And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:7–9).

These scriptures make it clear that in the great council Jesus volunteered and was accepted and appointed to be our Savior and Redeemer; and that Satan with the spirits who followed him was cast out.

The earth was created according to plan and prepared to be man’s dwelling place during his mortal probation. Adam, who was Michael referred to by John and who stood with Christ in the great council, and his companion Eve were placed in the “Garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it” (Moses 3:15). In their coming to earth, as has been true of all their posterity, the memories of Adam and Eve were suspended. They had to be taught the gospel after they came to the earth.

The Lord, there in the Garden of Eden, commanded them, saying:

“Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,

“But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat … , nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Moses 3:16–17).

As everyone knows, Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit. As a consequence, pursuant to the Lord’s statement, death passed upon them and all their posterity.

Death—which is the separation of body and spirit—unless it could be overcome, would make it impossible for men ever to obtain the exaltation and eternal life which God the Father enjoys. This is so because he, God, has a body of flesh and bones. If we ever attain unto his likeness we must have bodies of flesh and bones, which we would not have unless death is overcome and we are resurrected. Jacob, the brother of Nephi, recognized this and emphasized it in these beautiful words:

“For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.”

Jacob also knew that the transgression—that was the partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—which brought death must be atoned for in order to bring about the resurrection, and he added:

“It must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man [which is death and banishment from the presence of God] must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh [this, as I read it for the hundredth time, went deeper into my understanding than it ever did before] must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

“And then Jacob declares,] O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.

“And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself” (2 Ne. 9:6–9).

That would have been our condition without the Resurrection. The required “infinite atonement” could not be made by any man nor by all men together because all men, being descendants of Adam, inherited by nature the death penalty. Atonement for disobeying the Father’s command not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which brought death, could not be made by one who was subject to the penalty. It had to be one who was not subject to death. That someone was Jesus Christ, whose Father in the flesh as well as in the spirit was Elohim.

Jesus was and is our Savior because he brought about our resurrection, through which our bodies and spirits will be united again. We shall be raised from the grave as immortal souls never again to be separated. This Jesus accomplished by voluntarily giving his life to satisfy the demands of justice for the broken law which brought death. This he was qualified to do because he was not subject to death. He was not a descendant of Adam in the same sense as are other men. He was the literal Son of God in the flesh as well as in the spirit. He thus inherited from the Father life in himself. He could have lived on indefinitely. Being the Son of God in the flesh, death had no claim upon him.

By voluntarily giving his life, he won the victory over the grave. Paul put it in these terms:

“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:21–22).

Adam and Eve were responsible for death. Jesus brought about universal resurrection. In this respect, he was and is our Savior.

The fact that all men are to be resurrected, regardless of their conduct, does not, however, mean that all men shall obtain eternal life in the celestial kingdom. There are many kingdoms to which resurrected beings will be assigned—some of glory and some of less than glory. The kingdoms to which they will go will be determined by how well they, while in mortality, do things the Lord their God commands them. Resurrected souls will have to be clean and pure to dwell with God. As the resurrected Jesus taught the Nephites, “no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom,” regardless of the fact that they are resurrected (3 Ne. 27:19).

Since all men become unclean by sinning, it follows that there must be—if men are to reenter the kingdom of God—in addition to resurrection, a means provided whereby they can be cleansed from the stain of their sins. This means Jesus also provided. In the great heavenly council he voluntarily undertook to, and later came to earth and did, atone for the sins of all men by suffering on the cross and in Gethsemane sufficiently to satisfy the demands of justice for the sins of all men.

Men do not, however, get the benefit of Christ’s atonement for their sins unconditionally. They obtain the benefit of Christ’s victory over the grave unconditionally because they were not in any way responsible for the transgression which brought death. On the other hand, they are responsible for their own sins and are, therefore, required to do all they can do by way of atoning for them. This is so because, while they are in mortality, men—being endowed with free agency—are placed between influences for good, led by Christ, and influences for evil, led by Satan. They will be held responsible for the choices they make because they are endowed with the means to distinguish between good and evil. As Mormon says, “The Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moro. 7:16). Every man has that power; he is endowed with it at birth and will be responsible for his choices. The Lord confirmed this truth when he said to the Prophet Joseph Smith that “the Spirit [of Christ] giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and [that] the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit” (D&C 84:46).

On the other hand, Satan and his minions tempt everyone to do evil.

From the days of Adam until today, Satan has fought against Christ for the souls of men. Every person who has reached the age of accountability, except Jesus, has yielded in some degree to sin, some more and some less, but all save Jesus only have yielded sufficiently to be barred from the presence of God. This means that every person must be cleansed through the atonement of Jesus Christ in order to reenter the society of God. Jesus stated the situation to the Nephites in these words:

“Nothing [a term which, as Jesus used it, included no person] entereth into his [God’s] rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end” (3 Ne. 27:19).

As has already been said, Jesus provided the means whereby men can be cleansed from the stain of their sins through his suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross. This he was able to do because he himself never sinned; he therefore never was banished from God’s presence. By voluntarily taking upon himself to suffer as he did, he satisfied the demands of justice so that men, if they will repent, may be cleansed from the stain of their sins by the spilt blood of Christ.

He explained the purpose of his mortality to the Nephites when he visited them following his resurrection, as follows—this is Christ’s own statement as to why he came into the world:

“I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

“And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me [that is, by the resurrection], that as I have been lifted up by men [when he was making this statement he was a resurrected being, having been crucified and ‘lifted up upon the cross’ by men, and he was talking to the Nephites following his resurrection] even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil [we have all got that experience coming in the future, because we will all die, be resurrected, and stand before the judgment bar of Christ to see whether we are worthy of exaltation]—

“And for this cause [he said] have I been lifted up [speaking of his crucifixion]; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.

“And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled [he means filled with the Holy Ghost]; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall … judge the world.

“And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.

“And this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men. And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath [spoken], and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words.

“And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end. [Those are the words, my beloved brothers and sisters, of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.]

“Now this is the commandment [the Savior is still talking]: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel” (3 Ne. 27:13–21).

In the 19th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord declared that suffering is the inevitable result of unrepented sin, and that he had redeemed men from sin upon condition of repentance. Speaking to Martin Harris, he said, giving the revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith:

“I command you to repent … lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.

“For behold, I, God [the Savior is speaking], have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

“Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore [can you imagine the suffering that Christ went through in Gethsemane, where he sweat blood from every pore? I have been in the hospital and seen people suffering what the doctor said was the severest pain that man can suffer, but I never saw one sweat a drop of blood], and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

“Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:15–19).

He made the atonement for our sins on the condition that we repent. If we can remember and keep in mind these basic truths, along with what Alma says about what happens to the soul between death and resurrection (read that in Alma 40:11–14), we will be able to more fully understand and appreciate Jacob’s great discourse on the mission of Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, recorded in 2 Nephi 9:10–14 [2 Ne. 9:10–14], and the sermon of Amulek and Alma as recorded in Alma 11:40–45 and Alma 12. We will know with certainty that Jesus Christ is our Savior because he brought about our resurrection and because he atoned for our sins on condition that we have faith in him and comply with the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, my young brothers and sisters, I bear you my personal witness that I know that these things are true. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; he walked the earth as the Son of God in the flesh and in the spirit, he brought about the resurrection unconditionally, and he has opened the way for you, for me, and for all mankind to have our sins forgiven through acceptance of his gospel, repentance, and living the commandments. Oh, how glorious it would be if every one of us would qualify that we might someday meet around the throne of God, cleansed and purified and admitted into his celestial presence! I pray that it may be so, and leave you my blessing that you may have the strength you desire to bring that about, and I do it in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, our Redeemer, and our Savior, amen.

Jesus Christ: Antemortal Existence

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/j/21

Jesus Christ: Godhead

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/g/85

Jesus Christ: God the Father - Jehovah

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/g/53

Jesus Christ:Cornerstone

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/c/210

The Bread of Life

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/b/178

GUIDE TO THE SCRIPTURES JESUS CHRIST

http://scriptures.lds.org/gs/j/22

Jesus Christ: “The Way, the Truth, and the Life” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay

