Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

After Jarius asks Jesus to heal his daughter, they are walking to his house when “a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.” This is a situation that I feel only a woman can fully understand, and me especially because of what I do for work. I am a sonographer, meaning that I do ultrasounds on women all day long who have been bleeding non-stop, sometimes just spotting, sometimes like a waterfall. These women come in sick and anemic from blood loss and I often reference this account saying that I totally understand how this poor woman could be bleeding for 12 years back in the day that there was no effective medical treatment for it. My heart breaks for her because of the awful physical state that she finds herself in, sick to the point of incapacitation, and desperate, and now poor because she spent all her money on doctors. Then ...

Coming back across the sea of Galilee, Jesus and his disciples arrive in Capernum, greeted by a throng of people, “and, behold, there came a man names Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus’ feet, and besought him that he would come into his house: For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying.” He pleads with Jesus “My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, came and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.” The IM points out that this laying on of hands that Jairus asks of Jesus is the same healing priesthood ordinance that we have today. Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue and would have enjoyed much prominence, power and prestige by the Jews that he oversaw. The IM quotes President Howard W. Hunter as explaining, “The tremor we hear in Jairus’s voice as he speaks of ‘My little daughter’ stirs our souls with sympathy as we th...

The storm on the sea of Galilee calms and Jesus and his disciples land on the other side of the sea. The precise location is disputed but all writers agree that it was a rural area inhabited by gentiles. We can deduce this fact because there was a herd of 2,000 pigs being tended to by people, and because Jews are forbidden to eat pork, then we can assume that these people are gentiles. As soon as they land, one or two men appeared, depending on the account, but one was obviously more distressed than the other. This man was possessed “with an unclean spirit.” His existence had deteriorated to the point that he “had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with sto...

I don’t know exactly what happened to the three men who discussed their options as disciples with Jesus, but after speaking with them, Jesus and his disciples “entered into a ship… And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.” There are a couple of important points here, the first is that there was a storm of great magnitude on the relatively small sea of Galilee. That’s an interesting weather pattern, here they call it lake effect, but it’s not that significant. The IM gives background saying, “The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake in northeastern Israel. It is located in the Jordan Rift Valley at nearly 700 feet below sea level and is surrounded by high mountains on the west, north, and east. Winds can whip down the western slopes and create sudden, intense storms with formidable waves on this relatively small body of water. Fishermen in the middle of the lake can...

After teaching the parable both to the multitude and to the disciples individually, Jesus told the disciples, “let us pass over unto the other side,” or the other side of the sea of Galilee. Before Jesus left on the boat, he was approached by a couple of people who wanted to go with him. The first is “a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.” JTC points out that if Jesus was working on credibility with the current Jewish leadership, an endorsement from a man from the prestigious position of scribe would have given him much social weight. Jesus doesn’t out right deny the man, but answers, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” This is similar to what we’ve been talking about the last few days, especially about the treasure in the field and the pearl, both times people gave up everything they had in order to buy it....

Jesus gives the last parable in this section as recorded in Matthew, saying, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” There are a few points that I think are worth mentioning. First, all the ocean creatures that are pulled out of the water are done so against their will. I imagine some sea urchin way deep in the water saying, “there is no fisherman,” and whatever reasoning it uses to justify their beliefs, none of that matters when the net is cast and it’s dragged out of it’s place and is sorted. We can have our own beliefs or deny the existence of God or the truthfulnes...

The next two parables are very similar and are found only in Matthew and were told only to the disciples. Jesus tells them, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” In the first parable, the man isn’t really looking for the treasure, it seems that he stumbles upon it accidentally, but recognizes it’s value and does what he needs to in order to buy it. Let’s think for a minute what it would mean to sell all that we have, that would mean giving up every material possession and sleeping outside, having no food readily accessible, and basically living a life of struggle and poverty. I wonder if one of the possible meanings might be giving up all ...

The next parable is only one verse long and is found exclusively in Matthew. He tells us, “Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” This seems pretty abstract to me, especially since there is only a very brief explanation in the IM. We know of leaven as yeast, and in reference to the Feast of Unleavened Bread meaning to eat bread that had not been raised with yeast to make it bigger. The IM suggests that the Lord’s use of 3 specific loaves references “the latter-day Church will spread throughout the earth, aided by the leaven of the testimonies of the Three Witnesses and the latter-day scriptures… It must be understood that the Church of the Latter-day Saints has taken its rise from a little leaven that was put into three witnesses. Behold, how much is this like the parable! It is fast leavening the lump, and will soon leaven the whole...

Jesus continues teaching in parables saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed in the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” JTC makes interesting commentary on why this parable would have sounded strange to many at the time saying, “To the mind taught by teachers of the time the kingdom was to be great and glorious from its beginning; it was to be ushered in by blare of trumpets and tramp of armies, with King Messiah at the head; yet this new Teacher spoke of it as having so small a beginning as to be comparable to a mustard see… the comparison ‘as small as a mustard seed’ was in every-day use among the Jews of the time.” He also points out that while there are, in fact, seeds smaller than the mustard seed, in maturity they are also quite sm...

