Alma 39-42

ALMA'S COUNSEL TO CORIANTON (CHAPTERS 39-42)

This lesson consists of the instruction Alma gave to his son Corianton.  Corianton was supposed to be serving a mission, and instead wandered off into dark paths.  Alma provided us with an excellent example in helping the "willfull and wayward" in his treatment of Corianton.  He pointed out the gravity of Corianton's sin and how he needed to change, and then he taught the truths that Corianton needed to better understand in order to make that change. Corianton's behavior needed changing in the worst way. His father taught him in a unique and highly effective way.

First, Alma pointed out what the wrong behavior was (sexual sin; see verses 3-11) and what caused it or led up to it  (not following the example of his older brother/senior companion [verse 1], and boasting in his own strength [verse 2].)  Considering that viewing pornography is a type of sexual sin, and this is serious problem for us today, along with the actual acts of fornication and adultery so common in our society, this chapter is perfectly relevant to us and should be carefully studied.  Disregarding the counsel or example of an older Brother (or of The Brethren) because we think it doesn't apply to us, leads to danger.  "Boasting in our own strength" or thinking that we are immune to the problems pornography or flirtatiousness would present if we engaged in them, leads to becoming ensnared in the grasp of evil.

Next Alma spelled out how the behavior needed to change.  Corianton needed to turn to the Lord with his whole being--no "double life" allowed--and confess his errors.

"And now the Spirit of the Lord doth say unto me:  Command thy children to do good, lest they lead away the hearts of many people to destruction; therefore I command you, my son, in the fear of God, that ye refrain from your iniquities; that ye turn to the Lord with all your mind, might, and strength; that ye lead away the hearts of no more to do wickedly; but rather [remember the importance of the word rather to the Anti-Nephi-Lehies in lesson 26?]  return unto them, and acknowledge your faults and that wrong which ye have done." (Alma 39:13)

What a difference there was between Alma's treatment of a child's misbehavior and the Old Testament prophet Eli's!  (See Bible Dictionary, p. 663) And what a better result Alma achieved than the misery and destruction that fell upon Eli's family and people!

After clearly spelling out Corianton's errors and their gravity, Alma gave Corianton hope, as he himself had received from the words of his own father:

"And now, my son, I would say somewhat unto you concerning the coming of Christ.  Behold, I say unto you, that it is he that surely shall come to take away the sins of the world; yea, he cometh to declare the glad tidings of salvation unto his people.

"And now, my son, this was the ministry unto which ye were called, to declare these glad tidings unto this people, to prepare their minds; or rather that salvation might come unto them, that they may prepare the minds of their children to hear the word at the time of his coming..."  (Alma 39:15-16) 

Here is where Alma's great insight as a spiritually in tune parent came into play.  He was inspired to understand that Corianton's testimony was weak on the subject of salvation, and that was the root of the problem.  President Boyd K. Packer has said, "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.  The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior."  (October 1986 General Conference)  Alma re-taught Corianton the doctrines he had not internalized (which we will study next week), counseled him strongly to repent (Alma 42:29-30), and then he gave Corianton a better purpose in life to replace the sinful one.  (Remember the tennis ball in the pickle jar from a previous lesson?

"And now, O my son, ye are called of God to preach the word unto this people.  And now, my son, go thy way, declare the word with truth and soberness, that thou mayest bring souls unto repentance, that the great plan of mercy may have claim upon them.  And may God grant unto you even according to my words.  Amen."  (Alma 42:31)

What a great example for all of us in our roles as adults leading children!  When children make errors, it is because they somehow did not learn something, even if we were teaching it.  So rather than just criticizing, we can teach it again.  And if it doesn't "take," we teach it again.  And if they slip, we teach it again.  And sometimes, as in the case of Corianton, our love for them combines with our teaching and with the influence of the Holy Ghost to touch their hearts and help them to change.

Savannah and Gary jamming in 1998

(I'm super happy to note that multiple sets of scriptures 

are in clear view--proof we actually read the scriptures as a family,

even if we didn't always put them away.)

HOW ALMA TAUGHT CORIANTON



Look at the first verse of each of these three chapters.  What do you find in common?  They each begin with "I perceive."  How did Alma perceive Corianton's concerns?  Through the Spirit, the only safe way to teach.

