Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

I feel like I’m getting bogged down in the he said/she said/ the IM said back and forth and I don’t feel like I’m getting out of this method what I would like to be, so in covering this conversation, I’m going to maybe do a little bit less of the play by play and more concepts that I find interesting. The conversation that Jesus has with the Jewish leadership goes back and forth between Jesus telling them that they are children of the devil because they do the things that the devil does, and them contesting his accusation. Jesus asks a pertinent question, “Which of you convinceth me of Sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” The footnotes indicate that the word “convinceth” means “convincts, reproves.” Jesus is asking them, what sin have I committed? Am I evil or good based on my actions? Again, going back to the “by their fruits shall ye know them.” The word “sin” in the verse is cross...

T he Jewish leadership doesn’t seem to understand how truth can make them free because, as Abraham’s descendents, they already worship the true and living God. Jesus tells them that His gospel can set them free from sin, which is what everyone is enslaved by. He continues, “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed, but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.” Jesus is doing what he learned from his Father, but because these men want to kill Him, they are doing what they have seen their father do? Who is there father? Clearly not Abraham, but someone who desires to commit murder, Satan. They answer, “Abraham is our father. And Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deed...

T he Jewish leadership that is listening to Jesus is not pleased with him telling the people that the truth will make them free. And I guess it makes sense because they desire power, and they can’t have some guy coming to tell the people they intend to rule over that they are hypocrites and they will be happier listening to another way. They respond, “We be Abraham’s seen, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be free?” This can be take two different ways, first, it could be understood physically, where they are saying that the people of Israel have never been in bondage to any foreign powers, to which JTC responds, “In their unbridled fanaticism they had forgotten the bondage of Egypt, and were oblivious of their existing state of vassalage to Rome.” Clearly, Israel as a nation had been in bondage before and not only to the Romans and Egyptians, but to the Assyrians and Babylonians as well. The other way that this could be i...

I' ve been rewatching the tv show Lost, and I feel like there’s a general feeling on this show that really resonates with the plan of salvation. I’m not saying to look to that show for any kind of guidance or spiritual truth or anything like that, but the premise is familiar. There’s a place where lots of crazy things happen, that has a long and complicated history, and no one knows that there is a protective, controlling hand overseeing it all. I imagine us like the group of people who crash onto the island and are thrown into this survival situation that is complicated by all types of monsters and people doing crazy things with all sorts of agendas. It’s absolute chaos, and no one really knows what’s going on, except that they want to survive. I feel like my life would be exactly like that if I didn’t have the gospel. Maybe that’s why the Lord had me be born into the gospel, I wouldn’t have been able to function without it and would have...

Th e Pharisees are disappointed that their attempt to trap Jesus in a political snare failed, and leave, but are back for another conversation shortly. Jesus does engage them in a discussion, and I feel like he’s leaving a testimony against them, giving them knowledge to recognize that they are wrong, and letting them see just how serious their conduct is. The conversation is really long and honestly, pretty hard to follow at times, but it’s the cross references that are really interesting. 8:12 - It’s still the Sabbath, and Jesus is still teaching in the temple, and the IM suggests that he is standing by one of the huge 70+ foot menorahs when he states, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” The IM quotes Elder Dallin H. Oaks as teaching, “Jesus Christ is the light of the world because he is the source of light which ‘proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill th...

T he last day of the Feast of Tabernacles is when Jesus proclaims that He provides “living water” which enrages the Pharisees even more, but even their own officers can’t bring themselves to arrest him. Everyone goes home for the night and I’d imagine that the emotions are running pretty high at this point, both good and bad. Jesus goes to the “Mount of Olives,” either that night or early the next morning, I assume to pray before the last kind of “unofficial” day of the Feast. The IM points out that this day would have been the Sabbath and Jesus was preparing to return to the temple to teach the people. Upon reaching the temple, “all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.” This must have been a huge amount of people and I’m sure that it infuriated the Pharisees because they start looking for ways to show the people that he is not who they think he is, so they come up with a plan. While teaching, ...

The Feast of Tabernacles is a 7 day event, and it is estimated that Jesus began teaching in the temple around day 3. To understand Jesus’ next recorded actions, we need some background on the festival. The IM teaches, “Water and light were used as important symbols during the Feast of the Tabernacles, and the Savior used these symbols to call the people to believe in Him as the Messiah. On the temple mount, four large candelabras (also called menorahs or candlesticks) illuminated the temple grounds during dances and other festivities held late into the night and early morning. The golden candelabras, which were 50 cubits tall (approximately 73 feet or 22.25 meters), not only provided light for the celebration, but they symbolized that Israel was to be a light to those who walked in darkness. The most renowned and anticipated ceremony of the feast was the daily procession, during which an appointed priest drew water from the pool of Siloam with a golden pitcher and poured the...

Apparently when Jesus’ brothers show up to Jerusalem without Him, it causes quite the commotion, for “the Jews sought him at the feast, sand said, Where is he? And there wsa much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.” But all this was kept relatively quiet because the people didn’t want to upset the Jewish leaders who wanted to kill Jesus. Jesus and his disciples had snuck in to Jerusalem without a big fanfare, and Jesus began teaching in the temple. We’ve talked about what it meant for Jesus to be considered a “rabbi” among the people, because I highly doubt that anyone who felt that they were sufficiently versed in the scriptures could just announce themselves as a rabbi and be able to teach “doctrines” to the people, and rightly so, there is an order to becoming a teacher of the people, but Jesus hadn’t gone through the traditional process o...

I think that we went a little bit out of order here, because my chart has John 7:10 occurring at the same time as Luke 9:51, which I don’t think is accurate. The end of Luke chapter 9 has Jesus traveling to Jerusalem with at least James and John and possibly some other disciples, which would make sense for safety, not Jesus’ safety of course, but for that of the others. But I don’t think that it belongs here because it is sandwiched in between “he that is not against us if for us,” and many coming forward to follow Christ but having excuses, which is also talked about in Matthew chapter 8 and which we discussed in a post published on June 23rd.  Just to give a brief summary, three of Jesus’ disciples came to him and wanted to follow him, but Jesus told the one “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” And a second man came to Jesus and told him he wanted to follow Him as so...

T he persecution against Jesus is growing in intensity, so John tells us that he stays in Galilee, “because the Jews sought to kill him.” The IM reminds us that when John says “the Jews,” he doesn’t mean the general Jewish population, who love Jesus, but the Jewish leadership who are afraid that Jesus will take their power away from them. The time had come for the annual Feast of Tabernacles, one of the 3 main feasts in Judaism, where many Jews travel to Jerusalem to celebrate. The Feast of Tabernacles is the “greatest and most joyful” of the three because, from what I understand, it’s like a harvest festival. Jesus’ half-brothers, those who were born to both Mary and Joseph, urge Jesus to go to the festival, “that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doesth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. For neither di...

Pe ter doesn’t quite understand exactly what Jesus means when he says that we are to reconcile with others who have offended us. “The IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “Rabbinism called upon the offender to initiate a course of reconciliation with his brother and specified that forgiveness should not be extended more than three times to any offender. His soul as yet not afire with the Holy Spirit, Peter asked a question that, as he must have supposed, assumed a far more liberal rule than that imposed by the rabbis.” Peter asks, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?” This is a concept that is difficult to understand, even now in the world where we’ve had Christianity for over 2,000 year, forgiveness is so hard for us as people because when we are hurt, either physically or emotionally, we feel that by forgiving someone, we are saying that what they did was ok. What people don’t und...