2 Nephi 25:11-20
The "prophesies" are difficult for me, I think just because I'm not there yet spiritually. I think it's the same reason why I can't get into dramatic or serious movies, or why the news is overwhelming to me or why I can't get into the whole "end of the world" stuff, I honestly just can't deal with it right now. I know that I'm probably doing myself a disservice by not diving deeply into them here, but honestly, I have a lot of responsibility in life and I'm trying my best. At this point I'm a "living in the moment" kind of person, I focus on what I can do today or maybe even tomorrow, because otherwise I get overwhelmed and am tempted to just shut down. So please forgive me for not being awesome, but do know that I am giving it 100%, even if my "all" is pathetic.
25:13 - An interesting phrase to me here is "he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings." And why this is interesting to me is because while he was alive in mortality he healed many many people. So for him to say here that he will have healing in his wings AFTER the Lord is resurrected, to me, that implies that at that point he must have a different type of healing. So let's compare the healing Jesus did before he died and afterward, or basically before the atonement was complete and after it was complete. And again, forgive me, I don't know tons about the atonement, so I might get some of this wrong or sound like an idiot, so please bear with me. So before the atonement, Jesus healed many physically, raised from the dead, lepers, casting our spirits, etc. And other men have been able to perform the same miracles using the priesthood of God, not many men, but more than one, and that's enough to show me that before the atonement Jesus had not only the priesthood authority to do the miracles that he did, but because of his impeccable righteousness, he had substantial priesthood power. Hmmm... now that's an interesting concept. If I am correct and Jesus performed many mighty miracles before he died using priesthood power and this because of his righteousness, then wouldn't that imply that mortal men could strive for the same level of priesthood power? I mean, whether or not it's possible for them to attain in this life, that's a whole different discussion, but could it be that, yes Jesus was special in that he was perfect and that he was half God, but other men could perform the miracles that he did before he died, not in the same quantity, but with the same quality. I've always considered Jesus' life and power so abstract because after all, he was perfect, his father was God, etc. So there's no way that I could ever be even close to being like him. But if he was in fact using his priesthood as the means while he was alive, then even though I don't hold the priesthood, it brings the idea of being more like the Savior on a more attainable level, and if there's a concept that super abstract for me, it's difficult for me to incorporate that into my life. I don't know if any of that made sense, but this was definitely a break through moment for me. Anyway, so if Jesus healed physically before he died, after he performed the atonement, what kind of healing would he be able to do that he couldn't do previously? Spiritual healing. The term "wings" has the connotation of an angel, "healing in his wings" portrays a feeling of peace, comfort, guardian angels, being cared for, protected. Before the atonement, he couldn't relate to each and every one of us individually, he didn't personally know all the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain that every single person in existence would ever feel in their whole lives. He could see that the leper was in pain, and even deeply care for and empathize with him, but he couldn't conquer his pain, he couldn't soothe his spirit and comfort him in a way that only he could AFTER the atonement. This is incredible. I had never ever in my whole lie considered this concept. I thought that the Jesus that I know and love now, is the same Jesus that walked the earth and was written about in the Bible. Yes, he's the same man, but I had never considered that the atonement made that big of a difference in who he was and who he was to me. The IM quotes Elder Richard G. Scott as saying "oh, how we all need the healing the Redeemer can provide. Mine is a message of hope for you who yearn for relief from heavy burdens." There is more to that sentence but I stopped there for a couple of reasons. This spoke to me so deeply, sometimes I feel completely overwhelmed with my "heavy burdens." I've always carried much responsibility, since I was a very small child, I feel like I'm always been heavy laden, and so the promise that there is relief, that is amazing. The original message goes on to promise relief to those who have carried heavy burdens put on them even though they have been righteous. And yes, I have carried heavy burdens that have been put on me through no fault of my own, and it's very comforting to me that there is an amazing God and an amazing plan to heal me from past and present hurts, that sometime, somewhere there will be justice and peace for all involved. But a point that is missed by the remainder of that sentence, but that I know to be true is the relief of heavy burdens that have been put on us by our own stupid choices. I have plenty of those as well. Jesus not only heals us from wrongs caused by others, he heals us from wrongs we cause ourselves when we disobey the commandments. We are healed and forgiven and as Elder Scott says" Whatever the cause, I testify that lasting relief is available on conditions established by the Lord."