Christ is the Light to humanity.
Christ is the light to humanity. In that light man sees his way clearly; when it is rejected, the soul of man stumbles in darkness. No person, no group, no nation can achieve true success without following him who said:
“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12.)
It is a sad thing when individuals and nations extinguish that light—when Christ and his gospel are supplanted by the law of the jungle and the strength of the sword. The chief tragedy in the world at the present time is its disbelief in God’s goodness and its lack of faith in the teachings and doctrines of the gospel. 4
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that in his life and teachings Jesus Christ reveals a standard of personal living and of social relations that, if fully embodied in individual lives and in human institutions, would not only ameliorate the present ills of society, but would also bring happiness and peace to mankind.
If it be said that … so-called Christian nations have failed to achieve such a goal, we answer that all failure to do so may be found in the fact that they have failed to apply the principles and teachings of true Christianity. …
… The human family has suffered from unrestrained expressions and manifestations of selfishness, hatred, envy, greed—animal passions that have led to war, devastation, pestilence, and death. If even the simplest principles of the Savior’s teachings had been observed, history would have been changed. 5
When Christians throughout the world have this faith [in Christ] coursing in their blood, when they feel a loyalty in their hearts to the resurrected Christ, and to the principles connoted thereby, mankind will have taken the first great step toward the perpetual peace for which we daily are praying: Reject Him and the world will be filled with hatred, and drenched in blood by recurring wars. 6
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the crucible in which hate, envy, and greed are consumed, and good will, kindness, and love remain as inner aspirations by which man truly lives and builds.
Let men and women everywhere keep their eyes upon him who ever shines as a Light to all the world—for Christ is the Way, the Truth, the Life, the only safe Guide to that haven of peace for which people the wide world over are earnestly praying. 7
Christ taught and exemplified the way to the ideal life among our fellowmen.
“How can we know the way?” asked Thomas, as he sat with his fellow apostles and their Lord at the table after the supper on the memorable night of the betrayal; and Christ’s divine answer was: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. …” (John 14:5–6.) And so he is! He is the source of our comfort, the inspiration of our life, the author of our salvation. If we want to know our relationship to God, we go to Jesus Christ. If we would know the truth of the immortality of the soul, we have it exemplified in the Savior’s resurrection.
If we desire to learn the ideal life to lead among our fellowmen, we can find a perfect example in the life of Jesus. Whatsoever our noble desires, our lofty aspirations, our ideals in any phase of life, we can look to Christ and find perfection. So, in seeking a standard for moral manhood, we need only to go to the Man of Nazareth and in him find embodied all virtues that go to make the perfect man.
The virtues that combined to make this perfect character are truth, justice, wisdom, benevolence, and self-control. His every thought, word, and deed were in harmony with divine law and, therefore, true. The channel of communication between him and the Father was constantly open, so that truth, which rests upon revelation, was always known to him. 8
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accepts as literally true the words of Jesus: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10.) We believe, however, that this abundant life is obtained not only from spiritual exaltation, but also by the application to daily life of the principles that Jesus taught.
These principles are few and simple and may, if desired, be applied by every normal person. The first of these, and the foundation upon which a true Christian society is built, is: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. …” (Mark 12:30.) A belief in a Supreme Being who lives and loves his children—a belief that gives power and vigor to the soul. An assurance that he can be approached for guidance, and that he will manifest himself to those who seek him.
Another is the acceptance of the truth that life is a gift of God and therefore divine. The proper use of this gift impels man to become the master, not the slave, of nature. His appetites are to be controlled and used for the benefit of his health and the prolongation of life. His passions are to be mastered and controlled for the happiness and blessings of others and the perpetuity of the race.
A third principle is personal integrity. By this I mean plain, everyday honesty, sobriety, and respect for others’ rights, such as will win the confidence of one’s fellows. This recognition applies to nations as well as to individuals. It is as wrong for a nation, because it is powerful, to steal from another and oppress it as it is for an individual to rob and kill his neighbor.
A fourth essential is social consciousness that awakens in each individual the realization that it is his duty to make the world better for his having been in it. 9
The Savior’s life was guided principally by … Individual Purity and Service. He kept himself wholly unspotted from the sins of the world, and devoted his life to the consideration of others, to salvation for the human family. He was always looking out for the oppressed, comforting the sick, healing the maimed and disabled, giving his life for the world. 10
There is imperative need of a drastic change in men’s dealings with one another. Never has there been a time in the history of the world when a change for the better was more imperative. And since rejection of Christ’s teachings has resulted in repeated disaster, with only intermittent periods of respite and peace and progress, why in the name of reason should people not be willing to substitute for selfish aggrandizement Christ’s principle of brotherly consideration, of fair dealing, of the value and sacredness of human life, of the virtue of forgiveness, of the condemnation of the sin of hypocrisy and of covetousness, of the saving power of love. 11
Members of the Church of Christ are under obligation to make the sinless Son of Man their ideal. He is the one Perfect Being who ever walked the earth; the sublimest example of nobility; Godlike in nature; perfect in his love; our Redeemer; our Savior; the immaculate Son of our Eternal Father; the Light, the Life, the Way. 12
I accept Jesus Christ as the personification of human perfection. 13
Christ’s teachings are applicable to everyday life.
I believe in every word that Jesus spoke, and to me the teaching is applicable in my life and yours. Keeping in mind the fact that we are the children of our Father in heaven, when we seek the kingdom of God, first, we become conscious of a new aim in life. … Only in the complete surrender of our inner life may we rise above the selfish, sordid pull of nature. …
For two thousand years, practically, men have considered [Christ’s teachings] as impractical—too ideal, they say, but if we sincerely believe in Christ’s divinity, that he is “the way, the truth, and the life” (see John 14:6), we cannot consistently doubt the applicability of his teachings to everyday life.
True, there are weighty problems to solve—evils of the slums, the ever-recurring conflicts between labor and capital, drunkenness, prostitution, international hatreds, and a hundred other current questions. But if heeded, Christ’s appeal for personal integrity, honor, fair-dealing, and love is basic in the proper solution of all these social and economic difficulties.
Most certainly before the world even approaches these ideals, men’s hearts must be changed. Christ came into the world for that very purpose. The principal reason for preaching the gospel is to change men’s hearts and lives. … Those who have been converted … can testify how the conversion has changed their lives. … By such conversion they bring peace and good will to the world instead of strife [and] suffering. 14
As a first step, … make truly applicable the simple injunction of putting one’s self in the other fellow’s place, the surest of all means of eliminating the bitterness that characterizes misunderstandings.
No thinking person can say truthfully that the application of this one simple act if practiced among individuals and nations would not bring about a better world!
Equally effective and applicable are His teachings regarding the value and sacredness of human life, the virtue of forgiveness, the necessity of fair dealing, His condemnation of the sin of hypocrisy, and of covetousness, His teachings regarding the saving power of love, and of the immortality of the soul. 15
Living the teachings of Christ leads to true greatness and happiness.
No man can sincerely resolve to apply in his daily life the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth without sensing a change in his nature. The phrase “born again” has a deeper significance than what many people attach to it. This changed feeling may be indescribable, but it is real.
Happy the person who has truly sensed the uplifting, transforming power that comes from this nearness to the Savior, this kinship to the living Christ. I am thankful that I know that Christ is my Redeemer. 16
The highest of all ideals are the teachings and particularly the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and that man is most truly great who is most Christlike.
What you sincerely in your heart think of Christ will determine what you are, will largely determine what your acts will be. No person can study this divine personality, can accept his teachings without becoming conscious of an uplifting and refining influence within himself. 17
By choosing him as our ideal, we create within ourselves a desire to be like him, to have fellowship with him. We perceive life as it should be and as it may be. 18
He promised no material rewards, but he did promise perfected, divine manhood. … “Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” [See Matthew 5:48.] And with that divine manhood comes the resultant happiness, true happiness. 19
The gospel, the glad tidings of great joy, is the true guide to mankind; and that man or woman is happiest and most content who lives nearest to its teachings, which are the antitheses of hatred, persecution, tyranny, domination, injustice—things which foster tribulation, destruction, and death throughout the world. What the sun in the heavenly blue is to the earth struggling to get free from winter’s grip, so the gospel of Jesus Christ is to the sorrowing souls yearning for something higher and better than mankind has yet found on earth.
What a glorious condition will be in this old world when it can truthfully be said to Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, “All men seek for thee.” (Mark 1:37.) Selfishness, envy, hatred, lying, stealing, cheating, disobedience, quarreling, and fighting among nations will then be no more! 20
We celebrate his birth in whose mission on earth (1) God is glorified; (2) earth is promised peace; (3) all men [are] given the assurance of God’s good will toward them!
If every man born into the world would have as the beacon of his life these three glorious ideals—how much sweeter and happier life would be! With such an aim, everyone would seek all that is pure, just, honorable, virtuous, and true—all that leads to perfection. … He would eschew that which is impure, dishonorable, or vile. If every man desired to show good will toward his fellow men and strove to express that desire in a thousand kind sayings and little deeds that would reflect unselfishness and self-sacrifice, what a contribution each would make toward universal peace on earth and the happiness of mankind! 21
What a more delightful world this would be if, for example, man earnestly strove to apply Christ’s advice: “If ye have aught against a brother, go to him.” [See Matthew 5:23–24.] Or, again, His admonition: “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” [see Matthew 6:33], which means, simply, be not so anxious about worldly things as to make them of superior worth to spiritual attainment. 22
I feel, and know, that through him and through him only, and by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ, can we find happiness and salvation in this world and eternal life in the world to come. 23
Suggestions for Study and Discussion

• What are some of the major problems facing mankind today? What specific principles taught by Jesus Christ would help resolve these problems? How would they help resolve them?

• Why is faith in Jesus Christ essential to improve conditions in the world today? What does it mean to you that Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life”?

• What prevents people today from applying the Savior’s teachings in their lives? In what ways can we as a Church and as individuals promote His standards in the world?

• Jesus Christ said that He came into the world that we “might have life, and that [we] might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10; see page 4). In what ways has the Savior helped you have a more abundant life?

• President McKay testified of Jesus Christ as the “personification of human perfection” (page 5). What are some of the characteristics of Jesus Christ that make Him the example of perfection? (See pages 4–5.) To what extent are these characteristics realistically attainable in our lives? What can we do to make our individual lives more Christlike?

• President McKay taught that those who apply the Savior’s teachings will sense a change in themselves (see page 7). How have you seen this to be true in your life or the lives of others? What is the significance of President McKay’s use of the words “born again”? (See pages 7–8.)
Related Scriptures: Matthew 11:28–30; John 13:15–17; 3 Nephi 27:21–22, 27; D&C 84:49–54
Notes

1. In Conference Report, Oct. 1969, 8.

2. Cherished Experiences from the Writings of President David O. McKay, comp. Clare Middlemiss, rev. ed. (1976), 59–60; paragraphing altered.

3. In Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 157, 159.

4. Treasures of Life, comp. Clare Middlemiss (1962), 203–4.

5. “What Doth It Profit?” Improvement Era, Jan. 1970, 2.

6. In Conference Report, Apr. 1944, 124–25.

7. “Walk in the Light,” Improvement Era, Apr. 1954, 222.

8. In Conference Report, Apr. 1968, 6–7.

9. “What Doth It Profit?” Improvement Era, Jan. 1970, 3.

10. In Conference Report, Apr. 1918, 81.

11. “Walk in the Light,” Improvement Era, Apr. 1954, 221–22.

12. Treasures of Life, 210.

13. In Conference Report, Oct. 1965, 144.

14. In Conference Report, Oct. 1953, 10–11; paragraphing altered.

15. In Conference Report, Oct. 1942, 69–70.

16. In Conference Report, Apr. 1944, 124.

17. In Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 93.

18. In Conference Report, Apr. 1951, 98.

19. In Conference Report, Apr. 1953, 137–38.

20. In Conference Report, Apr. 1968, 9.

21. Gospel Ideals (1953), 36–37.

22. In Conference Report, Apr. 1944, 124.

23. In Conference Report, Oct. 1953, 9.^ Back to top

A Testimony of the Son of God:By President Gordon B. Hinckley

A little more than 2,000 years ago the Redeemer of mankind was born in Bethlehem of Judea (see D&C 20:1). While yet an infant, He was brought to the temple in Jerusalem. There Mary and Joseph heard the wonderful prophecies spoken by Simeon and Anna about the tiny babe who was destined to become the Savior of the world.
He spent His boyhood in Nazareth of Galilee, and when 12 years of age He was brought to the temple again. Mary and Joseph found Him conversing with learned men, “and they were hearing him, and asking him questions” (JST, Luke 2:46).

The Great Jehovah
Later, as the Master stood on the temple’s pinnacle, Satan tempted Him as He began His ministry. Still later, the Lord drove the money changers from the temple, declaring, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matt. 21:13).
Jesus was in very deed the great Jehovah of the Old Testament, who left His Father’s royal courts on high and condescended to come to earth as a babe born in the most humble of circumstances. His birth was foretold centuries earlier by Isaiah, who declared prophetically, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).
This Jesus Christ of whom we solemnly testify is, as John the Revelator declared, “the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.” He “loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever” (Rev. 1:5–6).

The Savior of the World
He was and is the Son of the Almighty. He was the only perfect man to walk the earth. He healed the sick and caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear. He raised the dead. Yet He suffered His own life to be taken in an act of Atonement, the magnitude of which is beyond our comprehension.
Luke records that this anguish was so great that “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44), a physical manifestation confirmed in both the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. The suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross of Calvary, just a few hundred meters from Gethsemane, included both physical and spiritual “temptations, … pain, … hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer,” said King Benjamin, “except it be unto death” (Mosiah 3:7).
After the agony of Gethsemane came His arrest, His trials, His condemnation, then the unspeakable pain of His death on the cross, followed by His burial in Joseph’s tomb and the triumphant coming forth in the Resurrection. He, the lowly babe of Bethlehem who two millennia ago walked the dusty roads of Palestine, became the Lord Omnipotent, the King of Kings, the Giver of Salvation to all. None can fully comprehend the splendor of His life, the majesty of His death, the universality of His gift to mankind. We unequivocally declare with the centurion who said at His death, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39).

