Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

The next topic Jesus covers has to do with his parable of old wine in new bottles and new cloth on old clothes. JC gives introduction saying, “the next section of the sermon deals with the superiority of the gospel of Christ over the law of Moses, and contrasts the requirements of the two in particular instances.” The law of Moses dealt with wrong actions but Christ’s law is about stopping the inclination to do wrong things in the first place. Jesus tells the people, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” The word “destroy” here is cross referenced with D&C 10: 52 which I think helps give some perspective, saying, “And now, behold, according to their faith in their prayers will I ring this part of my gospel to the knowledge of my people. Behold, I do not bring it to destroy that which they have received, but to build it up.” Jesus didn’t come to tell the pe...

So far we’ve talked about meekness and purity and mercy and going right along with that theme Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” Honestly, it sounds pathetic, but I feel like a big part of being a peacemaker is simply not instigating contention. Don’t start it, don’t take part in it. There’s a book that I listened to called A Complaint Free World, and it was really incredible, talk about peacemakers. I’m a very negative person by nature, aggressive and hostile, so any movement into positivity is hard won for me, I have to actively work on being positive and optimistic. In this book, it talks about training yourself to become complaint free, because really, complaining isn’t peaceful and it isn’t making the world a better place. It talks about not only getting yourself out of it, but also how to keep others from bringing it to you. And that’s not to say be a push over, he ta...

Jesus continues, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” This is in line with many of the Savior’s other teachings, such as the parable of the unmerciful servant, and the many teachings on judgment. The IM says, “This is one of the many times the Savior taught that they way we treat others affects how God will treat us. President Gordon B. Hinckley wrote: ‘I plead for a stronger spirit of compassion in all of our relationships, a stronger element of mercy, for if we are merciful we shall obtain mercy from the Ultimate Judge… It is impressive to watch those who with a compelling spirit of kindness reach out to those in distress, to help and assist, to fee and provide for, to nurture and to bless. As these extend mercy, I am confident that the God of Heaven will bless them, and their posterity after them, with His own mercy… One cannot be merciful to others without receiving a harvest of mercy in return. The Prophet Joseph Smith ...

Jesus continues, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” I’ve really struggled with what “meek” means because I’ve always imagined that it meant submissive, cowering, and I am not those things. I think submission is part of it, but not submission to man, but to God. I’ve heard meekness defined as “not easily irritated,” which I think is a great part of it. JTC says, “the meek, who suffer spoliation rather than jeopardize their souls in contention, shall inherit the earth.” Spoliation means ruin or theft of goods. Does this mean that we should allow ourselves to be taken advantage of? I don’t think so. One example of this came from just a few minutes ago when I went to lunch. The cashier took my money and gave me some coins back. I was on the phone so I wasn’t really paying attention, but I didn’t think that he gave me my $5 in change back. I asked him if he gave me my $5 back and he sa...

Jesus has formally called and ordained His 12 apostles and is thronged by people and begins what President Thomas S. Monson calls, “the greatest person who ever lived delivered the greatest sermon ever given- the Sermon on the Mount.” The IM quotes President Harold B. Lee as teaching, “In his Sermon on the Mount the Master has given us somewhat of a revelation of his own character, which was perfect,… and in so doing has given us a blueprint for our own lives. … In that matchless Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has given us eight distinct ways by which we might receive (real) joy. Each of his declarations is begun by the word ‘Blessed.’ … These declarations of the Mater are known in the literature of the Christian world as the Beatitudes… They embody in fact the constitution for a perfect life.” The Sermon on the Mount is taught on both Matthew and Luke of the New Testament, and also 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon and we will be p...

The Pharisees have hassled Jesus about the Sabbath day for several weeks now and their interactions are escalating to the point that the Pharisees are actively trying to kill Jesus, and Jesus is choosing to leave the city instead of saving himself through supernatural means. Mark tells us that Jesus “withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him,” and from all over nearby places, people flocked to him, “for he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.” Luke tells us that when people touched him, “there went virtue out of him.” This is like when the woman with an issue of blood touched Jesus’ robe and he said “virtue has gone out of me.” I wonder what that means e...

Continuing on the theme of the Sabbath, but I don’t think on that same day, Jesus came to a synagogue, presumably to worship, “and there was a man there which had a withered hand.” The Pharisees are always right there to see exactly what Jesus does and find fault with it, regardless of what it is, “and they watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse him.” The IM comments, “In Mark 3:2, the Greek word translated ‘watched’ implies that the Pharisees were scrutinizing Jesus with malicious intent. They had come to the synagogue not to worship, but to find fault.” Mark and Matthew differ as to who spoke first, the Pharisees questioning Jesus is He will heal the man, or Jesus. Mark records Jesus asking the Pharisees “is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day, or to do evil? To save a life, or to kill.” The IM teaches, “Some rabbis had determined that only in emergency situations wa...

A lot of the Savior’s work is done on the Sabbath, which I guess makes sense if you think about it. The next Sabbath mentioned is when “Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn, and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.” Luke also mentions that the disciples, “did eat, rubbing them in their hands.” The IM points out the important part “The law of Moses permitted a person walking through a filed to pick some grain by hand as long as he did not take this privilege too far by using a sickle to harvest what was not his.” So when the Pharisees condemn the Savior for allowing his disciples to pick corn on the Sabbath asking, “why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful?” The Pharisees are wrong, the Mosiac law makes allowance for this activity to a certain extent. JTC sheds more light on this, saying, “There was no element of theft in what they did, for the Mosaic law prov...

The Lord makes a very interesting distinction between the way that He judges and the way that the world judges. He says “My judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” I think about what that means and what it would mean to seek your own will when judging. If I was a judge and seeking my own vindication then many factors would o into my judgment. For instance, if I had been insulted, I would want retribution for that, or if the person did something which was particularly abhorrent to me, I might be harsher with my decisions because I projected my own hurt feelings on to the situation. By looking at everyone as His Father’s child, there will be so much more compassion and leniency than if we were just viewed as His siblings. Jesus seeks to do His Father’s will and the Father testifies of Jesus. Jesus invokes the law of witnesses when he says, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true....

I have to be honest, the last couple of days have been the worst of my life. We had a exceptionally devastating family tragedy and it’s really made me question my faith to the core. This morning I told Jesus that he’s an a-hole, and even though I don’t really believe that, I’m just so hurt. When I was a teenager, my boyfriend’s mom told me, “God isn’t so small that he won’t let you be mad at him.” That was really powerful for me because it gave me permission to be angry at my circumstances as part of the grieving process. I had to ask myself if what I “believe” is really good enough anymore, I had to know if I could stand in the face of what happened and say “this is what God wanted to happen,” and if I was willing to accept that and move forward in my life with my faith. I have had very few moments like that in my life, where I was actively confronted with “can I stay with the gospel in light of what h...

As Jesus teaches the Jews that He is one with the Father, they are not happy and “sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father making himself equal with God.” Jesus knows their intentions and so continues to teach them, “the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what things soever he doeth, these also does the Son likewise.” This morning I was thinking why the Savior would answer those who wanted to kill him for healing on the Sabbath about who God really is. Why did Jesus heal that man in the first place? He wasn’t obligated to do it; this man wasn’t a family member or friend that we know of. The man didn’t come to Jesus asking to be healed, in fact he was living with hope in a superstition that reasonably he couldn’t have truly believed, only hoped was true. Jesus saw that man’s potential, he knew him personally, he knew how he got into...