3 Nephi 28:8-22

Speaking to the three who desired to tarry until He returned, Christ told them they will never experience death. When He returns, they will “be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality” (3 Nephi 28:8).

While alive, they will not experience pain nor sorrow, unless it is for the sins of the world. We read the experienced this sorrow before the destruction of the Nephites. “And from this time the disciples began to sorrow for the sins of the world” (4 Nephi 1:44).

“And there are none that do know the true God save it be the disciples of Jesus, who did tarry in the land until the wickedness of the people was so great that the Lord would not suffer them to remain with the people; and whether they be upon the face of the land no man knoweth” (Mormon 8:10).

Through their work, they will have a fulness of joy. They will enter into the kingdom of His Father. “[Y]e shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one” (3 Nephi 28:10). Dr. Daniel C Peterson observes, “it seems to me that 3 Nephi 28: 10 contains a subtle but unmistakable allusion to a doctrine of human deification.”[1]

Then, Christ touched the three with one finger, and departed. With that. The heavens opened and the three were caught up into heaven. They “saw and heard unspeakable things” (3 Nephi 28:13).                                                                                                                

Paul recorded another’s similar experience.

“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

“And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

“How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful [GR permitted] for a man to utter” (1 Corinthians 12:2-4).

“[J]ust a few verses later, at 3 Nephi 28:13-16, we find what might well be an analogy to Latter-day Saint temple ritual, which takes the form of an ascension rite and which likewise involves the communication of matters that are not to be publicly taught or discussed.”[2]

Mormon breaks into his narrative at this point.  We do not know what occurred. He doesn’t know if they remained mortal or became immortal. All he knows is what is in the record. They went forth throughout the land.  They ministered and taught the people, doing all they could to bring many into the church. They taught, baptized, and gave those who were baptized the gift of the Holy Ghost.  

Mormon shares some persecutions the three endured.

·        They were cast into prison and the prison could not hold them. The prisons were destroyed.

·        They were buried in the earth, but they smote the earth and they were delivered. No pits were dug that would hold them.

·        They were cast into fire three times and came to no harm.

·        They were cast into a den of wild beasts and played with them as though they were tame.

“Significantly, the power of the word of God over natural elements can be transferred to individuals, a common theme in scripture. When this happens, the word of God is often characterized as the release of a power not intrinsic to the person speaking. In many of these instances the power of the word of God is tied directly to miracles.”[3]

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[1] Chattanooga Cheapshot, or The Gall of Bitterness, Daniel C. Peterson, Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 5/1 (1993): 58.

[2] Ibid.

[3] The Word of God, Leslie A. Taylor, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies Volume 12, Number 1, 2003: 57.