Our Living Lord
Such is the witness of the testament of the Old World, the Holy Bible. And there is another voice, that of the testament of the New World, wherein the Father introduced His resurrected Son, declaring, “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name” (3 Ne. 11:7).
Added to all of this is the declaration of modern prophets: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!” (D&C 76:22).
No event of human history carries a more compelling witness than does the reality of the Resurrection. His followers on two continents testified of it. Uncounted millions of men and women through the ages have suffered, even unto death, for the witness in their hearts that He lives, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind, whose Atonement came as an act of grace for the entire world. How long and how great is the concourse of brave and humble people who have kept alive the name of Jesus and a testimony of His Redemption!
Now He has come again, in the latter days, to bless us and warm our hearts, to quicken our faith and bring us sure and certain knowledge of His living reality. We, of all people, can sing:
Joy to the world, the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King! Let ev’ry heart prepare him room, And Saints and angels sing. (“Joy to the World,” Hymns, no. 201)
We honor Him, we worship Him, we love Him as our Redeemer, the great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New Testament. The entire thrust of the testimony of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants declares our living Lord before whom we kneel in humility and faith.

The Son of God
And so at this Christmas season, we sing His praises and speak our words of faith and gratitude and love. It is His influence in our lives that stirs within us more kindness, more respect, more love, more concern. It is because of Him and His teachings that we reach out to those in trouble, distress, and need wherever they may be.
It is proper during this season when we commemorate His birth that we remember the Lord Jesus Christ in reverence and with love. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. He has brought meaning to our mortal existence. He has given us the gift of eternal life. He was and is the Son of God, who was “made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
God be thanked for the gift of His Son, the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind, the Prince of Life and Peace, the Holy One.

The Scriptures Tell Us Plainly That God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost Are Three Distinct Personages, With One Purpose

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/g/85

Gen. 1: 26
God said, Let us make man in our image.
Gen. 3: 22
man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.
Matt. 3: 17
(Matt. 17: 5; 3 Ne. 11: 7) This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Matt. 20: 23
not mine to give, but . . . of my Father.
Matt. 26: 39
not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Matt. 28: 19
(3 Ne. 11: 25) baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Luke 1: 32
called the Son of the Highest.
Luke 3: 22
Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove.
John 5: 19
Son can do nothing . . . but what he seeth the Father do.
John 8: 18
Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
John 10: 30
I and my Father are one.
John 10: 38
believe the works . . . that the Father is in me.
John 12: 28
a voice from heaven, saying, I have . . . glorified it.
John 14: 28
my Father is greater than I.
John 17: 3
that they might know thee the only true God.
John 17: 21
(D&C 35: 2) That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me.
John 20: 17
I ascend unto my Father, and your Father.
Acts 2: 33
being by the right hand of God exalted.
Acts 7: 55
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.
Acts 17: 29
not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold.
Rom. 1: 20
even his eternal power and Godhead.
1 Cor. 8: 6
to us there is but one God.
2 Cor. 4: 4
Christ, who is the image of God.
Eph. 3: 14
I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord.
Col. 1: 15
image of the invisible God, the firstborn.
Col. 2: 9
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Heb. 1: 2
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.
1 Jn. 5: 7
three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.
2 Ne. 31: 21
doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Mosiah 15: 4
(3 Ne. 11: 36; D&C 20: 28) they are one God.
Alma 11: 44
arraigned before the bar of Christ . . . and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit.
Morm. 7: 7
sing . . . unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost.
Ether 12: 41
grace of God the Father . . . Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.
D&C 76: 23
we saw him, even on the right hand of God.
D&C 130: 22
Father has a body of flesh and bones.
D&C 137: 3
whereon was seated the Father and the Son.
Abr. 4: 1
(Abr. 4: 27; Abr. 5: 4, 7) Let us go down. And they went down.
JS-H 1: 17
I saw two Personages.
A of F 1
We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son.
See also Gen. 11: 5-7; Ps. 110: 1; Dan. 4: 8; Dan. 5: 14; Matt. 12: 31-32; John 17: 11; Eph. 1: 2-3; Philip. 2: 5-6; Abr. 4: 1, 27; Abr. 5: 4; Abr. 5: 7.

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/g/85

Salvation for the Dead,Scriptural References of

See also Baptism; Baptism for the Dead; Genealogy and Temple Work; Salvation
Isa. 24: 22
in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
Isa. 42: 7
bring out the prisoners from the prison.
Isa. 49: 9
(1 Ne. 21: 9) say to the prisoners, Go forth.
Isa. 61: 1
(Luke 4: 18) proclaim liberty to the captives.
Obad. 1: 21
saviours shall come up on mount Zion.
Zech. 9: 11
sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit.
Mal. 4: 6
(Luke 1: 17; 3 Ne. 25: 6; D&C 2: 2; D&C 110: 15; JS-H 1: 39) turn . . . the heart of the children to their fathers.
Matt. 16: 19
(D&C 128: 8) bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
Luke 4: 18
preach deliverance to the captives.
John 5: 25
dead shall hear the voice of the Son.
Rom. 14: 9
Lord both of the dead and living.
1 Cor. 15: 19
if in this life only we have hope in Christ.
1 Cor. 15: 29
why are they then baptized for the dead.
Heb. 11: 40
(D&C 128: 15) that they without us should not be made perfect.
1 Pet. 3: 19
preached unto the spirits in prison.
1 Pet. 4: 6
gospel preached also to them that are dead.
D&C 2: 2
(JS-H 1: 39) plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers.
D&C 76: 73
spirits . . . in prison, whom the Son visited.
D&C 76: 74
received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh.
D&C 88: 99
redemption of those who . . . have received their part in that prison.
D&C 124: 29
baptized for those who are dead.
D&C 127: 5
in relation to the baptism for your dead.
D&C 128: 5
salvation of the dead who should die without a knowledge of the gospel.
D&C 128: 11
salvation . . . for the dead as for the living.
D&C 128: 24
book containing the records of our dead.
D&C 137: 7
died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it . . . shall be heirs.
D&C 138: 18
Son of God appeared declaring liberty to the captives.
D&C 138: 54
ordinances therein for the redemption of the dead.
Moses 7: 38
prison have I prepared for them.
Moses 7: 57
many of the spirits as were in prison came forth.

Jesus Christ,Types of, In Memory

See also Baptism; Sacrament; Symbolism
Matt. 26: 26
(Mark 14: 22) Jesus took bread . . . and said, Take, eat, this is my body.
Mark 16: 2
first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre.
Luke 22: 19
(1 Cor. 11: 24) this do in remembrance of me.
John 6: 51
bread that I will give is my flesh.
Acts 20: 7
first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread.
Rom. 6: 5
planted together in the likeness of his death.
Col. 2: 12
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen.
1 Pet. 2: 5
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God.
Rev. 1: 10
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.
3 Ne. 9: 20
(D&C 59: 8) sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
3 Ne. 11: 26
(D&C 20: 74) immerse them in the water, and come forth again.
3 Ne. 18: 3
he took of the bread and . . . blessed it.
3 Ne. 18: 8
take of the wine of the cup and drink.
D&C 20: 40
bread and wine-the emblems of the flesh and blood.
D&C 27: 2
remembering . . . my body . . . and my blood.
D&C 59: 12
(D&C 59: 9-17) on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer.
D&C 128: 13
baptismal font was . . . a similitude of the grave.

Jeus Christ, Taking the Name of

See also Blasphemy; Profanity; Swearing
Matt. 12: 21
in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
John 20: 31
believing ye might have life through his name.
Acts 4: 12
(2 Ne. 31: 21) none other name . . . whereby we must be saved.
Acts 5: 41
worthy to suffer shame for his name.
1 Cor. 6: 11
Justified in the name of the Lord.
1 Jn. 3: 23
commandment, That we should believe on the name.
2 Ne. 9: 24
if they will not repent and believe in his name.
2 Ne. 31: 13
take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism.
Mosiah 1: 11
I shall give this people a name.
Mosiah 5: 11
this is the name that I said I should give.
Mosiah 18: 10
baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness.
Mosiah 25: 23
desirous to take upon them the name of Christ.
Mosiah 26: 18
blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name.
Hel. 3: 28
heaven is open . . . to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ.
3 Ne. 27: 5
take upon you the name of Christ.
Ether 4: 19
blessed is he that is found faithful unto my name.
Moro. 4: 3
(D&C 20: 37) willing to take upon them the name of thy Son.
D&C 18: 21
Take upon you the name of Christ.
D&C 18: 24
all men must take upon them the name.
D&C 41: 1
(D&C 112: 26) hear me not will I curse, that have professed my name.
D&C 50: 4
abominations in the church that profess my name.
D&C 63: 61
men beware how they take my name in their lips.
D&C 109: 22
thy name may be upon them.
D&C 112: 12
faithful before me unto my name.
D&C 132: 64
I will magnify my name.
See also Acts 11: 26.

Baptism of Jesus Christ, Scriptual References of

Matt. 3: 13
(Mark 1: 9; Luke 3: 21; 1 Ne. 11: 27) cometh Jesus . . . unto John, to be baptized.
Mark 10: 38
can ye . . . be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.
John 1: 32
I saw the Spirit descending . . . it abode upon him.
1 Ne. 10: 9
in Bethabara . . . he should baptize with water.
2 Ne. 31: 5
if the Lamb of God . . . should have need to be baptized.

Personality of the Father and the Son

Man Created in the Image and Likeness of God

The simple story told by the Prophet Joseph Smith of his interview with the Father and the Son makes it easy to understand the teachings of the Bible relating to this important matter. It must be remembered, however, that this knowledge was not obtained by the Prophet through a study of the Bible. We take the Bible merely to prove that his story harmonizes fully with the teachings thereof, some of which we shall now consider.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26-27.)

Attempts have been made to explain that this creation was only in the spiritual image and likeness of God, but after reading Joseph Smith's simple story, one wonders how a historian could have made a more clear-cut, understandable statement of what actually happened in the creation of man, especially when one reads: "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth." (Genesis 5:3.)

Joseph Smith found that he was as literally in the image and likeness of God and Jesus Christ as Seth was in the likeness and image of his father Adam.


Moses' Testimony of the Personality of God

This also makes the experience of Moses and his associates and seventy of the elders of Israel seem so reasonable and easy to understand:

Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel.

And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. (Exodus 24:9-10.)

And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.

And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door.

And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. . . . (Exodus 33:9-11.)

Could any historian be expected to describe this event any more clearly than to say that the Lord and Moses talked with each other "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend"? Does anyone need to be told how a man speaks to his friend? The Father and the Son spoke with Joseph Smith "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." There is only one thing that made this possible, and that is the fact that God did create man in his own image and likeness. Could any other image or likeness have been half so wonderful?


