Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

While staying at Simon’s house and healing the people brought to Him, the next morning, “rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Jesus must have been tired after having spent so much time the day before walking from Nazareth to Capernaum, from what I could find it’s about 20 miles, after being chased around in town and then spent the rest of night healing people and probably teaching. He must have been exhausted, but he still woke up “a great while before day,” so it was probably still dark outside to pray. Jesus put such an importance on prayer that he gave up sleep for it, and wasn’t flashy about it. He might have been praying for guidance on what to do, the people clearly wanted him to stay with them in Capernaum, but he must have received the instruction to move on. Simon and the other disciples go to look for him and “they said unto him, All men seek for thee.” Jesus answers them, “Let us go into the next towns, t...

I’ve been gone for a while, lots of stuff going on, big changes and I’m excited and nervous at the same time. I’m anticipating being able to spend more time on scripture study because I sure do miss it when I can’t. After Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law she ministered to them, served them I believe that means, and I assume that while he was there around sunset, “they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door.” It’s been a pretty busy day for the Savior, beginning with preaching in Nazareth and being rejected, then going down to Simon’s house and healing his wife’s mother, and now being thronged with people eager to have Him heal them. The IM notes the difference in attitude between the people of Nazareth and the people in Capernaum where they were staying. It says, “in contrast to the people of Nazareth who rejected the Savior, many in Capernaum sought Him out and pleaded ‘that he shoul...

Jesus casts the demon out of the man in the synagogue, and then goes to Simon and Andrew’s house “with James and John.” Simon and Andrew live together with their families but also Simon’s wife’s mother and who knows who else, so these families were all in close quarters, they had their needs met with food, water, and shelter, but they weren’t so affluent that they each had their own homes. When they arrive “Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.” She’s sick and the people tell Him about her, it doesn’t say but I wonder if it was just a passing mention of “oh she’s sick,” or a more fervent, “please help her, she’s ill.” They also don’t give any indication of whether this is just a generalized flu that she’s had briefly or if she’s been chronically ill for a long time and on the verse of death. I guess that’s the point though, whether the illness is brief and uncomfortable or long and fatal, Jesus can cure it. It’s also the point that He heals di...

After calling the disciples, the next account we have is of Jesus teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum “and they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” We talked a little bit about the difference between how Jesus taught and how the others of His time taught the people, and one of the ways that I equated it was the prophet vs. the apostles, or even the prophet vs. a bishop or Sunday school teacher. The Apostles, bishops, and teachers can only expound on what resources we already have, they can’t reveal their own new doctrines. If we lived in a society that hadn’t had prophets for such a long time, then yes, it would be shocking to have someone come and teach certain things that are doctrine. It seems implied that Jesus and his newly called disciples left the seashore and went right into the synagogue on the Sabbath, but I highly doubt this as the disciples probably wouldn’t have been fishing on the Sabbath. While in ...

Between leaving Samaria and arriving in Capernaum, Jesus stated that he is the Savior in Nazareth and was cast out and he healed a nobleman's son from a distance of over 20 miles away, regardless of the order in which it happened. Matthew seems to indicate that this is the beginning of his formal ministry saying, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Mark affirms that Jesus taught "the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Luke makes a point of saying that those he taught "were astonished at his doctrine: for his word with power." What did it mean that the Lord had power when teaching? Surely it meant that the Holy Ghost accompanied his words to the hearts of those who believed, strengthened their testimonies. But this phrase or concept is brought up several times throughout the gospels, that Christ had power or authority to teach, so what do...

I’m confused on whether this next event takes place before Jesus is rejected in Nazareth or afterward, but I’m going to keep on trucking like I’m doing it right. As Jesus leaves either Samaria or Nazareth depending on the timing, he comes to Galilee where he is received well because they went to the feast in Jerusalem and saw all that Jesus had done there. While there, a “certain nobleman” came to Jesus from Cana “where he made the water wine,” and asked Jesus to “heal his son: for he was at the point of death.” It’s important to note that the man wasn’t in Galilee on business and happened to see the Savior and said “oh by the way can you do something for my boy.” No, this man was at his dying son’s bedside, and probably felt helpless because he couldn’t do anything, he couldn’t cure the boy, he couldn’t take him to the hospital, he wasn’t a doctor I think. He stood by his son’s bed and thought “the only thing that I can do is go to Galilee and beg Jesus to heal my son.” And that’s...

Jesus stayed with the Samaritans for 2 days, then he left to go to Galilee "and he taught in their synagogues, being gloried of all." When I read "glorified" I thought that that would mean worshipped but then I remembered that intelligence is the glory of God, and if I thought about this phrase in the context of Jesus teaching in the churches, then it would make sense that He enlightened and inspired the people that he taught and that would be a more accurate meaning, as another perspective. I wonder if at this point the disciples had already left Jesus to go back to their homes because I don't see any mention of them here and then he goes and calls them again, so it would make sense that after Samaria they might have split up with Andrew, James, John, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael going back to the place where they were from, to see their families. I need a map. It appears that everyone returns home to be with their families and Jesus is no exception as He re...

The woman at the well recognizes that the Savior is “a prophet” but I think that she’s frustrated because he’s telling her that there’s more in life and she has no idea where to find it. He tells her that she can worship where she is there because “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” This statement doesn’t make a lot of sense unless you consider the IM’s explanation saying, “The Greek test of John 4:24 contains no article before the word spirit. Thus, the Greek phrase can also be understood to mean ‘God is spirit,’ or ‘God is spiritual.’ The apostle John also wrote that ‘God is light’ and ‘God is love,’ but these statements do not mean that God is only light, or that God is love and nothing else. Neither do we understand the statement that ‘man is spirit’ to mean that man is only spirit and nothing else. In the same sense, John 4:24 does not mean that God is only spirit… The Joseph Smith Translation gives a clearer understanding of w...

Jesus has just asked the Samaritan woman to go fetch her husband, and the woman answers that she has no husband, in which the Savior tells her that he knows because she’s had 5 husbands and currently lives with a man who is not her husband. She is truly astonished, “Sir, I perceive that thou are a prophet.” She starts asking him questions, which is interesting because it kind of seems like she’s had a lot of spiritual things on her mind and was looking for answers. For instance, the other day when I was at work our union rep walked in, and I’ve never met him before, but as soon as I realized who he was I had a ton of questions for him. This is what this instance reminds me of, she finds someone who knows more than her about spiritual matters and so she starts asking him the questions that she has. She asks Jesus, “Out fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” The IM says, “When the Samaritan woman came to understand...