The three questions Alma perceived that Corianton had:

1. Resurrection (chapter 40)
2. Restoration (chapter 41)
3. Justice (chapter 42)

RESURRECTION (Chapter 40)

• Resurrection is not immediate after death (verse 6).
• During the interim period, the righteous go to a state of happiness, the wicked to "outer darkness" (verses 12-13)  (This is not THE outer darkness where the sons of perdition will go permanently.  It is Alma's term for the temporary spirit prison.)
• When resurrection happens, the body and soul will be reunited in perfection (verse 23)
• Then there will be a final judgment after which the righteous will inherit the kingdom of God (verse 25) and the wicked will be cast out (verse 26)

 Alma mentioned that there were several things he did not know about death and resurrection (verses 2-5, 8, 19-21).  What can we learn from the fact that Alma testified of the doctrine of resurrection even though he did not know all the details about it?  (We can receive a workable testimony about a concept with only a partial knowledge.  We can also bear testimony [teach] with only a partial knowledge.  It's okay to say "I don't know.")

RESTORATION (Chapter 41)

Who judges us at the initial "restoration"?  In other words, who determines whether we go to paradise or spirit prison?

"I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order." (verse 2)

"The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil..." (verse 5)

"...and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.  Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved."  (verse 7-8)

How is it that we are "our own judges?"  We chose whether to do good or evil in this life, and thus we chose who we become and therefore what we will be restored to after death.

(You may want to do this little object lesson:  Have two long dowels.  Tape a label "righteousness" on one end of one stick, and "happiness" on the other end.  Tape a label "sin" on one end of the other stick, and "misery" on the other end of it.  Ask a class member to choose a stick to pick up.  He can only pick up one stick. If he chooses "sin," of course, he will also be picking up "misery."  Tell him you don't want him to be miserable, so ask him to pick up "sin" without "misery," or pick up "sin" and "happiness."  Of course, it is impossible.  When we choose our actions, we also choose their consequences.  It is impossible to separate the two.)

"Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness.  Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness."  (verse 10)

Happiness is a very confusing concept to people in the world today.  People pursue happiness in many different ways.  It's hard to tell from the outside whether someone is happy or not.  It is helpful to remember that there are different kinds of happiness.  Pleasure is a temporary happiness; joy is a deeper and lasting happiness.

"Laws do not change.  A law, like truth, 'abideth and hath no end' (D&C 88:66).  A theory is tentative, subject to change, and may or may not be true.  A theory is a means to an end, not the end in itself...Laws governing spiritual things were irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundation of the earth (D&C 130:20).  Often young people fail to accept moral and spiritual laws because the laws are not measured by methods they have been accustomed to using.  Physical or natural laws are much easier to demonstrate, and can be useful in teaching about spiritual things.  Let me illustrate.  At 32 degrees Fahrenheit, water freezes and changes from a liquid to a solid.  At 212 degrees Fahrenheit it turns into a gas.  Your students know that and there isn't anything they can do about it--they can't change it.  It can be described accurately or inaccurately, in complicated measurements in Fahrenheit or centigrade or anything else, and nothing that is said about it is going to change it because it operates according to law.  It will freeze or evaporate according to the law.  It should not be difficult to understand that there are basic spiritual laws that have always existed, that never change, that beget consequences, and we can't change them.  The wonder is that we can depend on these spiritual laws.  'Wickedness never was happiness,' and anybody that has tried to find out, has found out.  It is a law."  (Boyd K. Packer, CES Symposium, August 10, 1993, quoted in K. Douglas Bassett, Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon, p. 344-345)

So what will Corianton's reward be?  The same as for everyone else:  a restoration.

"Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.  For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all."  (verses 14-15)

JUSTICE AND MERCY (Chapter 42)

(Show the church video, "The Mediator," available at lds.org (where I can't get it to load--but look at the comments below; another reader found a better link) or on YouTube.