Paul's Testimony of the Personality of God

Paul, the apostle, tried to make clear what kind of personage God was by telling us that his Son, Jesus Christ, was "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person," and that he "sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:3.) This, of course, could only have been possible when his Father did have a form on whose right hand he could sit.


Stephen's Testimony of the Personality of God

Paul's description of God gives real meaning to the words of Stephen, when he was being stoned to death by his enemies:

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55-56.)

Thus he saw two separate and distinct personages, one, the Son, standing on the right hand of the other, the Father.


John's Testimony of the Personality of God

This is in accord also with the report of John's baptism of Jesus:

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16-17.)

Here each of the three members of the Godhead is distinctly and separately mentioned: (1) Jesus, coming up out of the water; (2) the Holy Ghost, descending like a dove; (3) the voice of the Father from heaven, expressing his love and approval of his Beloved Son. How could one possibly believe these three to be one person without body or form?


The Resurrected Lord

Consideration should now be given to the resurrected Lord. Unless he now has his body of flesh and bone that was laid away in the tomb, he must have died a second time, for when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the sepulchre to see the body of Jesus, they found that an angel of the Lord had descended from heaven and was sitting on the stone that he had rolled back from the door:

His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: . . .

And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. (Matthew 28:3, 5-6.)

Following his resurrection, Jesus appeared to many. While the eleven apostles were gathered together at Jerusalem discussing what had happened,

Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (Luke 24:36-39.)

To further prove that he had his body, he took a piece of broiled fish and of honeycomb and did eat before them.

With his resurrected body he ascended to heaven in the presence of five hundred brethren: . . . he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once. . . ." (1 Corinthians 15:6.)

His apostles saw him ascend into heaven and the "two men [who] stood by them in white apparel" affirmed the fact:

And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:10-11.)

If Jesus is one in spirit with his Father, without body or form, so large that he fills the universe and so small that he dwells in each heart, as so many believe and as the churches teach, then what meaning has the resurrection which is commemorated each Easter in the Christian churches, and what did he do with his body after he showed it to his apostles and others?


Joseph Smith's Testimony of the Personality of Jesus

Joseph Smith again beheld the same Jesus who had been seen ascending into heaven after his resurrection. This is the testimony given of Jesus by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, following a vision they received at Hiram, Ohio, on February 16, 1832:

And while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone round about.

And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and received of his fulness:

And saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever.

And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. (Doctrine and Covenants [D&C] 76:19-24.)

Note how this parallels Joseph Smith's first vision and the testimony of the Father at Jesus' baptism. The Father spoke of his Son—two separate and distinct persons. The Father must have had a voice or he could not have spoken.

This testimony shall now stand as a witness unto all to whom it shall come, until he shall again return to reign as "Lord of lords and King of kings." (See Revelation 17:14.)

An understanding of the reality of his existence and personality gives real meaning to the promise found in Christ's Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8.)


Scriptures Often Misunderstood Concerning God's Personality

There are a few statements in the Bible that have been misunderstood and have led to a misconception of the personality and form of God and of his Son, Jesus Christ. Brief consideration might be given to some of them:

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18.)

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:12.)

In the Inspired Version of the Bible, as rendered by the Prophet Joseph Smith, we read the following:

And no man hath seen God at any time, except he hath borne record of the Son; for except it is through him no man can be saved. (John 1:19.)

He also gives us the rendition of 1 John 4:12 as follows:

No man hath seen God at any time, except them who believe. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

The Prophet Joseph Smith's understanding of the true meaning of these scriptures was made plain in a revelation received by him from the Lord at Hiram, Ohio, in November 1831: "For no man has seen God at any time in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God." (D&C 67:11.)

This doctrine was further clarified in the visions of Moses as revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith:

But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him. (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:11.)

It is thus plain that man can only see God when "quickened by the Spirit of God." This is apparently what John had in mind in the following statement:

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. (John 6:45-46.)

Paul spoke of God as an "invisible God":

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. (Colossians 1:14-15.)

Further study of Paul's teachings indicates that he had the same understanding as John; that while God is invisible to men generally, he is not invisible to the prophets, for he indicated that Moses saw the invisible God: "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:27.)

John also referred to God as a spirit, which is confusing to some: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24.)

This should not be confusing, since we are all spirits, clothed with bodies of flesh and bones. John says we are to "worship him in spirit and in truth." He would not, however, imply that our spirits should leave our bodies so that we can worship him "in spirit."

Paul declared: "But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (1 Corinthians 6:17.) We are spirits in the same sense that John had in mind when he said "God is a Spirit."

The Oneness of the Father and the Son

There has been much misunderstanding regarding the oft-repeated statement that Jesus and his Father are one. A careful reading of the seventeenth chapter of John should clarify this matter fully. As Jesus was about to be offered up, he prayed unto his Father and thanked him for his apostles, saying, "that they may be one, as we are." (John 17:11.) Then he added:

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:20-21.)

Now it is very apparent that Jesus was not speaking of oneness of personage, but oneness of purpose, for he further prayed that they might be with him, which would be unnecessary if the oneness referred to was of personage instead of purpose.

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24.)

Again it is evident that the oneness referred to has no reference to oneness of personage, for if Jesus and his Father were one in person, how absurd to think that Jesus would pray unto himself, or that he would love himself before the foundation of the world. He said: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3.)

This true knowledge of God and of his Son, Jesus Christ, has come again to the world in this dispensation, not through a study of the Bible, but through the actual appearance of these heavenly personages to the young Joseph Smith, as he has so eloquently testified.


(Legrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1950], 22.)

Jesus the Christ: Early Incidents in our Lord's Public Ministry

EARLY INCIDENTS IN OUR LORD'S PUBLIC MINISTRY

FIRST CLEARING OF THE TEMPLE

Soon after the marriage festivities in Cana, Jesus, accompanied by His disciples, as also by His mother and other members of the family, went to Capernaum, a town pleasantly situated near the northerly end of the Sea of Galilee or Lake of Gennesaret fn and the scene of many of our Lord's miraculous works; indeed it came to be known as His own city. fn Because of the unbelief of its people it became a subject of lamentation to Jesus when in sorrow He prefigured the judgment that would befall the place. fn The exact site of the city is at present unknown. On this occasion Jesus tarried but a few days at Capernaum; for the time of the annual Passover was near, and in compliance with Jewish law and custom He went up to Jerusalem.

The synoptic Gospels, fn which are primarily devoted to the labors of Christ in Galilee, contain no mention of His attendance at the paschal festival between His twelfth year and the time of His death; to John alone are we indebted for the record of this visit at the beginning of Christ's public ministry. It is not improbable that Jesus had been present at other Passovers during the eighteen years over which the evangelists pass in complete and reverent silence; but at any or all such earlier visits, He, not being thirty years old, could not have assumed the right or privilege of a teacher without contravening established customs. fn It is worth our attention to note that on this, the first recorded appearance of Jesus in the temple subsequent to His visit as a Boy, He should resume His "Father's business" where He had before been engaged. It was in His Father's service that He had been found in discussion with the doctors of the law, fn and in His Father's cause He was impelled to action on this later occasion.

The multitudinous and mixed attendance at the Passover celebration has already received passing mention; fn some of the unseemly customs that prevailed are to be held in mind. The law of Moses had been supplemented by a cumulative array of rules, and the rigidly enforced requirements as to sacrifices and tribute had given rise to a system of sale and barter within the sacred precincts of the House of the Lord. In the outer courts were stalls of oxen, pens of sheep, cages of doves and pigeons; and the ceremonial fitness of these sacrificial victims was cried aloud by the sellers, and charged for in full measure. It was the custom also to pay the yearly poll tribute of the sanctuary at this season—the ransom offering required of every male in Israel, and amounting to half a shekel fn for each, irrespective of his relative poverty or wealth. This was to be paid "after the shekel of the sanctuary," which limitation, as rabbis had ruled, meant payment in temple coin. Ordinary money, varieties of which bore effigies and inscriptions of heathen import, was not acceptable, and as a result, moneychangers plied a thriving trade on the temple grounds.

Righteously indignant at what He beheld, zealous for the sanctity of His Father's House, Jesus essayed to clear the place; fn and, pausing not for argument in words, He promptly applied physical force almost approaching violence—the one form of figurative language that those corrupt barterers for pelf could best understand. Hastily improvising a whip of small cords, He laid about Him on every side, liberating and driving out sheep, oxen, and human traffickers, upsetting the tables of the exchangers and pouring out their heterogeneous accumulations of coin. With tender regard for the imprisoned and helpless birds He refrained from assaulting their cages; but to their owners He said: "Take these things hence"; and to all the greedy traders He thundered forth a command that made them quail: "Make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." His disciples saw in the incident a realization of the psalmist's line: "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." fn

The Jews, by which term we mean the priestly officials and rulers of the people, dared not protest this vigorous action on the ground of unrighteousness; they, learned in the law, stood self-convicted of corruption, avarice, and of personal responsibility for the temple's defilement. That the sacred premises were in sore need of a cleansing they all knew; the one point upon which they dared to question the Cleanser was as to why He should thus take to Himself the doing of what was their duty. They practically submitted to His sweeping intervention, as that of one whose possible investiture of authority they might be yet compelled to acknowledge. Their tentative submission was based on fear, and that in turn upon their sin-convicted consciences. Christ prevailed over those haggling Jews by virtue of the eternal principle that right is mightier than wrong, and of the psychological fact that consciousness of guilt robs the culprit of valor when the imminence of just retribution is apparent to his soul. fn Yet, fearful lest He should prove to be a prophet with power, such as no living priest or rabbi even professed to be, they timidly asked for credentials of His authority—"What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?" Curtly, and with scant respect for this demand, so common to wicked and adulterous men fn Jesus replied: "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." fn

Blinded by their own craft, unwilling to acknowledge the Lord's authority, yet fearful of the possibility that they were opposing one who had the right to act, the perturbed officials found in the words of Jesus reference to the imposing temple of masonry within whose walls they stood. They took courage; this strange Galilean, who openly flouted their authority, spoke irreverently of their temple, the visible expression of the profession they so proudly flaunted in words—that they were children of the covenant, worshipers of the true and living God, and hence superior to all heathen and pagan peoples. With seeming indignation they rejoined: "Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?" fn Though frustrated in their desire to arouse popular indignation against Jesus at this time, the Jews refused to forget or forgive His words. When afterward He stood an undefended prisoner, undergoing an illegal pretense of trial before a sin-impeached court, the blackest perjury uttered against Him was that of the false witnesses who testified: "We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands." fn And while He hung in mortal suffering, the scoffers who passed by the cross wagged their heads and taunted the dying Christ with "Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the cross." fn Yet His words to the Jews who had demanded the credentials of a sign had no reference to the colossal Temple of Herod, but to the sanctuary of His own body, in which, more literally than in the man-built Holy of Holies, dwelt the ever living Spirit of the Eternal God. "The Father is in me" was His doctrine. fn

