Mormon testifies he was commanded
not to record all things, and he complied. Here, he ends his observations and
continues with his record.
“‘The Book of Mormon . . . was
written for our day,’ President Benson asserted recently. ‘Under the
inspiration of God, who sees all things from the beginning,’ he said, Mormon ‘abridged
centuries of records, choosing the stories, speeches, and events that would be
most helpful to us."1 Hugh Nibley, who might be called the patron saint of
FARMS, has similarly said that ‘the matter in the Book of Mormon was selected,
as we are often reminded, with scrupulous care and with particular readers in
mind. For some reason there has been chosen for our attention a story of how
and why two previous civilizations on this continent were utterly destroyed.’
Our own world at the end of the twentieth century, Nibley believes, ‘is the
world with which the Book of Mormon is primarily concerned.’
“Looking at this world, Moroni
declares, ‘I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But
behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing’ (Mormon
8:35). Writers such as Moroni and his father are, however, actually secondary
authors of the Book of Mormon; the primary author is Jesus Christ. As Mormon
affirms, ‘I . . . do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord’
(3 Nephi 26:12).”[1]
During His three-day ministry, he
appeared to them frequently. “This is now the third time that Jesus shewed
himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead” (John 21:14). “And
Jesus again showed himself unto them, for they were praying unto the Father in
his name; and Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and said unto them:
What will ye that I shall give unto you” (3 Nephi 27:2).
It is significant Mormon points
out that a major part of His ministry often consisted of the Sacrament. We see how important the taking of the
Sacrament is as a part of our worship of Christ.
He continued to teach and
minister to the children of the multitude. Their tongues were loose and the
spoke many great things. “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I
thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father;
for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Luke 10:21).
“And now, he imparteth his word
by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all;
little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the
wise and the learned” (Alma 32:23).
“In an initial reading, Christ's involvement with the
children on the first day would appear to be a late change of plan, leading
eventually to a natural unfolding of his love for the people and their ‘little
ones.’ Further examination, however, suggests that his loving, blessing, and
teaching the children must have been an integral part of his mission to people
in the New World, a sacred element that touches the hearts of those who read of
it even today. Attempting to ‘liken all scriptures unto us . . . for our profit
and learning’ (1 Nephi 19:23), we now consider the possible purposes of his
three-day ministry from the points of view of the children themselves, the
parents and other adults, the disciples, and the students of the record…
“Indeed, the Savior’s teaching of
the children was so effective that they served as teachers of the adults, those
of the first generation. Having their tongues loosened by Jesus, these children
“did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things, even greater than he
[the Savior] had revealed unto the people” (3 Nephi 26:14). The next day the
multitude gathered and were pupils even to babes who taught such marvelous
things that the adults were forbidden to write them (see 26:16).”[2]
The second time Christ appeared,
he healed the sick and lame, opened the eyes of the blind, the deaf heard, and
He raised a man from the dead. This was done to show them His power.
“And it came to pass that when he
had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their
sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their
dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them
every one as they were brought forth unto him” (3 Nephi 17:9).
“It is interesting to wonder—even
if this cannot be known for sure—if any of the lame, halt, or maimed whom Jesus
healed at this time had been injured in the great destructions that had
recently occurred at the time of the death of Jesus himself. If so, one may
well imagine that his compassion was intensified by his commiseration, knowing
that they all had suffered at the same time as he had in consequence of the
destructions that accompanied his atoning sacrifice. The healing blessings of
the Lord continued on the second day as well, when he ‘healed all their sick, .
. . raised a man from the dead, and had shown forth his power unto them’
(3 Nephi 26:15).”[3]
[1] The
Book of Mormon, Designed for Our Day, Annual FARMS Lecture, 27 February
1990, Richard Dilworth Rust, Maxwell Institute website.
[2] The
Savior and the Children in 3 Nephi, M. Gawain Well, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Volume 14, number 1, 2005 pgs. 66,
68.
[3] Seeing
Third Nephi as the Holy of Holies of the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other
Restoration Scripture 19/1 (2010): 51.
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