"It has been described this way:  'It really isn't fair that one person should suffer for the sins of others.  It isn't fair that some people can commit horrible crimes and then be completely forgiven and cleansed without having to suffer for them.  It isn't fair that those who labor for only an hour will get the same reward as those who labor all day.  (See Matt. 20:16.)  No, the gospel sometimes isn't fair, but that is actually part of the good news.  It isn't fair--it's merciful, and that God it is so, for no human being can stand acquitted before the demands of absolute justice."  (Stephen E. Robinson, quoted in Ensign, June 2000, p. 32)

"And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.  And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption."  (Alma 34:15-16)

"The choice before us is mercy or justice.  Either choice can be accommodated, and either choice is compatible with the nature and plan of God, but, as in the choice between the Lord and Satan, there are no third alternatives.  Again, life has default settings, and they are set for justice.  We can choose the mercy that is offered through the gospel covenant, but if we refuse that mercy, we will receive justice.  (Stephen E. Robinson, Believing Christ, p. 60)  (This is THE best and simplest book for understanding the Atonement.  Everybody over age 12 really should read this book.) 

"Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds.  If he has desired to do evil, and has not repented in his days, behold, evil shall be done unto him, according to the restoration of God."  (Alma 42:27-28)

Only one of these choices will lead us to the Celestial Kingdom.  Exaltation is only available through the mercy of Christ (Alma 38:9).  "I once wondered if those who refuse to repent but who then satisfy the law of justice by paying for their own sins are then worthy to enter the celestial kingdom.  The answer is no.  The entrance requirements for celestial life are simply higher than merely satisfying the law of justice.  For that reason, paying for our sins will not bear the same fruit as repenting of our sins."  (Bruce C. Hafen, The Broken Heart, p. 7-8)

JUSTICE AND MERCY IN OUR OWN CHARACTERS

"Neither the justice nor the mercy of God can be understood, enjoyed, or emulated without also understanding--and practicing--the charity that is their essence."  (Lance B. Wickman, "Justice and Mercy in the Warm Glow of Charity," Ensign, June 2000, p. 32)

"These principles that are at the heart of the great plan of redemption are also the very essence of the higher law of personal behavior taught by the Savior.  He sought to teach that law in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt. 5-7) and repeated it for the Nephites (see 3 Ne. 12-14).  He sought to call us in our daily living from pedestrian plodding through what is merely just--that is, from giving to each what is due--to the stratospheric flight of mercy.  He has called each of us to give to each person our love whether or not it is due.  Unless we understand this, His mandate to 'be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect' (Matt. 5:48) is subject to gross misunderstanding...Truly, loving others more than self is the essence of the gospel of Christ.  It is the soul of mercy."  (Wickman, p. 33-34)

"God loves us not because we're so lovable he can't help himself--he loves us because his nature is loving, because God is love."  (Robinson, p. 65)  In order to become like God, we need to stop worrying about whether any person around us "merits" our love, and realize that extending charity to others is a product of our character, not theirs.

CONCLUSION


Maybe Alma's counsel to Shiblon would be good counsel for us as parents teaching our children.

"And now, as ye have begun to teach the word [to your children] even so I would that ye should continue to teach; and I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things.

"See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength.

"Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love..."  (Alma 38:10-12)

I challenge you to read these verses every day this week, and allow them to guide your family and/or leadership roles.
  

 My dad's hand with a baby grandson's in 2000

My dad has since died of Alzheimer's Disease

Matthew 28; Luke 24; John 20-21: The Resurrection

Matthew 28; Luke 24; John 20-21

AND NOW FOR THE HAPPIEST OF ENDINGS...

"Alexander the Great, king of Macedon, pupil of Aristotle, conqueror of most of the known world in his time, was one of the world's great young leaders.  After years of exercising military pomp and prowess and after extending his kingdom from Macedonia to Egypt and from Cyprus to India, he wept when there seemed to be no more world to conquer.  Then, as evidence of just how ephemeral such power is, Alexander caught a fever, and died at 33 years of age.  The vast kingdom he had attained virtually died with him.

"Quite a different young leader also died at what seems such an untimely age of 33.  He likewise was a king, a pupil, and a conqueror.  Yet he received no honors from man, achieved no territorial conquests, rose to no political station.  So far as we know, he never held a sword nor wore even a single piece of armor.  But the Kingdom he established still flourishes some 2,000 years later.  His power was not of this world" (Howard W. Hunter, "An Apostle's Witness of the Resurrection, April 1986 General Conference).

