Come, Follow Me - Jan 14th to Jan 20th

Monday - Birth of Christ

As a spirit, Jesus was a God, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, he was powerful, and comfortable, and “had glory with God the Father ‘before the world was.”

He was willing to come to earth and be born as a helpless baby in a fallen world to a nation that was enslaved.

When the Savior of the world finally came to earth, he wasn’t received by a grateful world, but arrived in a barn surrounded by barn animals.

Near the stable where Jesus was born, there was a group of guys taking care of their sheep. An angel appeared to them and said, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” And a multitude of angels broke forth “praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The shepherds left their sheep and went to the stable to find and worship the baby Jesus.

 

Why was the birth of Jesus such a big deal? When Heavenly Father presented the plan of salvation to all of us before the earth was created, he promised to send a Savior to atone for our sins so that we could return to live with Him again. We had all waited through eons of time for the Savior to come and do as he promised. So when the Savior was born, we were all excited because the time had come for us to be saved.

What are the Glad tidings? Who is it for?

 

Tuesday - Going to the temple

According to Jewish law at the time, when a baby boy was 8 days old, he was to be circumcised, which was the way that God and the Jews renewed their Abrahamic covenant. It’s kind of like when we are baptized, we are accepted into the Kingdom of God, this was the ancient Hebrew version of baptism.

It was also in the law that if possible, parents were to present their newborn baby boys at the temple in Jerusalem, and make a sacrificial offering.

There was an old man named Simeon had been led to the temple by the Holy Ghost. Simeon was “just and devout” and had “the Holy Ghost” upon him, and he had been promised previously that “he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”

Simeon took baby Jesus in his arms “and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people.” Mary and Joseph were very surprised.

Afterward, a widow named Anna who spent all her time serving God in the temple, saw Jesus and “in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”

 

How did temple ordinances in Jerusalem differ from ours today? How are they the same?

How did Anna and Simeon know to look for baby Jesus?

 

Wednesday - The wise men come

When the new star shone on the night of Christ’s birth, only those who were looking for it saw it.

In the east, there were non-Jewish men who knew the scriptures and eagerly waited for the Messiah and watched for the new star that would signify his birth.

These wise men saw the star and journeyed from their home far away in the east to Jerusalem to worship the baby who would be “King of the Jews.”

They went to the current king of the Jews, Herod the great, and asked where they could find the Christ child.

Herod was not pleased because he was king of the Jews and wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from him. He called the Jewish leadership together and asked them where the scriptures said that the Messiah would be born, and they told him “Bethlehem.”

Herod told the wise men that where to go and asked them how long their had seen the star, and asked them to come tell him where the child was after they had found him, “that I may come and worship him also.” Herod lied.

The wise men went to Bethlehem and followed the star to Joseph and Mary’s house “where the young child was.” At this point Jesus was a toddler.

The wise men fell down and worshipped the baby Jesus and “presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

When it was time to return to their own land, God warned them in a dream “that they should not return to Herod,” so they left another way.

 

Why did Herod want to kill Jesus?

How did the wise men know to follow the star to find the Messiah?

 

Thursday - Family flees to Egypt then returns

After the wise men left, an angel “appeareth to Jospeh in a dream,” telling him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt until he tells them to come back because “Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” Joseph took his little family to Egypt. At this point they were refugees.

When Herod realized that the wise men weren’t coming back to him, he “was exceedingly wroth” and sent his soldiers to Bethlehem and all the cities around to kill all the baby boys under the age of “two years old.”

Herod’s actions were horrific, but were foretold by the prophet Jeremy.

After Herod died, and angel told Joseph in a dream to go back into the land of Israel. Joseph was scared because Herod’s son was king now and he was just as bad as his father. But Joseph had faith in God’s plan and “turned aside into the paths of Galilee.” This also fulfilled a prophecy that Jesus “shall be called a Nazarene.

 

How can parents receive revelation for their family?

What kind of revelation can parents receive?

Who is allowed to receive revelation for who?

 

Friday - Jesus grows up

When Jesus was born, he came to the earth with a veil over the pre-mortal life, just like we did. He didn’t know that he was the Savior or the Messiah, he just thought that he was a normal kid.

Like us, righteousness entitled Jesus to learn from the Holy Ghost, and as he grew up, because he was always righteous, he learned many spiritual things.

“Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

We were born with the same amount of knowledge as Jesus, which means that he had no unfair advantage over us in learning and growth. This also means that we are entitled to learn and grow spiritually just as rapidly and extensively as he did, he we are willing to do what he did.

 

How can we grow like Jesus in wisdom, stature and favor?

Did Jesus develop in a special way that is not accessible to us?

Saturday – Jesus at the temple at 12

• Jewish law required that, if possible, families travel to Jerusalem for the Passover every year.
• When Jesus was 12, his family went to Jerusalem for the feast.
• The family traveled in a large group of people, probably from their town.
• On their way home, Mary and Joseph thought that Jesus was hanging out with his friends in the group and it wasn’t until that night that they realized that Jesus wasn’t in the group traveling home.
• Mary and Joseph went back to Jerusalem and spent 3 days looking for Jesus before they found him in the temple.
• The Bible says that they found him “in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.” This makes it sound like Jesus didn’t know or understand what they were talking about and that they were teaching him.
• What is the Joseph Smith Translation? “Because ‘many plain and precious’ truths were lost from the Bible over the centuries, the Lord commanded Joseph Smith to make an inspired revision of the Bible, known as the Joseph Smith Translation.” When inspired, Joseph Smith was able to make changes to the words found in the Bible. Many times these changes clarified and expanded the words of the Bible.
• The JST changes that Jesus was asking the doctors questions to “and they were hearing him, and asking him questions.” This makes the following verse make more sense, which says, “And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”
• When Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple they asked him why he would do this to them because “thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.”
• Jesus answered “How it is that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” But he obeyed his parents and went home with them.
• Jesus “grew up with his brethren, and waxed strong, and waited upon the Lord for the time of his ministry to come.” Jesus was patient, he wanted to teach the gospel, but it wasn’t time yet, so he waited and was obedient to God’s will.
• “And he served under his father, and he spake not as other men, neither could he be taught; for he needed not that nay man should teach him.”
  
   

• Where did Jesus gain his spiritual wisdom and knowledge that allowed him to answer the questions of the “doctors”?
• Even though Jesus wanted to teach the gospel (a righteous desire) what did he do instead? Obeyed his parents, waited for God’s timing
• Is it possible for us to grow spiritually like Jesus? How?