"He spake of the temple of His body," the real tabernacle of the Most High. fn This reference to the destruction of the temple of His body, and the renewal thereof after three days, is His first recorded prediction relating to His appointed death and resurrection. Even the disciples did not comprehend the profound meaning of His words until after His resurrection from the dead; then they remembered and understood. The priestly Jews were not as dense as they appeared to be, for we find them coming to Pilate while the body of the crucified Christ lay in the tomb, saying: "Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again." fn Though we have many records of Christ having said that He would die and on the third day would rise again, the plainest of such declarations were made to the apostles rather than openly to the public. The Jews who waited upon Pilate almost certainly had in mind the utterance of Jesus when they had stood, nonplussed before Him, at the clearing of the temple courts. fn

Such an accomplishment as that of defying priestly usage and clearing the temple purlieus by force could not fail to impress, with varied effect, the people in attendance at the feast; and they, returning to their homes in distant and widely separated provinces, would spread the fame of the courageous Galilean Prophet. Many in Jerusalem believed on Him at the time, mainly because they were attracted by the miracles He wrought; but He refused to "commit himself unto them," realizing the insecure foundation of their professions. Popular adulation was foreign to His purpose; He wanted no motley following, but would gather around Him such as received the testimony of His Messiahship from the Father. "He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." fn

The incident of Christ's forcible clearing of the temple is a contradiction of the traditional conception of Him as of One so gentle and unassertive in demeanor as to appear unmanly. Gentle He was, and patient under affliction, merciful and long-suffering in dealing with contrite sinners, yet stern and inflexible in the presence of hypocrisy, and unsparing in His denunciation of persistent evil-doers. His mood was adapted to the conditions to which He addressed Himself; tender words of encouragement or burning expletives of righteous indignation issued with equal fluency from His lips. His nature was no poetic conception of cherubic sweetness ever present, but that of a Man, with the emotions and passions essential to manhood and manliness. He, who often wept with compassion, at other times evinced in word and action the righteous anger of a God. But of all His passions, however gently they rippled or strongly surged, He was ever master. Contrast the gentle Jesus moved to hospitable service by the needs of a festal party in Cana, with the indignant Christ plying His whip, and amidst commotion and turmoil of His own making, driving cattle and men before Him as an unclean herd.

JESUS AND NICODEMUS fn

That the wonderful deeds wrought by Christ at and about the time of this memorable Passover had led some of the learned, in addition to many of the common people, to believe in Him, is evidenced by the fact that Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee in profession and who occupied a high place as one of the rulers of the Jews, came to Him on an errand of inquiry. There is significance in the circumstance that this visit was made at night. Apparently the man was impelled by a genuine desire to learn more of the Galilean, whose works could not be ignored; though pride of office and fear of possible suspicion that he had become attached to the new Prophet led him to veil his undertaking with privacy. fn Addressing Jesus by the title he himself bore, and which he regarded as one of honor and respect, he said: "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." fn Whether his use of the plural pronoun "we" indicates that he was sent by the Sanhedrin, or by the society of Pharisees—the members of which were accustomed to so speak, as representatives of the order—or was employed in the rhetorical sense as indicating himself alone, is of little importance. He acknowledged Jesus as a "teacher come from God," and gave reasons for so regarding Him. Whatever of feeble faith might have been stirring in the heart of the man, such was founded on the evidence of miracles, supported mainly by the psychological effect of signs and wonders. We must accord him credit for sincerity and honesty of purpose.

Without waiting for specific questions, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus appears to have been puzzled; he asked how such a rejuvenation was possible. "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" We do Nicodemus no injustice in assuming that he as a rabbi, a man learned in the scriptures, ought to have known that there was other meaning in the words of Jesus than that of a mortal, literal birth. Moreover, were it possible that a man could be born a second time literally and in the flesh, how could such a birth profit him in spiritual growth? It would be but a reentrance on the stage of physical existence, not an advancement. The man knew that the figure of a new birth was common in the teachings of his day. Every proselyte to Judaism was spoken of at the time of his conversion as one new-born.

The surprise manifested by Nicodemus was probably due, in part at least, to the universality of the requirement as announced by Christ. Were the children of Abraham included? The traditionalism of centuries was opposed to any such view. Pagans had to be born again through a formal acceptance of Judaism, if they would become even small sharers of the blessings that belonged as a heritage to the house of Israel; but Jesus seemed to treat all alike, Jews and Gentiles, heathen idolaters and the people who with their lips at least called Jehovah, God.

Jesus repeated the declaration, and with precision, emphasizing by the impressive "Verily, verily," the greatest lesson that had ever saluted the ears of this ruler in Israel: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." That the new birth thus declared to be absolutely essential as a condition of entrance into the kingdom of God, applicable to every man, without limitation or qualification, was a spiritual regeneration, was next explained to the wondering rabbi: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." Still the learned Jew pondered yet failed to comprehend. Possibly the sound of the night breeze was heard at that moment; if so, Jesus was but utilizing the incident as a skillful teacher would do to impress a lesson when He continued: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Plainly stated, Nicodemus was given to understand that his worldly learning and official status availed him nothing in any effort to understand the things of God; through the physical sense of hearing he knew that the wind blew; by sight he could be informed of its passage; yet what did he know of the ultimate cause of even this simple phenomenon? If Nicodemus would really be instructed in spiritual matters, he had to divest himself of the bias due to his professed knowledge of lesser things.

Rabbi and eminent Sanhedrist though he was, there at the humble lodging of the Teacher from Galilee, he was in the presence of a Master. In the bewilderment of ignorance he asked, "How can these things be?" The reply must have been humbling if not humiliating to the man: "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" Plainly a knowledge of some of the fundamental principles of the gospel had been before accessible; Nicodemus was held in reproach for his lack of knowledge, particularly as he was a teacher of the people. Then our Lord graciously expounded at greater length, testifying that He spoke from sure knowledge, based upon what He had seen, while Nicodemus and his fellows were unwilling to accept the witness of His words. Furthermore, Jesus averred His mission to be that of the Messiah, and specifically foretold His death and the manner thereof—that He, the Son of Man, must be lifted up, even as Moses had lifted the serpent in the wilderness as a prototype, whereby Israel might escape the fatal plague. fn

The purpose of the foreappointed death of the Son of Man was: "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life"; for to this end, and out of His boundless love to man had the Father devoted His Only Begotten Son. And further, while it was true that in His mortal advent the Son had not come to sit as a judge, but to teach, persuade and save, nevertheless condemnation would surely follow rejection of that Savior, for light had come, and wicked men avoided the light, hating it in their preference for the darkness in which they hoped to hide their evil deeds. Here again, perhaps, Nicodemus experienced a twinge of conscience, for had not he been afraid to come in the light, and had he not chosen the dark hours for his visit? Our Lord's concluding words combined both instruction and reproof: "But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

The narrative of this interview between Nicodemus and the Christ constitutes one of our most instructive and precious scriptures relating to the absolute necessity of unreserved compliance with the laws and ordinances of the gospel, as the means indispensable to salvation. Faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, through whom alone men may gain eternal life; the forsaking of sin by resolute turning away from the gross darkness of evil to the saving light of righteousness; the unqualified requirement of a new birth through baptism in water, and this of necessity by the mode of immersion, since otherwise the figure of a birth would be meaningless; and the completion of the new birth through baptism by the Spirit—all these principles are taught herein in such simplicity and plainness as to make plausible no man's excuse for ignorance.

If Jesus and Nicodemus were the only persons present at the interview, John, the writer, must have been informed thereof by one of the two. As John was one of the early disciples, afterward one of the apostles, and as he was distinguished in the apostolic company by his close personal companionship with the Lord, it is highly probable that he heard the account from the lips of Jesus. It was evidently John's purpose to record the great lesson of the occasion rather than to tell the circumstantial story. The record begins and ends with equal abruptness; unimportant incidents are omitted; every line is of significance; the writer fully realized the deep import of his subject and treated it accordingly. Later mention of Nicodemus tends to confirm the estimate of the man as he appears in this meeting with Jesus—that of one who was conscious of a belief in the Christ, but whose belief was never developed into such genuine and virile faith as would impel to acceptance and compliance irrespective of cost or consequence. fn

FROM CITY TO COUNTRY

Leaving Jerusalem, Jesus and His disciples went into the rural parts of Judea, and there tarried, doubtless preaching as opportunity was found or made; and those who believed on Him were baptized. fn The prominent note of His early public utterances was that of His forerunner in the wilderness: "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." fn The Baptist continued his labors; though doubtless, since his recognition of the Greater One for whose coming he had been sent to prepare, he considered the baptism he administered as of somewhat different significance. He had at first baptized in preparation for One who was to come; now he baptized repentant believers unto Him who had come.

Disputation had arisen between some of John's zealous adherents and one or more Jews fn concerning the doctrine of purifying. The context fn leaves little room for doubt that a question was involved as to the relative merits of John's baptism and that administered by the disciples of Jesus. With excusable ardor and well-intended zeal for their master, the disciples of John, who had been embroiled in the dispute, came to him saying: "Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him." John's supporters were concerned at the success of One whom they regarded in some measure as a rival to their beloved teacher. Had not John given to Jesus His first attestation? "He to whom thou bearest witness" said they, not deigning even to designate Jesus by name. Following the example of Andrew, and of John the future apostle, the people were leaving the Baptist and gathering about the Christ. John's reply to his ardent followers constitutes a sublime instance of self-abnegation. His answer was to this effect: A man receives only as God gives unto him. It is not given to me to do the work of Christ. Ye yourselves are witnesses that I disclaimed being the Christ, and that I said I was one sent before Him. He is as the Bridegroom; I am only as the friend of the bridegroom, fn His servant; and I rejoice greatly in being thus near Him; His voice gives me happiness; and thus my joy is fulfilled. He of whom you speak stands at the beginning of His ministry; I near the end of mine. He must increase but I must decrease. He came from heaven and therefore is superior to all things of earth; nevertheless men refuse to receive His testimony. To such a One, the Spirit of God is not apportioned; it is His in full measure. The Father loveth Him, the Son, and hath given all things into His hand, and: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." fn

In such a reply, under the existent conditions, is to be found the spirit of true greatness, and of a humility that could rest only on a conviction of divine assurance to the Baptist as to himself and the Christ. In more than one sense was John great among all who are born of women. fn He had entered upon his work when sent of God so to do; fn he realized that his work had been in a measure superseded, and he patiently awaited his release, in the meantime continuing in the ministry, directing souls to his Master. The beginning of the end was near. He was soon seized and thrown into a dungeon; where, as shall be shown, he was beheaded to sate the vengeance of a corrupt woman whose sins he had boldly denounced. fn

The Pharisees observed with increasing apprehension the growing popularity of Jesus, evidenced by the fact that even more followed after Him and accepted baptism at the hands of His disciples than had responded to the Baptist's call. Open opposition was threatened; and as Jesus desired to avert the hindrance to His work which such persecution at that time would entail, He withdrew from Judea and retired to Galilee, journeying by way of Samaria. This return to the northern province was effected after the Baptist had been cast into prison. fn