Last week we discussed the horrific circumstances of Christ's death.  He was treated with such cruelty, such bitter disregard for the sanctity of the spirit of any man, let alone the Savior of the world.  He was treated as the scum of the earth, and then he died.  He exited this life in ignominy.

At the same time, he entered the next life crowned in greater glory than any human could have.  In paradise and spirit prison, he taught the glorious truths of the gospel, unfettered by any opposition, to the adoration of many of the departed souls who had been waiting to hear it.  (See 1 Peter 3:18-20; D&C 76:72-74; D&C 138.)  He descended in glory from the heavens to the Nephite throng gathered round the temple, accompanied by angels and fire, preaching to a people who would believe it with all their hearts and change their lives accordingly as well as those of their descendants, a change that would last for 200 years.  During this time, he also returned and ministered among his astonished disciples in Jerusalem, at a pre-appointed "solemn assembly" in Galilee, where he was able to teach with such power that the Church was established and enjoyed phenomenal growth after he left, despite persecution.

TURNING THINGS UPSIDE-DOWN

To quote Benson Y. Parkinson, an editor for CES, "An idea that comes up again and again in the scriptures is that sooner or later everything gets turned upside down."  The rich young man must give away his possessions to gain treasure in heaven (Mark 10:21).  The poor widow's mite is greater than the riches of the wealthy (Mark 12:43).  When the rich guests in the parable refuse the king's banquet, the poor are gathered in their place (Luke 14:21).  Brother Parkinson continues, "These reversals are regular enough to plan for.  When the wheel turns, those on top will be on bottom.  The only way to be on top later is to get on the bottom now."  (Benson Y. Parkinson, "Gospel Doctrine Lesson 17," posted 7-24-99 on the old LDS World website, which is no longer available.)

Even the Hebrew social hierarchy was turned upside-down in the Kingdom of God on earth during Christ's ministry. 

(Much of the following information on women in Greco-Roman and Hebrew culture and in the New Testament comes from my personal notes taken during a BYU Campus Education Week Lecture given August 21, 2003 by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, BYU Professor of Church History and Doctrine, entitled, "The Last to Remain, to Return, and to Remember: Women as Witnesses."  Notebook 7:40-44.)

Women were on the lowest rung of the ladder in both the Jewish and the Roman culture.  Jewish women actually had it better than Roman women.  To the Romans infant females were of so little value that they were often abandoned to die, sometimes

to be picked up by someone wealthy who would raise them as slaves, or to be "rescued" by a pagan temple worker and raised to be temple prostitutes.  The Jewish culture had no such heinous practices, but Hebrew women were definitely second-class citizens.  A Jewish man would pray three times a day in gratitude that he was not 1) a gentile, 2) a slave, or 3) a woman.  A woman was not allowed to be a witness in court, because women were not considered intelligent or trustworthy enough to give valid testimony.  Women, by their very nature, were "unclean" for a week of every month because their menstrual cycles caused them to bleed.  (This explains why the woman with the issue of blood did not dare to touch Christ, but only the hem of his garment--Matt. 9:20.)  Hebrew women were vastly inferior to Hebrew men.

But once again, "while men were writing the histories, women were making history," and Christ gave women disciples the greatest of honors as they were doing the lowest of labors.

UNLIKELY WITNESSES OF THE RESURRECTION

Of the four gospels, Luke's is particularly cognizant of women.  As a physician, he worked in one of the few careers in Hebrew society in which a man would daily come into contact with women, and especially in a position of serving women.  (For more on the gospel writers, see a previous post.)  As a Gentile convert, he geared his gospel for others like himself, who had come into the Kingdom of God from other cultures, especially the Greco-Roman culture.

We learn from Luke that the crowd who had followed Jesus from town to town was comprised of women as well as men.  We even learn some of their names.  "And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance" (Luke 8:1-3).  Notice the things we learn from this little scripture:  there was a "certain" group of women who were close to Jesus, they were women who initially possessed debilitating weaknesses whom Jesus had healed (besides the "weakness" of simply being female), and they were women who supported him financially and/or fed him--they personally ministered to him.  (Mary Magdalene was wealthy enough to have anointed Jesus with the very expensive spikenard, and Joanna, being the wife of a royal steward, certainly would have had money and means.  No information is available about Susanna.)