The next parable is found only in Mark which says, “So is the kingdom of God , as if a man should cast seen into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteh in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” This is an excellent illustration of how God can create and grow and flourish all things, but we don’t see or understand how he does it. He does this with healing, especially spiritual healing, I don’t know how it works or how he does it, but he does and it’s amazing. JTC notes, “In this story we find effectively illustrated the fact of the vitality of the seed of truth, though the secret processes of its growth be a mystery to all save God alone. A man having planted seed must needs leave it alone. He may tend t...

The parable of the wheat and the tares. The Bible Dictionary defines “tares” as “the word (tares) denotes darnel grass, a poisonous weed, which, until it comes into ear, is similar in appearance to wheat.” Jesus tells the parable saying, “the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, the appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, ‘Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? Form whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this: The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he say, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together firs...

The Lord gives his own interpretations for this parable of the soil. In Luke He tells us that the seeds cast on the way side and eaten by the birds “are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” How does the devil take the word out of our hearts? Does Satan have the power to take testimony or spiritual opportunity away from us? JTC makes an important observation about this parable saying, “Observe that the prominent feature of the story is that of the prepared or unprepared condition of the soil. The seed was the same, whether it fell of good ground or bad, on mellow mold or among stones and thistles.” Satan was able to take away the “seed” because there was no place for it to go, it had not been planted or found any suitable place for it. But JTC reminds us that Jesus “neither said nor intimated that the hard-baked soils of the wayside might not be plowed, harro...

Jesus continues the parable of the soil as he changes focus from the seeds cast on the way side to the seeds which “fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because the had no root, they withered away.” The IM defines the stony places as “rocky surfaces covered by a thin layer of fertile soil. Though seeds could send forth shallow roots, the rock that lay just below the surface prevented the roots from going deeper, and the plant was unable to withstand the scorching heat of the day.” To me, this is like people who like the gospel initially, but have difficulty adhering to the commandments, or don’t want to change their lifestyle. The Lord continues, “And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them.” The IM comments, “The round with thons was fertile soil; however, it was overgrown by th...

Jesus leaves the Pharisees that he was speaking to and “sat by the sea side.” People surrounded him, so he went into a boat and instead of sleeping or resting like I’m sure he wanted to, he began to teach the people who waited for him on the shore using parables. The IM says, “He began using a teaching method that reached listeners at their individual levels of spirituality- He began to teach in parables.” The IM suggests that we understand the parables using tools such as looking at the audience he was addressing at the time, the questions that were posed to him which prompted the parables, etc. The IM also comments, “Although there is normally one intended interpretation of a parable, there may be many lessons and truths from a parable that can be applied to modern circumstances. President Hugh B. Brown of the First Presidency pointed out that the Savior’s parables most likely developed out of ordinary day-to-day experiences: ‘His parab...

While Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, he was surrounded by people, and so great was the throng of people that when his mother Mary and his brothers came to talk to him, they couldn’t get close to him. So they sent word to him by a messenger who told Jesus, “Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.” Jesus’ response has always baffled me because instead of running to his family, he answers, “Who is my mother? And who are my brethren?” Not the reaction that I would have expected from the perfect Son of God as it seems so disrespectful. Then “he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” This was always a difficult answer for me to deal with because I felt that he was blowing his family off, dismissing them as unimportant, like severing the...

The Pharisees are clearly not convinced by the doctrine that Jesus is teaching them, and “then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.” They are saying, “what you’ve said and done so far isn’t enough so do more miracles.” The irony here is that I’m pretty confident that if he were to do some big miraculous thing at their request, they still wouldn’t have believed, because we all know that miracles don’t convert, only the Spirit does that. Jesus answered them saying, “an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” The IM quotes Joseph Smith as teaching, “He who seeeketh a sign is an adulterous person; and that principle is eternal, undeviating, and firm as the pillars of heaven; for whenever you see a man seeking after a sign, you may set it down that he is an adulterous m...

Jesus continues trying to teach the Pharisees, but I don’t think that they are very interested in learning at his hand. In the next few verses, there are several JST that are important and so when I quote the verses, I will be giving it as the JST version in italics. Jesus continues, “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men who receive me and repent; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” Without the JST version of this verse, it sounds like Jesus is saying that he will forgive all sin to anyone, which we know is not the case. He has the ability to forgive all sin, but cannot unless there is repentance, because mercy cannot rob justice. Verses 31 and 32 are difficult to understand because Jesus speaks about transgressions against Him, as being forgivable, but transgressions against the Holy Ghost as unforgivable, “neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” I...