Nephi continues his Messianic writings. He reiterates what he wrote in his great
vision while still in the Old World. He
reminds us of Lehi’s vision.
And
he spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the Messiah, to
prepare the way of the Lord—
Yea,
even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, and make his paths straight; for there standeth one among you whom ye
know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to
unloose. And much spake my father concerning this thing.
And
my father said he should baptize in Bethabara, beyond Jordan; and he also said
he should baptize with water; even that he should baptize the Messiah with
water.
1 Nephi 10:7-9
And
I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, of whom my father had spoken;
and I also beheld the prophet who should prepare the way before him. And the Lamb of God went forth and was
baptized of him; and after he was baptized, I beheld the heavens open, and the
Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abide upon him in the form of a dove.
1 Nephi 11:27
Nephi asks an important question. If Christ, being holy, needs to be baptized,
why wouldn’t we, being unholy, also need to be baptized? John made the purpose of his baptisms
clear.
I
indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Whose
fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat
into the garner [GR storehouse]; but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire.
Then
cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
But
John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to
me?
And
Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer [GR Permit it now] it to be so now: for
thus it becometh [GR is fitting for us] us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
And
Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway [GR immediately] out of the
water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
And
lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.
Matthew 3:11-17
See
also JST Matt. 3:38–40 (Appendix); JST Matt. 3:43–46 (Appendix)
Christ was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. How was being baptized fulfilling all righteousness?
The Savior explained why He did what He did. “I can
of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just;
because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me”
(John 5:30).
Christ showed “unto
the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the
Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in
keeping his commandments” (2 Nephi 31:7).
Richard Lloyd Anderson explains the importance of Christ
fulfilling all righteousness.
The sacrament renews the baptismal
covenant in the Book of Mormon. American prophets taught the religious
necessity of baptism and the clear doctrinal purposes for it. The most striking
teaching is that baptism was required even for the Savior. The visionary Nephi
saw the future mission of Jesus, including Christ's baptism (1 Nephi 11:27).
Speaking by inspiration afterward, Nephi explained the Savior's insistence on
baptism at John's hands: "For thus it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). Since Nephi had a vision of this baptism,
he evidently heard these words. He explains that Jesus' immersion was an act
that "witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in
keeping his commandments" (2 Nephi 31:7). Here Nephi's language indicates
more than the humility required to keep the commandment of baptism. He heard
Christ's voice declaring immersion as a covenant for believers, who by that act
"witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my
commandments" (2 Nephi 31:14). As quoted above, Nephi applies similar
phraseology to Christ's immersion, really teaching that the Savior set the
example by baptism as a promise of future virtue.[1]
Noel Reynolds continues.
When men love their evil ways, it
is not easy to turn away to a path of obedience to the Lord. Nephi reports the
instructions of the Father and the Son through which he learned that this
turning to follow the Son could not be accomplished unless one acts "with
full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but
with real intent, repenting of your sins" (2 Nephi 31:13). The strictness
of this new path is clear. An iron rod runs along it, leading directly to the
tree of life. The path is called both "strait" (2 Nephi 33:9) and
"narrow" (Jacob 6:11). The iron rod represents the words of Christ or
the Holy Ghost which "will show unto you all things what ye should
do" (2 Nephi 32:5). Instead of continuing a life of choosing whatever
appeals to one's fancy at the moment, the repentant convert to Christ commits
to a life of obeying Christ's choices for him at every step of the way. The
choice to repent is a choice to burn bridges in every direction in the decision
to follow forever only one way, the one path that leads to eternal life.
It is the severity of this demand
that requires the convert to Christ to "come down into the depths of
humility" (3 Nephi 12:2) as a preparation for baptism. In Nephi's vision,
Jesus himself gave this example, humbling himself before the Father, and
witnessing that he would be obedient in keeping his commandments (see 2
Nephi 31:7). This same humility and willingness to obey was depicted in another
image when Jesus taught the Nephites directly that they "must repent, and
become as a little child" (3 Nephi 11:37; cf. 11:38) or come unto him
"as a little child" (3 Nephi 9:22). Describing the general practice
of the Nephite church centuries later, Moroni specified that none were baptized
until they had "brought forth fruit meet that they were worthy of
it," including demonstrating "a broken heart and a contrite
spirit" and witnessing to the church that they had "truly repented of
all their sins" and had taken upon them the name of Christ with a
"determination to serve him to the end" (Moroni 6:1–3; cf. Alma
12:15; 13:13).[2]
[1]
Religious
Validity: The Sacrament Covenant in Third Nephi, Richard Lloyd Anderson, Maxwell Institute,
accessed January 18, 2014.
[2]
The
True Points of My Doctrine, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute,
accessed January 18, 2014.
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