Among these women were the elite group who were the first witnesses to four key events in the history of the world.

1. They witnessed Christ's death on the cross.
2. They witnessed his burial in the new sepulchre.
3. They witnessed the empty tomb, guarded by two angels.
4. They witnessed the resurrected Lord.

No man--not Joseph of Arimathea, not the ruling Romans, not the temple priests, not any of the apostles of the Church of Christ--witnessed all of these things.  Only these women.

WITNESSES OF CHRIST'S DEATH

All three synoptic gospel writers (Matthew, Mark and Luke) record that women were among the last to remain at the cross.  "There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; (who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem" (Mark 15:40-41).  (Salome was the mother of James and John; see Matt. 20:20.)

WITNESSES OF CHRIST'S BURIAL

Joseph, the powerful Sanhedrin member who was secretly a Christian convert, went to Pilate in the evening, and begged the body of Christ, returned to Golgotha, took the body down off the cross, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in his own new sepulchre (Luke 23:50-53).  Somewhere along the way, Nicodemus, also a secret Sanhedrin convert, joined him, bringing massive amounts of burial spices (John 19:38-40).

Matthew, Mark and Luke all record that the women were still there.  Here is how Luke reports it:  "And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after [Joseph], and beheld the [location of] the sepulchre, and how his body was laid" (Luke 23:55).  And they did not approve of "how his body was laid."  It was not done properly, not finished--not necessarily because of neglect of Joseph and Nicodemus, but because of the hour and the coming Sabbath.  But you know women and their Relief Society ways--tablecloths and flower arrangements and fridge magnets and meals.  They were not going to let Jesus be buried in any halfway manner.  So, these women "returned [to their lodging-places] and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

WITNESSES OF THE RESURRECTION

From here on out, it gets confusing as to which women came when, since the different gospel writers were none of them eyewitnesses and were all of them writing much later in the century using second- and third-hand accounts, likely culled from interviews with different women.  I like best the chronology provided in The New Testament with the Joseph Smith Translation, by Steven and Julie Hite, so I'm following theirs.

All four gospel writers make it clear that it was women who came to the sepulchre in the morning.  Different writers mention by name different women, probably because of the reason noted above.

"Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them" (Luke 23:56-24:1).  We can see from the italic print that the King James translators added the word "others" for clarification.  Perhaps they could have better chosen the word "women," which would mean these were the elect "certain women" who had followed him through every village, been healed by him, and ministered to him daily as he ministered to everyone else.  They were going to minister once again.  And once again, they were going to give up certain privileges in society in order to do it, because touching the dead also made one "unclean".

"And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre..." (Mark records that they were wondering, as maybe you were, how they were going to roll that stone away.) "...and two angels standing by it in shining garments.  And they entered into the sepulchre, and not finding the body of the Lord Jesus, they were much perplexed thereabout, and were affrighted, and bowed down their faces to the earth.  But behold, the angels said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.  And they remembered his words..." (Luke 23:2-8 JST in Bible Appendix, p. 807). 

The words the angels were reminding them of are recorded by all three synoptic writers as having been given only to the disciples.  (See Matt. 17:22-23; Mark 9:31-32; and Luke 9:43-44.)  We often assume by "disciples" the writers mean "apostles."  But these women were being told by angels to remember what Jesus spoke to them.  The women were among the elect disciples who heard the prophecy.  Luke records that all of the disciples present at the time "understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying" (Luke 9:45).  So these women were the first to remember the prophecy, and the first to begin to comprehend what it really meant, although their understanding was still incomplete.

(By the way, the Joseph Smith Translation states in all four gospels that two angels were present, that they were sitting or standing outside the tomb, and that the women met them before they entered the empty tomb.  The Joseph Smith Translation also reorders several passages, creating a better match in chronology.  For more on the Joseph Smith Translation, see a previous post.)

THE WITNESS OF WOMEN

The women "returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest...And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not" (Luke 24:9,11; also Mark 16:11).  (See also Matt. 28:8; Mark 16:7-8; John 20:2.)  Why not?  Because women were not valid witnesses.