I hadn't planned on just writing about the one verse tonight but I guess that's the way that the cookie crumbled tonight. It's ok, I had a major breakthrough and I didn't really have much else to say about the other few verses. How interesting. I hadn't planned on tonight being significant, I honestly thought that it was going to be boring, but I went ahead and did it anyway, and was richly rewarded. And I'm grateful.
25:13 - An interesting phrase to me here is "he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings." And why this is interesting to me is because while he was alive in mortality he healed many many people. So for him to say here that he will have healing in his wings AFTER the Lord is resurrected, to me, that implies that at that point he must have a different type of healing. So let's compare the healing Jesus did before he died and afterward, or basically before the atonement was complete and after it was complete. And again, forgive me, I don't know tons about the atonement, so I might get some of this wrong or sound like an idiot, so please bear with me. So before the atonement, Jesus healed many physically, raised from the dead, lepers, casting our spirits, etc. And other men have been able to perform the same miracles using the priesthood of God, not many men, but more than one, and that's enough to show me that before the atonement Jesus had not only the priesthood authority to do the miracles that he did, but because of his impeccable righteousness, he had substantial priesthood power. Hmmm... now that's an interesting concept. If I am correct and Jesus performed many mighty miracles before he died using priesthood power and this because of his righteousness, then wouldn't that imply that mortal men could strive for the same level of priesthood power? I mean, whether or not it's possible for them to attain in this life, that's a whole different discussion, but could it be that, yes Jesus was special in that he was perfect and that he was half God, but other men could perform the miracles that he did before he died, not in the same quantity, but with the same quality. I've always considered Jesus' life and power so abstract because after all, he was perfect, his father was God, etc. So there's no way that I could ever be even close to being like him. But if he was in fact using his priesthood as the means while he was alive, then even though I don't hold the priesthood, it brings the idea of being more like the Savior on a more attainable level, and if there's a concept that super abstract for me, it's difficult for me to incorporate that into my life. I don't know if any of that made sense, but this was definitely a break through moment for me. Anyway, so if Jesus healed physically before he died, after he performed the atonement, what kind of healing would he be able to do that he couldn't do previously? Spiritual healing. The term "wings" has the connotation of an angel, "healing in his wings" portrays a feeling of peace, comfort, guardian angels, being cared for, protected. Before the atonement, he couldn't relate to each and every one of us individually, he didn't personally know all the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain that every single person in existence would ever feel in their whole lives. He could see that the leper was in pain, and even deeply care for and empathize with him, but he couldn't conquer his pain, he couldn't soothe his spirit and comfort him in a way that only he could AFTER the atonement. This is incredible. I had never ever in my whole lie considered this concept. I thought that the Jesus that I know and love now, is the same Jesus that walked the earth and was written about in the Bible. Yes, he's the same man, but I had never considered that the atonement made that big of a difference in who he was and who he was to me. The IM quotes Elder Richard G. Scott as saying "oh, how we all need the healing the Redeemer can provide. Mine is a message of hope for you who yearn for relief from heavy burdens." There is more to that sentence but I stopped there for a couple of reasons. This spoke to me so deeply, sometimes I feel completely overwhelmed with my "heavy burdens." I've always carried much responsibility, since I was a very small child, I feel like I'm always been heavy laden, and so the promise that there is relief, that is amazing. The original message goes on to promise relief to those who have carried heavy burdens put on them even though they have been righteous. And yes, I have carried heavy burdens that have been put on me through no fault of my own, and it's very comforting to me that there is an amazing God and an amazing plan to heal me from past and present hurts, that sometime, somewhere there will be justice and peace for all involved. But a point that is missed by the remainder of that sentence, but that I know to be true is the relief of heavy burdens that have been put on us by our own stupid choices. I have plenty of those as well. Jesus not only heals us from wrongs caused by others, he heals us from wrongs we cause ourselves when we disobey the commandments. We are healed and forgiven and as Elder Scott says" Whatever the cause, I testify that lasting relief is available on conditions established by the Lord."
I hadn't planned on just writing about the one verse tonight but I guess that's the way that the cookie crumbled tonight. It's ok, I had a major breakthrough and I didn't really have much else to say about the other few verses. How interesting. I hadn't planned on tonight being significant, I honestly thought that it was going to be boring, but I went ahead and did it anyway, and was richly rewarded. And I'm grateful.
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