The Words of Christ

Matthew 25:14-30 This is not a story about exchanging money and the proper way in which to invest money that has been entrusted to our care (though I suppose that on the surface we could extract that lesson), but rather this is a story of being teachable and acting on the teachings that one has received. A footnote on a similar verse found in Matthew 13:12 reveals the essence of this parable: " For whosoever receiveth, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever continueth not to receive, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. " (Joseph Smith Translation - Matthew 13:10-11) Or in other words, he that receives the Word of God and acts upon it, he will be blessed to receive more of the word of God, which is also God's enabling power to do more good. But if we will not receive the words of Christ when he would give them to us, we shall loose even that which we have received. There is a Spirit that is familiar to me as I read thes...

John 5 Christ is found at Jerusalem during an important time of the year according to Jewish tradition. He conducts himself to a place where a great number of the sick are found, and address a man who had been in that place for many years now (38 years). The question that he asks is soul stirring for it has multiple layers of meaning: "Wilt thou be made whole?" ( vs. 6 ) Jesus heals the man and then commands him to pick up his bed and carry it away from that place. It so happened to be the Jewish sabbath, and the act of carrying a bed was considered to be a violation of the sabbath. When questioned why he was carrying his bed, the healed man responded, "He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk" Later, Jesus finds the man in the temple and admonishes him, "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." ( vs. 14 ) The man that was healed, perhaps not fully understanding the malicious intent ...

3 Nephi 11:21-40 Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them—Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.( vs. 23 ) The Savior, in this introductory instruction to the Nephite disciples, clearly and simply lays out the doctrines of his gospel: faith unto repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. Stepping back to verse 21 , the significance of this verse is eternal. Christ gives to Nephi the power to perform the ordinance of baptism, which is both recognized on earth and in heaven. Outside the ordinances of the priesthood, there is none other covenant nor pact nor agreement that can be made on earth and that is recognized in the eternal realms. Throughout these verses, the Savior iterates that with this instruction on baptism there should be no disputations, contention, nor disunity among them. He emphasizes this point by ex...