But Peter and John were either just curious or they had learned at least a little bit about the Savior's trust in women after spending three years with him.  They felt a little hope, and were energized by that hope enough to run.  "So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.  Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.  Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed" (John 20:3-8).  (See also Luke 24:12, which only mentions Peter.  I am assuming Luke interviewed Peter, and John, writing later, filled in his own role.  Some Bible commentators feel that other disciples might have accompanied them.)

Mark and John record that Mary Magdalene returned to the sepulchre, and only John (writing a more in-depth text to Church members) tells of Mary's encounter with the Lord there (Mark 16:9; John 20:11-17).  The two angels were still there and asked why she was weeping.  She didn't yet fully understand the true fulfillment of the prophecy, probably thinking it just meant that Jesus was risen in heaven in some ethereal way, and she still sought the body he left behind.  Turning, she saw a man who asked why she was weeping.  He did not identify himself, but when he spoke her name, the truth dawned upon her, and she recognized her Lord and Savior.  She was commanded not to touch him, since he had not yet ascended to his Father.

It must have been after this, then, that the women again, "went to tell his disciples, [and] behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.  And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him" (Matt. 28:9).  (Knowing the difference in the passage of time between our world and heaven's this might have not been a very long time later.)

In all four accounts, the women witnessed what they had seen to the disciples, in three of the accounts being expressly commanded to witness, and to deliver the message that the Lord would meet the disciples in Galilee (Matt.28:7, 10; Mark 16:7; Luke 24:9; John 20:2, 17).  But the disciples did not believe.

Mark and Luke report of the appearance of the resurrected Lord to two disciples walking the road to Emmaus.  (Who knows?  One may have been a woman, the wife of the other.  Brother Holzapfel thinks it likely, since they lodged together.)  He did not introduce himself.  He waited for them to recognize him.  And when did they finally recognize him?  "And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.  And their eyes were opened, and they knew him" (Luke 24:30-31; see also Mark 16:12).  It was when he blessed the sacrament for them, an experience they had shared with him during his mortal life that recognition dawned upon them.

When they reported to the other disciples, the report was again met with unbelief (Mark 16:13).

We use the phrase "doubting Thomas" because Thomas did not believe the report of the other apostles when they shared with him next marvelous appearance of the risen Lord, when he met with them in the closed room where they dined (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:36-48; John 20:24-28), but it really is unfair.  We could just as well say "doubting apostle" because every one of the apostles doubted the witness the women were commanded to bear.  Mark states that Jesus "upbraided them [all] with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them who had seen him after he was risen" (Mark 16:14).  Thomas was just the last, and received the valuable counsel, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:29).

MEETING THE LORD AGAIN

It is touching to read John's report of what is possibly the sixth time the resurrected Christ appeared among his disciples.  Seven of the apostles were at the Sea of Galilee.  Peter decided to go fishing and the others offered to accompany him.  They were out, of course, in the dark hours of the morning, as fisherman would be, but as the light began to come, a man came and stood upon the shore.  He called to them, asking if they had caught anything.  They said they had not.  Then he said, just as he had done when first he had met them and adjured them to follow him (see Luke 5), "Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.  They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.  Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord" (John 21:6).

Jesus revealed himself to them by choosing this sweet reminiscence of the fateful day at the beginning of his ministry when he made them fishers of men.  Perhaps he wanted them to have the joy of a dawning on their minds, as the dawn of the day was coming, that he was back.  Perhaps he wanted to remind them that their important call to be fishers of men did not end with his death; that they were to cast in their nets and fish for souls until the Church burgeoned out so much that it was a strain to preside over it.  In any interpretation, it was a poignant occurrence--something that one friend might share with another affectionately at a reunion.

Jesus also revealed himself to the disciples he met on the road to Emmaus by a shared memory, the blessing of the sacrament.  And he revealed himself to Mary Magdalene by calling her name, as he had done many times in the past.

Is this the sort of thing that might happen to us when we meet Christ again?  Will we have had personal experiences with him that he could recall to us?  Will we recognize his voice because of the times he spoke to us "before"?  Will we have memories of traversing our life's journey with Christ, so that what he says and what he does to greet us will ring with a joyous familiarity as recognition dawns upon us?

