The Mortal Ministry of the Messiah

The life and ministry of Jesus Christ has been the most discussed, analyzed, and intriguing periods of history. Indeed, many sermons of Christians and volumes upon volumes of books have been in existence both looking forward to and reflecting back upon the meridian of time in which our Lord lived. While a full analysis of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is not fully possible, we will discuss the key important details of the life and ministry of our Lord and Savior.

It must be understood that all prophets before Christ testified of His mortal ministry. The Book of Mormon clearly and plainly prophecies of the Christ's mortal ministry. King Benjamin, a prophet-king who lived about 125 years before Christ's birth, prophecied to his people about the Son of God's ministry,

 "For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.

And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.

And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.

And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men." (Mosiah 3:5-10)

 

This prophecy is not alone in the Book of Mormon. Nephi, the leader of the first Nephites and a prophet who lived 600 years before Christ, had a vision of the tree of life. He desired to understand what it meant, so an angel of God showed him what the love of God meant. Nephi later wrote,

"And I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship him....
And I looked [again] 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.
And I beheld that he went forth ministering unto the people, in power and great glory; and the multitudes were gathered together to hear him; and I beheld that they cast him out from among them.
And I also beheld twelve others following him. And it came to pass that they were carried away in the Spirit from before my face, and I saw them not.
And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the heavens open again, and I saw angels descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them.
And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men. And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.
And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record.
And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world." (1 Nephi 11:24, 27-33)

Though the Old Testament again and again testifies of the coming of the Messiah, the Book of Mormon makes very plain what the Messiah would do in the meridian of time during his mortal ministry. The testimony of these ancient prophets, though carefully recorded, were rejected by men who refused to believe and did not want to know of redemption or the path back to our Father. Indeed, all prophets have testified of Christ, and their testimonies were eventually rejected.

While I will not recount the entire New Testament at this point, I will highlight some very important points as if we had been there and witnessed these acts for ourselves.

We would behold and bear witness that He performed mighty miracles, such as we have never seen before, and all this was due to the faith of those being healed.

We would hear his mighty sermons concerning what we should do in our lives to live His Gospel and these would cause our hearts to burn within us and utter, "Never spake any man like this!"

We would see Him submit to the will of the Father in all things and "leaving us an example, that [we] should follow his steps" (1 Peter 2:21).

We would see Him have the experiences of mortality and see the great Jehovah as a man, walking on the dusty roads of the Holy Land, hungering and thirsting as a mortal, and truly marvel that the God of Israel would desire to have such common experiences.

We would behold that those twelve men Nephi saw were called to be apostles of the Lamb and were given authority to preach the Gospel and perform the saving ordinances of the Gospel. (see Matthew 10:1-10)

We would behold that Christ further promised the keys of the Kingdom to the Apostles and testify that the rock of revelation would be the foundation upon which His Church is built and see that promised fulfilled by angels and by Christ being transfigured (Matthew 16:13-20; Matthew 17:1-13).

We would see Christ showing compassion on the weak and poor in spirit, showing mercy to those who were without hope, being an light to those who were in darkness and marvel, "Surely this must be the promised Messiah".

We would behold him exercise His mighty power over the elements in calming the raging seas, feeding of the multitudes and walking upon His footstool here and marvel, "What manner of man is this; that even the winds and seas obey him?"

We would behold Him institute the sacrament, in remembrance of his Atonement. In that sacred garden of Gethsemane, we would see our Lord suffer under a burden far greater than we could fathom. We would silently weep as we see him sweat great gouts of blood from every pore for our sins so we might live with God on conditions of repentance.

We would see a man despised and rejected of men as the rulers of the day unlawfully try him and find him worthy of death. We would see Him sent to Roman leaders to be scourged and mutter, "By His stripes, we are healed," as we watch Him suffer from pain and agony. Finally on the cross, we would see a God die and give His life willingly. We would mourn as He suffered, bled and died.

We would see Him rise from the grave on the third day and rejoice in the messianic word that our Lord would rise from the tomb and live again. We would shed tears of gratitude in knowing His resurrection grants each man the chance to live again. We would feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and cry, "My Lord and my God!" as we bathe His feet in our tears.