NOTES TO CHAPTER 12

1. Sea of Galilee.—This, the largest body of fresh water in Palestine, is somewhat pear-shape in outline and measures approximately thirteen miles in extreme length on a northerly-southerly line and between six and seven miles in greatest width. The river Jordan enters it at the northeast extremity and flows out at the south-west; the lake may be regarded, therefore, as a great expansion of the river, though the water-filled depression is about two hundred feet in depth. The outflowing Jordan connects the sea of Galilee with the Dead Sea, the latter a body of intensely saline water, which in its abundance of dissolved salts and in the consequent density of its brine is comparable to the Great Salt Lake in Utah, though the chemical composition of the waters is materially different. The sea of Galilee is referred to by Luke, in accordance with its more appropriate classification, as a lake (Luke 5:1, 2; 8:22, 23, 33). Adjoining the lake on the northwest is a plain, which in earlier times was highly cultivated: this was known as the land of Gennesaret (Matt. 14:34; Mark 6:53); and the water body came to be known as the sea or lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1). From the prominence of one of the cities on its western shore, it was known also as the sea of Tiberias (John 6:1, 23; 21:1). In the Old Testament it is called the sea of Chinnereth (Num. 34:11) or Chinneroth (Josh. 12:3) after the name of a contiguous city (Josh. 19:35). The surface of the lake or sea is several hundred feet below normal sea-level, 681 feet lower than the Mediterranean according to Zenos, or 700 feet as stated by some others. This lowlying position gives to the region a semi-tropical climate. Zenos, in the Standard Bible Dictionary, says: "The waters of the lake are noted for abundant fish. The industry of fishing was accordingly one of the most stable resources of the country round about. . . . Another feature of the sea of Galilee is its susceptibility to sudden storms. These are occasioned partly by its lying so much lower than the surrounding tableland (a fact that creates a difference of temperature and consequent disturbances in the atmosphere), and partly by the rushing of gusts of wind down the Jordan valley from the heights of Hermon. The event recorded in Matt. 8:24 is no extraordinary case. Those who ply boats on the lake are obliged to exercise great care to avoid peril from such storms. The shores of the sea of Galilee as well as the lake itself were the scenes of many of the most remarkable events recorded in the Gospels."

2. The Four Gospels.—All careful students of the New Testament must have observed that the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, treat the events of the Savior's sayings and doings in Galilee with greater fulness than they accord to His work in Judea; the book or Gospel of John, on the other hand, treats particularly the incidents of our Lord's Judean ministry, without excluding, however, important events that occurred in Galilee. In style of writing and method of treatment, the authors of the first three Gospels (evangelists as they and John are collectively styled in theologic literature) differ more markedly from the author of the fourth Gospel than among themselves. The events recorded by the first three can be more readily classified, collated, or arranged, and in consequence the Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke are now commonly known as the Synoptics, or Synoptic Gospels.

3. Thirty Years of Age.—According to Luke (3:23) Jesus was about thirty years of age at the time of His baptism, and we find that soon thereafter, He entered publicly upon the work of His ministry. The law provided that at the age of thirty years the Levites were required to enter upon their special service (Num. 4:3). Clarke, Bible Commentary, treating the passage in Luke 3:23 says: "This was the age required by the law to which the priests must arrive before they could be installed in their office." Jesus may possibly have had regard for what had become a custom of the time, in waiting until He had attained that age before entering publicly on the labors of a Teacher among the people. Not being of Levitical descent He was not eligible to priestly ordination in the Aaronic order, and therefore, certainly did not wait for such before beginning His ministry. To have taught in public at an earlier age would have been to arouse criticism, and objection, which might have resulted in serious handicap or hindrance at the outset.

4. Throngs and Confusion at the Passover Festival.—While it is admittedly impossible that even a reasonably large fraction of the Jewish people could be present at the annual Passover gatherings at Jerusalem, and in consequence provision was made for local observance of the feast, the usual attendance at the temple celebration in the days of Jesus was undoubtedly enormous. Josephus calls the Passover throngs "an innumerable multitude" (Wars, ii, 1:3), and in another place (Wars, vi, 9:3) states that the attendance reached the enormous aggregate of three millions of souls; such is the record, though many modern writers treat the statement as an exaggeration. Josephus says that for the purpose of giving the emperor Nero information as to the numerical strength of the Jewish people, particularly in Palestine, the chief priests were asked by Cestius to count the number of lambs slain at the feast, and the number reported was 256,500 which on the basis of between ten and eleven persons to each paschal table would indicate the presence, he says, of at least 2,700,200 not including visitors other than Jews, and such of the people of Israel as were debarred from participation in the paschal meal because of ceremonial unfitness.

The scenes of confusion, inevitable under the conditions then prevailing, are admirably summarized by Geikie (Life and Words of Christ, chap. 30), who cites many earlier authorities for his statements: "The streets were blocked by the crowds from all parts, who had to make their way to the Temple, past flocks of sheep, and droves of cattle, pressing on in the sunken middle part of each street reserved for them, to prevent contact and defilement. Sellers of all possible wares beset the pilgrims, for the great feasts were, as has been said, the harvest time of all trades at Jerusalem, just as, at Mecca, even at this day, the time of the great concourse of worshippers at the tomb of the Prophet, is that of the busiest trade among the merchant pilgrims, who form the caravans from all parts of the Mohammedan world.

"Inside the Temple space, the noise and pressure were, if possible, worse. Directions were posted up to keep to the right or the left, as in the densest thoroughfares of London. The outer court, which others than Jews might enter, and which was, therefore, known as the Court of the Heathen, was in part, covered with pens for sheep, goats, and cattle, for the feast and the thank offerings. Sellers shouted the merits of their beasts, sheep bleated, and oxen lowed. It was, in fact, the great yearly fair of Jerusalem, and the crowds added to the din and tumult, till the services in the neighboring courts were sadly disturbed. Sellers of doves, for poor women coming for purification from all parts of the country, and for others, had a space set apart for them. Indeed, the sale of doves was, in great measure, secretly, in the hands of the priests themselves: Hannas, the high priest, especially, gaining great profits from his dove cotes on Mount Olivet. The rents of the sheep and cattle pens, and the profits on the doves, had led the priests to sanction the incongruity of thus turning the Temple itself into a noisy market. Nor was this all. Potters pressed on the pilgrims their clay dishes and ovens for the Passover lamb; hundreds of traders recommended their wares aloud; shops for wine, oil, salt, and all else needed for sacrifices, invited customers; and, in addition, persons going across the city, with all kinds of burdens, shortened their journey by crossing the Temple grounds. The provision for paying the tribute, levied on all, for the support of the Temple, added to the distraction. On both sides of the east Temple gate, stalls had for generations been permitted for changing foreign money. From the fifteenth of the preceding month money-changers had been allowed to set up their tables in the city, and from the twenty-first,—or twenty days before the Passover,—to ply their trade in the Temple itself. Purchasers of materials for offerings paid the amount at special stalls, to an officer of the Temple, and received a leaden cheque for which they got what they had bought, from the seller. Large sums, moreover, were changed, to be cast, as free offerings, into one of the thirteen chests which formed the Temple treasury. Every Jew, no matter how poor, was, in addition, required to pay yearly a half-shekel—about eighteen pence—as atonement money for his soul, and for the support of the Temple. As this would not be received except in a native coin, called the Temple shekel, which was not generally current, strangers had to change their Roman, Greek, or Eastern money, at the stalls of the money-changers, to get the coin required. The trade gave ready means for fraud, which was only too common. Five per cent exchange was charged, but this was indefinitely increased by tricks and chicanery, for which the class had everywhere earned so bad a name, that like the publicans, their witness would not be taken before a court."

Touching the matter of the defilement to which the temple courts had been subjected by traffickers acting under priestly license, Farrar (Life of Christ, p. 152) gives us the following: "And this was the entrance-court to the Temple of the Most High! The court which was a witness that that house should be a House of Prayer for all nations had been degraded into a place which, for foulness, was more like shambles, and for bustling commerce more like a densely crowded bazaar; while the lowing of oxen, the bleating of sheep, the Babel of many languages, the huckstering and wrangling, and the clinking of money and of balances (perhaps not always just), might be heard in the adjoining courts, disturbing the chant of the Levites and the prayers of priests!"

5. The Servility of the Jews in the Presence of Jesus.—The record of the achievement of Jesus, in ridding the temple courts of those who had made the House of the Lord a market place, contains nothing to suggest the inference that He exercised superhuman strength or more than manly vigor. He employed a whip of His own making, and drove all before Him. They fled helter-skelter. None are said to have voiced an objection until the expulsion had been made complete. Why did not some among the multitude object? The submission appears to have been abject and servile in the extreme. Farrar, (Life of Christ, pp. 151, 152) raises the question and answers it with excellent reasoning and in eloquent lines: "Why did not this multitude of ignorant pilgrims resist? Why did these greedy chafferers content themselves with dark scowls and muttered maledictions, while they suffered their oxen and sheep to be chased into the streets and themselves ejected, and their money flung rolling on the floor, by one who was then young and unknown, and in the garb of despised Galilee? Why, in the same way we might ask, did Saul suffer Samuel to beard him in the very presence of his army? Why did David abjectly obey the orders of Joab? Why did Ahab not dare to arrest Elijah at the door of Naboth's vineyard? Because sin is weakness; because there is in the world nothing so abject as a guilty conscience, nothing so invincible as the sweeping tide of a Godlike indignation against all that is base and wrong. How could these paltry sacrilegious buyers and sellers, conscious of wrongdoing, oppose that scathing rebuke, or face the lightnings of those eyes that were enkindled by an outraged holiness? When Phinehas the priest was zealous for the Lord of Hosts, and drove through the bodies of the prince of Simeon and the Midianitish woman with one glorious thrust of his indignant spear, why did not guilty Israel avenge that splendid murder? Why did not every man of the tribe of Simeon become a Goel to the dauntless assassin? Because Vice cannot stand for one moment before Virtue's uplifted arm. Base and grovelling as they were, these money-mongering Jews felt, in all that remnant of their souls which was not yet eaten away by infidelity and avarice, that the Son of Man was right.

"Nay, even the Priests and Pharisees, and Scribes and Levites, devoured as they were by pride and formalism, could not condemn an act which might have been performed by a Nehemiah or a Judas Maccabaeus, and which agreed with all that was purest and best in their traditions. But when they had heard of this deed, or witnessed it, and had time to recover from the breathless mixture of admiration, disgust, and astonishment which it inspired, they came to Jesus, and though they did not dare to condemn what He had done, yet half indignantly asked Him for some sign that He had a right to act thus."