In order to recognize Christ there, we need to learn to know him here.  For "this is life eternal" (John 17:3).  We need to study his word, listen to his guiding Spirit, and recognize the workings of the Lord in our daily lives, for the last verse of the gospel of John is still happening all over the world and in every individual's life who will see it today:  "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." (John 21:25)

THE CHANGE CHRIST WROUGHT AMONG THE SAINTS

The letter to the Galatians written by Paul shows the immense change that Christ made in the culture within the Church by his treatment of women during his life, and by his design for them to be witnesses of his resurrection.  Paul was a Jewish Pharisee, and a Roman (see Bible Dictionary and Acts 23:27):  not exactly a set-up for tolerance of others.  But he received the gospel whole-heartedly upon his conversion, and by the time he wrote to the Galatians, he had completely reversed the thrice-daily prayer of the Jewish man.  Rather than praying in "holier-than-thou" gratitude for not being Gentile, not being a slave and not being a woman, he counseled the church, "for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one [and equals] in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26-28).

We may be no better than the early disciples in some of our personal doubts, incomplete understandings of the gospel, and prejudices towards others.  We must be open, as was Paul, to allowing the Savior to change our perspectives, and even sometimes to completely turn them upside-down, that we may be found in the resurrection at the top with Christ where all people are equal and all doctrines and purposes are clear.

Old Testament Lesson #43 "The Shepherds of Israel"

Ezekiel 18, 34, 37

PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Whereas previously in the Old Testament, the Lord has promised that the sins of the fathers will be upon the heads of the children until "the third and fourth generations" (see Exo. 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deut. 5:9), in Ezekiel 18, this message is changed.  Now, the Lord says, each person is accountable for himself.  His father may be evil, but he can choose to be righteous.  This has many comforting implications for us of the latter-days as well.  It is nice to know that we are not doomed by genetics or environment to commit whatever sins or weaknesses our parents may have possessed.  Each generation can have a fresh start.  This is the message of the entire chapter, concluding with this encouraging cheer:  "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?...Wherefore, turn yourselves, and live ye" (18:31-32).

CHURCH LEADERSHIP & CHRIST AS OUR SHEPHERD

Chapter 34 is a scathing rebuke to church leaders (shepherds of Israel) who have misused power, misinterpreted scripture, and misled those seeking the truth, juxtaposed (there's that word again!) against the perfect example of Christ as a true Shepherd.  Verses 17-25 are a symbolic representation of the Great Apostacy.

Double-clicking on the following pages should pull them up in a separate window where they can be easily read.  Unfortunately, the blogger would not accept a .pdf document file, so they are picture files, and don't equal a normal page size.  But by right-clicking on them, and choosing "Save Picture As," they can each be saved and inserted into a Word document, re-sizing as desired, and then the document can be printed off and given to class members as a handout.  Please be sure to copy and paste in the reference, which is printed below the pages.

Information on the shepherds of the Holy Land comes from Dr. Carl Stanley, “Beside Still Waters,” Saturday Evening Post, March/April 2002.

THE GLORY OF THE RESURRECTION

Chapter 37 contains the vision of the dry bones, famed in American Negro spirituals.  What imagery about the great power of the resurrection could be more vivid than a vast and gruesome graveyard full of unburied bones--perhaps the site of a horrific battle--suddenly becoming animated?  There is a rattling sound, a shaking, as the bones clatter up and reassemble themselves.  Then the flesh and skin appear and reattach themselves.  A wind, or a spirit (see footnote 9a), breathes life into the bodies.  The spirits, the breath, comes from "the four winds" or from all the areas of the earth (see symbolism for the number 4 in a previous entry under "Chapter 15 Clarifications).  Who are these dead revived?  "These bones are the whole house of Israel" who had lost hope, who seemed dead.  But the Lord can reach His people, even beyond the grave, and restore them to their rightful place.

Here is another vision with dual meaning:  Besides the obvious message of the Resurrection, another message just as vital is that the children of Israel who were spiritually dead, cut off the from the knowledge of their Savior, and scattered to all the atheistic lands of the earth, will be brought back to the spiritual life and light of the gospel.

This will be accomplished by the conjoining of the Book of Mormon and the Bible (the stick of Joseph and the stick of Judah).  Then the Lord will be able to make an "everlasting covenant" with them, setting His temples "in the midst of them" (v. 26-27).