 

Finally, we would behold Him ascend into Heaven and hear the angel bear record that He would return again in like manner and we would pray that day would be soon.

 

I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. His ministry and life are unlike anything else that has occurred in history. He cannot be a mere moral philosopher nor a great moral man. We must come to know that He our Messiah, our Savior and Redeemer and He desires us to follow after Him in the paths of righteousness. I know that God so loved the world, that he sent His only begotten Son, that whoso believeth on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. May God grant that we might be able to better study the life of our Lord and be inspired to follow Him is my plea, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

For further and for more in depth reading on Christ's life from an LDS persepective, refer to Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage and to The Messiah series by Bruce R. McConkie

The Nature of God

Having defined God as the ultimate source of all truth, we are led to explore the nature and character of the Being which we refer to as God. We will also explore the origins of the knowledge of God as was first revealed to mankind. Without a knowledge of God’s nature and character it is impossible to exercise faith in Him which leads to life and salvation (Romans 10:14). We can also learn the necessity of knowing who God is in the book of John, seventeenth chapter and third verse: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Eternal life, which is to inherit life with God and all that He has, is not impossible for us to achieve without a correct knowledge of who God is.  

The knowledge which we have concerning God has come through revelation, for which we are indebted to Him, “because without the revelations which he has given to us for a correct understanding of his character, perfections, and attributes; because without the revelations which he has given to us, no man by searching could find out God” (Lectures on Faith 3:7). In 1st Corinthians, chapter 2 and verses 9,10, and 11 we read, “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him; but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God” (see also Job 11:7, 8, 9 ).  So, the next step would be to examine the character of God which we have received from those revelations.

God is our Heavenly Father. We are His children (Romans 8:16). He has a body which is glorified and perfect (D&C 130:22; Gen. 1:27). His purposes are to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39; see also Rom. 8:17). “The Lord God [is]...merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6; see also Psalms 90:2). He is just and slow to anger (Psalms 103:17,18), creator of the heavens (Hebrews 1:10), unchangeable and eternal (Hebrews 1:12; Malachi 3:6; D&C 35:1; James 1:17), a God of truth who cannot lie (Numbers 23:19; Doctrine and Covenants 3:2), full of love (John 4:8), and is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34, 35).

To be familiar with God’s possession of these divine attributes is necessary for any rational being to have faith centered in Him sufficient for salvation. For if a person does not believe Him to be God, then faith in Him could not exist, for fear that something above God would have power to ruin God’s plans; but seeing that He is God over all, from everlasting to everlasting, no such faith can exist in the minds of those who put their trust in Him. If He were not merciful and slow to anger, the weakness and frailties of man, without belief that these divine attributes existed, would make unwavering faith impossible.  Doubt would take the place of faith, for those who are aware of their weakness and liability to sin would be in constant doubt whether they are qualified for salvation. But with the knowledge that He is forgiving, long-suffering, slow to anger, and merciful, faith is strengthened. If God were not unchangeable, doubt, again, would take the place of faith, because an individual would be in constant fear that the actions which please God today might not please God tomorrow.  However, knowing that He does not change, one can place faith in Him with unshakable confidence. Knowing that He is a God of truth who cannot lie makes it possible to have the utmost assurance that He will never work in deceit. Knowing that He is no respecter of persons places us all on equal ground in the eyes of God, and we need not doubt which privileges are ours or question what privileges belong to another. We then know that each has the authority by faith to lay hold on eternal life. “And lastly,...is the idea that He is love; for with all the other excellencies in His character, without this one to influence them, they could not have such powerful dominion over the minds of men; but when the idea is planted in the mind that He is love, who cannot see the just ground that men of every nation, kindred, and tongue, have to exercise faith in God so as to obtain eternal life?” (Lectures on Faith 3:24).