6. Jewish Regard for the Temple.—The Jews professed high regard for the temple. "An utterance of the Savior, construed by the dark-minded as an aspersion upon the temple, was used against Him as one of the chief accusations on which His death was demanded. When the Jews clamored for a sign of His authority He predicted His own death and subsequent resurrection, saying, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' (John 2:19-22; see also Matt. 26:61; 27:40; Mark 14:58; 15:29). They blindly regarded this remark as a disrespectful allusion to their temple, a structure built by human hands, and they refused to forget or forgive. That this veneration continued after the crucifixion of our Lord is evident from accusations brought against Stephen, and still later against Paul. In their murderous rage the people accused Stephen of disrespect for the temple, and brought false witnesses who uttered perjured testimony saying, 'This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place.' (Acts 6:13.) And Stephen was numbered with the martyrs. When it was claimed that Paul had brought with him into the temple precincts, a Gentile, the whole city was aroused, and the infuriated mob dragged Paul from the place and sought to kill him. (Acts 21:26-31.)"—The House of the Lord, pp. 60, 61.

7. Some of the "Chief Rulers" Believed.—Nicodemus was not the only one among the ruling classes who believed in Jesus; but of most of these we learn nothing to indicate that they had sufficient courage to come even by night to make independent and personal inquiry. They feared the result in loss of popularity and standing. We read in John 12:42, 43: "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." Note also the instance of the scribe who proffered to become a professed disciple, but, probably because of some degree of insincerity or unfitness, was rather discouraged than approved by Jesus. (Matt. 8:19, 20.)

8. Nicodemus.—The course followed by this man evidences at once that he really believed in Jesus as one sent of God, and that his belief failed of development into a condition of true faith, which, had it but been realized, might have led to a life of devoted service in the Master's cause. When at a later stage than that of his interview with Christ the chief priests and Pharisees upbraided the officers whom they had sent to take Jesus into custody and who returned to report their failure, Nicodemus, one of the council, ventured to mildly expostulate against the murderous determination of the rulers, by stating a general proposition in interrogative form: "Doth our law judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth?" He was answered by his colleagues with contempt, and appears to have abandoned his well-intended effort (John 7:50-53; read preceding verses 30-49). We next hear of him bringing a costly contribution of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred-weight, to be used in the burial of Christ's then crucified body; but even in this deed of liberality and devotion, in which his sincerity of purpose cannot well be questioned, he had been preceded by Joseph of Arimathea, a man of rank, who had boldly asked for and secured the body for reverent burial (John 19:38-42). Nevertheless Nicodemus did more than did most of his believing associates among the noble and great ones; and to him let all due credit be given; he will not fail of his reward.

9. "The Jews" or "A Jew."—We read that "there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying" (John 3:25). Bearing in mind that the expression "the Jews" is very commonly used by the author of the fourth Gospel to designate the officials or rulers among the people, the passage quoted may be understood to mean that the Baptist's disciples were engaged in disputation with the priestly rulers. It is held, however, by Biblical scholars generally, that "the Jew" in this passage is a mistranslation, and that the true rendering is "a Jew." The disputation concerning purifying appears to have arisen between some of the Baptist's followers and a single opponent; and the passage as it appears in the King James version of the Bible is an instance of scripture not translated correctly.

10. Friend of the Bridegroom.—Judean marriage customs in the days of Christ required the appointing of a chief groomsman, who attended to all the preliminaries and made arrangements for the marriage feast, in behalf of the bridegroom. He was distinctively known as the friend of the bridegroom. When the ceremonial requirements had been complied with, and the bride had been legally and formally given unto her spouse, the joy of the bridegroom's friend was fulfilled inasmuch as his appointed duties had been successfully discharged. (John 3:29.) According to Edersheim (Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, vol. 1, p. 148), by the simpler customs prevalent in Galilee a "friend of the bridegroom" was not often chosen; and (pp. 663-64) the expression "children of the bridechamber" (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19; Luke 5:34, in all of which citations the expression is used by Jesus), was applied collectively to all the invited guests at a wedding festival. He says: "As the institution of 'friends of the bridegroom' prevailed in Judea, but not in Galilee, this marked distinction of the 'friend of the bridegroom' in the mouth of the Judean John, and 'sons (children) of the bridechamber' in that of the Galilean Jesus, is itself evidential of historic accuracy."

11. The Atonement Money.—In the course of the exodus, the Lord required of every male in Israel who was twenty years old or older at the time of a census the payment of a ransom, amounting to half a shekel (Ex. 30:12-16). See pages 355 and 367 herein. As to the use to which this money was to be put, the Lord thus directed Moses: "And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls" (Ex. 30:16; see also 38:25-31). In time, the tax of half a shekel, equivalent to a bekah (Ex. 38:26), was collected annually, though for this exaction no scriptural authority is of record. This tax must not be confused with the redemption money, amounting to five shekels for every firstborn male, the payment of which exempted the individual from service in the labors of the sanctuary. In place of the firstborn sons in all the tribes, the Lord designated the Levites for this special ministry; nevertheless He continued to hold the firstborn males as peculiarly His own, and required the payment of a ransom as a mark of their redemption from the duties of exclusive service. See Ex. 13:2, 13-15; Num. 3:13, 40-51; 8:15-18; 18:15, 16.

Footnotes

1. Note 1. Sea of Galilee.-This, the largest body of fresh water in Palestine, is somewhat pear-shape in outline and measures approximately thirteen miles in extreme length on a northerly-southerly line and between six and seven miles in greatest width. The river Jordan enters it at the northeast extremity and flows out at the south-west; the lake may be regarded, therefore, as a great expansion of the river, though the water-filled depression is about two hundred feet in depth. The outflowing Jordan connects the sea of Galilee with the Dead Sea, the latter a body of intensely saline water, which in its abundance of dissolved salts and in the consequent density of its brine is comparable to the Great Salt Lake in Utah, though the chemical composition of the waters is materially different. The sea of Galilee is referred to by Luke, in accordance with its more appropriate classification, as a lake (Luke 5:1, 2; 8:22, 23, 33). Adjoining the lake on the northwest is a plain, which in earlier times was highly cultivated: this was known as the land of Gennesaret (Matt. 14:34; Mark 6:53); and the water body came to be known as the sea or lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1). From the prominence of one of the cities on its western shore, it was known also as the sea of Tiberias (John 6:1, 23; 21:1). In the Old Testament it is called the sea of Chinnereth (Num. 34:11) or Chinneroth (Josh. 12:3) after the name of a contiguous city (Josh. 19:35). The surface of the lake or sea is several hundred feet below normal sea-level, 681 feet lower than the Mediterranean according to Zenos, or 700 feet as stated by some others. This lowlying position gives to the region a semi-tropical climate. Zenos, in the Standard Bible Dictionary, says: "The waters of the lake are noted for abundant fish. The industry of fishing was accordingly one of the most stable resources of the country round about. . . . Another feature of the sea of Galilee is its susceptibility to sudden storms. These are occasioned partly by its lying so much lower than the surrounding tableland (a fact that creates a difference of temperature and consequent disturbances in the atmosphere), and partly by the rushing of gusts of wind down the Jordan valley from the heights of Hermon. The event recorded in Matt. 8:24 is no extraordinary case. Those who ply boats on the lake are obliged to exercise great care to avoid peril from such storms. The shores of the sea of Galilee as well as the lake itself were the scenes of many of the most remarkable events recorded in the Gospels."

2. John 2:12; compare Matt. 4:13; Matt. 9:1.

3. Matt. 11:23; Luke 10:15.

4. Note 2. The Four Gospels.-All careful students of the New Testament must have observed that the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, treat the events of the Savior's sayings and doings in Galilee with greater fulness than they accord to His work in Judea; the book or Gospel of John, on the other hand, treats particularly the incidents of our Lord's Judean ministry, without excluding, however, important events that occurred in Galilee. In style of writing and method of treatment, the authors of the first three Gospels (evangelists as they and John are collectively styled in theologic literature) differ more markedly from the author of the fourth Gospel than among themselves. The events recorded by the first three can be more readily classified, collated, or arranged, and in consequence the Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke are now commonly known as the Synoptics, or Synoptic Gospels.

5. Note 3. Thirty Years of Age.-According to Luke (3:23) Jesus was about thirty years of age at the time of His baptism, and we find that soon thereafter, He entered publicly upon the work of His ministry. The law provided that at the age of thirty years the Levites were required to enter upon their special service (Num. 4:3). Clarke, Bible Commentary, treating the passage in Luke 3:23 says: "This was the age required by the law to which the priests must arrive before they could be installed in their office." Jesus may possibly have had regard for what had become a custom of the time, in waiting until He had attained that age before entering publicly on the labors of a Teacher among the people. Not being of Levitical descent He was not eligible to priestly ordination in the Aaronic order, and therefore, certainly did not wait for such before beginning His ministry. To have taught in public at an earlier age would have been to arouse criticism, and objection, which might have resulted in serious handicap or hindrance at the outset.

6. Luke 2:46-49.

7. Note 4. Throngs and Confusion at the Passover Festival.-While it is admittedly impossible that even a reasonably large fraction of the Jewish people could be present at the annual Passover gatherings at Jerusalem, and in consequence provision was made for local observance of the feast, the usual attendance at the temple celebration in the days of Jesus was undoubtedly enormous. Josephus calls the Passover throngs "an innumerable multitude" (Wars, ii, 1:3), and in another place (Wars, vi, 9:3) states that the attendance reached the enormous aggregate of three millions of souls; such is the record, though many modern writers treat the statement as an exaggeration. Josephus says that for the purpose of giving the emperor Nero information as to the numerical strength of the Jewish people, particularly in Palestine, the chief priests were asked by Cestius to count the number of lambs slain at the feast, and the number reported was 256,500 which on the basis of between ten and eleven persons to each paschal table would indicate the presence, he says, of at least 2,700,200 not including visitors other than Jews, and such of the people of Israel as were debarred from participation in the paschal meal because of ceremonial unfitness.

The scenes of confusion, inevitable under the conditions then prevailing, are admirably summarized by Geikie (Life and Words of Christ, chap. 30), who cites many earlier authorities for his statements: "The streets were blocked by the crowds from all parts, who had to make their way to the Temple, past flocks of sheep, and droves of cattle, pressing on in the sunken middle part of each street reserved for them, to prevent contact and defilement. Sellers of all possible wares beset the pilgrims, for the great feasts were, as has been said, the harvest time of all trades at Jerusalem, just as, at Mecca, even at this day, the time of the great concourse of worshippers at the tomb of the Prophet, is that of the busiest trade among the merchant pilgrims, who form the caravans from all parts of the Mohammedan world.