Having determined the attributes of God, we continue by exploring the origins of the knowledge of God’s existence. We turn to the historian, Moses, to aid us in our exploration. Beginning in the first chapter of Genesis with verses 26-30, we learn the situation of man at his first creation. He was given dominion over all things on the earth, and thereby was governor over the earth. He also enjoyed communion with his Maker without a veil to separate them.  From Chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis we learn of the fall of man and of his expulsion from the Garden of Eden. From these chapters we are shown an important item. Despite man’s transgression, he was not deprived of his previous knowledge of the existence and glory of his Creator, and actually received additional affirmation of His existence when he again talked with God and received commandments from Him.  Further, in verses 1 through 15 of chapter 4 in Genesis, we learn that not only did Adam witness manifestation of his Maker’s existence after his transgression, but likewise Cain, after his great transgression against his brother, received a personal knowledge of God’s existence. We also see that Abel offered sacrifices according to the knowledge passed on by his father, and with this we see that such fundamental information concerning God was passed down from father to son in like manner. In chapter 5 we are able to trace the genealogy of Noah to Adam. From this we learn that the Lamech, who is the father of Noah, Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalaleel, Cainan, Enos and Seth all lived to see both the death of Adam and the birth of Noah. Each heard from Adam his testimony of God, who He is and that He does exist. “From the foregoing it is easily to be seen, not only how the knowledge of God came into the world, but upon what principle it was preserved; that from the time it was first communicated, it was retained in the minds of righteous men, who taught not only their own posterity, but the world; so that there was no need of a new revelation to man, after Adam’s creation to Noah, to give them the first idea or notion of the existence of a God; and not only of a God, but the true and living God” (Lectures on Faith 2:44). Noah also communed with God, and in chapter 10 we see that eight men were acquainted with both Noah and Abraham, these men being Shem, Arphaxad, Salah, Eber, Reu, Serug, Terah, and Nahor, the brother of Abraham. With this we see that the knowledge of the existence of God began with the creation mankind, and was passed from father to son. The first idea that entered into man’s mind was that of God’s existence, and we cannot suppose that this important fact would remain in the mind of any rational being unless he made it known to his posterity.

Despite these histories, some may choose to deny the existence of such a being. The reality of the existence of God cannot be decided by human counsels or worldly philosophies, nor does it depend on an individual's desire to believe. God exists, or He does not. Let’s briefly explore this idea. You are presented with a box, inside which is a cat. The cat is either dead, or it is alive. Simply opening the box does not change that reality. Likewise, choosing to worship or not worship a Supreme Being does not change the reality of His existence. By examining the intricate details of creation around us, the human reason strongly declares the existence of God. James Talmage taught in his book Articles of Faith, “The mind, already imbued with the historical truths of the divine existence and its close relationship with man, will find the confirmatory evidence in nature on every side; and even to him who rejects the testimony of the past and assumes to set up his own judgment as superior to the common belief of ages, the multifarious evidences of design in nature appeal. The observer is impressed by the manifest order and system in creation; he notes the regular succession of day and night providing alternate periods of work and rest for man, animals, and plants; the sequence of the seasons, each with its longer periods of activity and recuperation; the mutual dependence of animals and plants; the circulation of water from sea to cloud, from cloud to earth again, with beneficent effect. As man proceeds to the closer examination of things he finds that by study and scientific investigation these proofs are multiplied many fold. He may learn of the laws by which the earth and its associated worlds are governed in their orbits; by which satellites are held subordinate to planets, and planets to suns; he may behold the marvels of vegetable and animal anatomy, and the surpassing mechanism of his own body; and with such appeals to his reason increasing at every step, his wonder as to who ordained all this gives place to adoration for the for the Creator whose presence and power are thus so forcefully proclaimed; and the observer becomes a worshiper” (Articles of Faith, Talmage, 29).  Alma, a prophet from the Book of Mormon also stated, “The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yeah, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 30:44).

Although we discussed the physical and philosophical facts concerning the existence of God, only by confirmation from God Himself through His Holy Spirit can one truly come to know of His reality. As earlier mentioned, all which we know of God has come by means of revelation from Him. Therefore, only through personal revelation and confirmation from God can one, with confidence, know that He is. God will answer the prayers of those truly seeking for knowledge and understanding, for Christ himself taught, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). I testify that God exists, for I have personally felt His calming reassurance and confirmation. I know that He lives and plays an active role in the lives of those who love Him. I invite all who may have doubts or unbelief to humbly and sincerely ask God, in the name of Christ, for an affirmation that He does exist. I know if you do so with real intent, having faith that God will answer, He will answer by placing feelings in your heart and thoughts in your mind.