"Inside the Temple space, the noise and pressure were, if possible, worse. Directions were posted up to keep to the right or the left, as in the densest thoroughfares of London. The outer court, which others than Jews might enter, and which was, therefore, known as the Court of the Heathen, was in part, covered with pens for sheep, goats, and cattle, for the feast and the thank offerings. Sellers shouted the merits of their beasts, sheep bleated, and oxen lowed. It was, in fact, the great yearly fair of Jerusalem, and the crowds added to the din and tumult, till the services in the neighboring courts were sadly disturbed. Sellers of doves, for poor women coming for purification from all parts of the country, and for others, had a space set apart for them. Indeed, the sale of doves was, in great measure, secretly, in the hands of the priests themselves: Hannas, the high priest, especially, gaining great profits from his dove cotes on Mount Olivet. The rents of the sheep and cattle pens, and the profits on the doves, had led the priests to sanction the incongruity of thus turning the Temple itself into a noisy market. Nor was this all. Potters pressed on the pilgrims their clay dishes and ovens for the Passover lamb; hundreds of traders recommended their wares aloud; shops for wine, oil, salt, and all else needed for sacrifices, invited customers; and, in addition, persons going across the city, with all kinds of burdens, shortened their journey by crossing the Temple grounds. The provision for paying the tribute, levied on all, for the support of the Temple, added to the distraction. On both sides of the east Temple gate, stalls had for generations been permitted for changing foreign money. From the fifteenth of the preceding month money-changers had been allowed to set up their tables in the city, and from the twenty-first,-or twenty days before the Passover,-to ply their trade in the Temple itself. Purchasers of materials for offerings paid the amount at special stalls, to an officer of the Temple, and received a leaden cheque for which they got what they had bought, from the seller. Large sums, moreover, were changed, to be cast, as free offerings, into one of the thirteen chests which formed the Temple treasury. Every Jew, no matter how poor, was, in addition, required to pay yearly a half-shekel-about eighteen pence-as atonement money for his soul, and for the support of the Temple. As this would not be received except in a native coin, called the Temple shekel, which was not generally current, strangers had to change their Roman, Greek, or Eastern money, at the stalls of the money-changers, to get the coin required. The trade gave ready means for fraud, which was only too common. Five per cent exchange was charged, but this was indefinitely increased by tricks and chicanery, for which the class had everywhere earned so bad a name, that like the publicans, their witness would not be taken before a court."

Touching the matter of the defilement to which the temple courts had been subjected by traffickers acting under priestly license, Farrar (Life of Christ, p. 152) gives us the following: "And this was the entrance-court to the Temple of the Most High! The court which was a witness that that house should be a House of Prayer for all nations had been degraded into a place which, for foulness, was more like shambles, and for bustling commerce more like a densely crowded bazaar; while the lowing of oxen, the bleating of sheep, the Babel of many languages, the huckstering and wrangling, and the clinking of money and of balances (perhaps not always just), might be heard in the adjoining courts, disturbing the chant of the Levites and the prayers of priests!"

8. Ex. 30:11-16.

11. The Atonement Money.-In the course of the exodus, the Lord required of every male in Israel who was twenty years old or older at the time of a census the payment of a ransom, amounting to half a shekel (Ex. 30:12-16). See pages 355 and 367 herein. As to the use to which this money was to be put, the Lord thus directed Moses: "And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls" (Ex. 30:16; see also 38:25-31). In time, the tax of half a shekel, equivalent to a bekah (Ex. 38:26), was collected annually, though for this exaction no scriptural authority is of record. This tax must not be confused with the redemption money, amounting to five shekels for every firstborn male, the payment of which exempted the individual from service in the labors of the sanctuary. In place of the firstborn sons in all the tribes, the Lord designated the Levites for this special ministry; nevertheless He continued to hold the firstborn males as peculiarly His own, and required the payment of a ransom as a mark of their redemption from the duties of exclusive service. See Ex. 13:2, 13-15; Num. 3:13, 40-51; 8:15-18; 18:15, 16.

9. John 2:14-17.

10. Compare Ps. 69:9.

11. Note 5. The Servility of the Jews in the Presence of Jesus.-The record of the achievement of Jesus, in ridding the temple courts of those who had made the House of the Lord a market place, contains nothing to suggest the inference that He exercised superhuman strength or more than manly vigor. He employed a whip of His own making, and drove all before Him. They fled helter-skelter. None are said to have voiced an objection until the expulsion had been made complete. Why did not some among the multitude object? The submission appears to have been abject and servile in the extreme. Farrar, (Life of Christ, pp. 151, 152) raises the question and answers it with excellent reasoning and in eloquent lines: "Why did not this multitude of ignorant pilgrims resist? Why did these greedy chafferers content themselves with dark scowls and muttered maledictions, while they suffered their oxen and sheep to be chased into the streets and themselves ejected, and their money flung rolling on the floor, by one who was then young and unknown, and in the garb of despised Galilee? Why, in the same way we might ask, did Saul suffer Samuel to beard him in the very presence of his army? Why did David abjectly obey the orders of Joab? Why did Ahab not dare to arrest Elijah at the door of Naboth's vineyard? Because sin is weakness; because there is in the world nothing so abject as a guilty conscience, nothing so invincible as the sweeping tide of a Godlike indignation against all that is base and wrong. How could these paltry sacrilegious buyers and sellers, conscious of wrongdoing, oppose that scathing rebuke, or face the lightnings of those eyes that were enkindled by an outraged holiness? When Phinehas the priest was zealous for the Lord of Hosts, and drove through the bodies of the prince of Simeon and the Midianitish woman with one glorious thrust of his indignant spear, why did not guilty Israel avenge that splendid murder? Why did not every man of the tribe of Simeon become a Goel to the dauntless assassin? Because Vice cannot stand for one moment before Virtue's uplifted arm. Base and grovelling as they were, these money-mongering Jews felt, in all that remnant of their souls which was not yet eaten away by infidelity and avarice, that the Son of Man was right.

"Nay, even the Priests and Pharisees, and Scribes and Levites, devoured as they were by pride and formalism, could not condemn an act which might have been performed by a Nehemiah or a Judas Maccabaeus, and which agreed with all that was purest and best in their traditions. But when they had heard of this deed, or witnessed it, and had time to recover from the breathless mixture of admiration, disgust, and astonishment which it inspired, they came to Jesus, and though they did not dare to condemn what He had done, yet half indignantly asked Him for some sign that He had a right to act thus."

12. Matt. 12:38, 39; compare 16:1; Mark 8:11; John 6:30; 1 Cor. 1:22.

13. John 2:19; read verses 18-22.

14. Note 6. Jewish Regard for the Temple.-The Jews professed high regard for the temple. "An utterance of the Savior, construed by the dark-minded as an aspersion upon the temple, was used against Him as one of the chief accusations on which His death was demanded. When the Jews clamored for a sign of His authority He predicted His own death and subsequent resurrection, saying, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' (John 2:19-22; see also Matt. 26:61; 27:40; Mark 14:58; 15:29). They blindly regarded this remark as a disrespectful allusion to their temple, a structure built by human hands, and they refused to forget or forgive. That this veneration continued after the crucifixion of our Lord is evident from accusations brought against Stephen, and still later against Paul. In their murderous rage the people accused Stephen of disrespect for the temple, and brought false witnesses who uttered perjured testimony saying, 'This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place.' (Acts 6:13.) And Stephen was numbered with the martyrs. When it was claimed that Paul had brought with him into the temple precincts, a Gentile, the whole city was aroused, and the infuriated mob dragged Paul from the place and sought to kill him. (Acts 21:26-31.)"-The House of the Lord, pp. 60, 61.

15. Mark 14:58.

16. Mark 15:29, 30.

17. John 10:38; John 17:21.

18. John 2:19-22; compare 1 Cor. 3:16, 17;1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; see further Col. 2:9; Heb. 8:2.

19. Matt. 27:63.

20. As Canon Farrar has tersely written, "Unless the 'we remember' was a distinct falsehood, they could have been referring to no other occasion than this." (Life of Christ, p. 155.)

21. John 2:23-25.

22. John 3:1-21.

23. Note 7. Some of the "Chief Rulers" Believed.-Nicodemus was not the only one among the ruling classes who believed in Jesus; but of most of these we learn nothing to indicate that they had sufficient courage to come even by night to make independent and personal inquiry. They feared the result in loss of popularity and standing. We read in John 12:42, 43: "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." Note also the instance of the scribe who proffered to become a professed disciple, but, probably because of some degree of insincerity or unfitness, was rather discouraged than approved by Jesus. (Matt. 8:19, 20.)

24. John 3:2; read verses 1-21.

25. Num. 21:7-9.

26. Note 8. Nicodemus.-The course followed by this man evidences at once that he really believed in Jesus as one sent of God, and that his belief failed of development into a condition of true faith, which, had it but been realized, might have led to a life of devoted service in the Master's cause. When at a later stage than that of his interview with Christ the chief priests and Pharisees upbraided the officers whom they had sent to take Jesus into custody and who returned to report their failure, Nicodemus, one of the council, ventured to mildly expostulate against the murderous determination of the rulers, by stating a general proposition in interrogative form: "Doth our law judge any man before it hear him and know what he doeth?" He was answered by his colleagues with contempt, and appears to have abandoned his well-intended effort (John 7:50-53; read preceding verses 30-49). We next hear of him bringing a costly contribution of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred-weight, to be used in the burial of Christ's then crucified body; but even in this deed of liberality and devotion, in which his sincerity of purpose cannot well be questioned, he had been preceded by Joseph of Arimathea, a man of rank, who had boldly asked for and secured the body for reverent burial (John 19:38-42). Nevertheless Nicodemus did more than did most of his believing associates among the noble and great ones; and to him let all due credit be given; he will not fail of his reward.

See Articles of Faith, pp. 96-100.

27. John 3:22; compare 4:2.

28. Matt. 4:17; compare Mark 1:15.

29. Note 9. "The Jews" or "A Jew."-We read that "there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying" (John 3:25). Bearing in mind that the expression "the Jews" is very commonly used by the author of the fourth Gospel to designate the officials or rulers among the people, the passage quoted may be understood to mean that the Baptist's disciples were engaged in disputation with the priestly rulers. It is held, however, by Biblical scholars generally, that "the Jew" in this passage is a mistranslation, and that the true rendering is "a Jew." The disputation concerning purifying appears to have arisen between some of the Baptist's followers and a single opponent; and the passage as it appears in the King James version of the Bible is an instance of scripture not translated correctly.

30. John 3:25-36.

31. Note 10. Friend of the Bridegroom.-Judean marriage customs in the days of Christ required the appointing of a chief groomsman, who attended to all the preliminaries and made arrangements for the marriage feast, in behalf of the bridegroom. He was distinctively known as the friend of the bridegroom. When the ceremonial requirements had been complied with, and the bride had been legally and formally given unto her spouse, the joy of the bridegroom's friend was fulfilled inasmuch as his appointed duties had been successfully discharged. (John 3:29.) According to Edersheim (Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, vol. 1, p. 148), by the simpler customs prevalent in Galilee a "friend of the bridegroom" was not often chosen; and (pp. 663-64) the expression "children of the bridechamber" (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19; Luke 5:34, in all of which citations the expression is used by Jesus), was applied collectively to all the invited guests at a wedding festival. He says: "As the institution of 'friends of the bridegroom' prevailed in Judea, but not in Galilee, this marked distinction of the 'friend of the bridegroom' in the mouth of the Judean John, and 'sons (children) of the bridechamber' in that of the Galilean Jesus, is itself evidential of historic accuracy."

32. John 3:27-36.

33. Matt. 11:11.

34. Luke 3:2, 3.

35. Matt. 14:3-12.

36. Matt. 4:12.


(James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983], .)