3rd Nephi 12-16: Come Follow Me Book of Mormon with Sam

 Welcome to Come Follow Me with Sam! We are going full swing into the teachings of Jesus on the continent. The exquisite simplicity of Christ's words makes us sometimes discount them as platitudes or simple moral teachings. And while in a way they are the simplest and easiest to understand, they are also the richest and deepest message to the world that any of us could possibly hope for. Remember that Christ knew he had come down to earth to redeem all mankind; there is no being who has walked with earth with a greater burden or a higher knowledge of Godliness. My comments here are mostly my own but I hope they lend insight to your own study of someone can can truly and gratefully say is The Master.

A little more on our relationship to Christ's teachings.

post-script to the introduction here. In zen Buddhism, there is the concept that you cannot gain enlightenment from any other person. Mumon ends his zen Buddhist text with the words 'The words and the actions left by Buddha and the patriarchs in these forty-eight Ko-ans are as precise as laws and judgments, and therein nothing superfluous is contained. They are here in order that each one of you will immediately grasp truth and must not try to obtain it vicariously from others.

It has to be a direct relationship and the Buddha. All the cases, koans, proverbs, and teachings are no replacement for having a true relationship with the source of good. I feel like it is the same with Jesus Christ. We should read His words, being careful to always be seeking Christ himself, without intermediary of commentary. The commentary is the staff or compass. the destination is life eternal.

Good, now I need to also bring up the fact that in the same paragraph mumon reminded us 'If you are able to edify the wisdom of differences, the universe will be well in at peace', because I'm about to tell you something that sounds like a paradox. Try to understand the wisdom of differences here because the first thing Christ says in Chapter 12 is that we are going to be blessed if we listen to the words of our leaders. I know there is a zeitgeist of dislike of authority in current culture, and also, a general spirit of making things transparent, and with true transparency comes a 'Speaker of the Dead' moment where we realize leaders are human and make lots of mistakes.

The key here is first that all good leaders point to Christ. They are just pointers and helpers along the way. The second part is in the same sentence where Christ says 'Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen'. He says they will baptize with water (symbolically the earthly effort to follow Christ) and He will baptize with fire (symbolically the heavenly ability to follow Christ).

Here is the take-away: if Christ chooses someone to be your servant and leader, you need to respect that calling. You don't want to make light of a decision Christ made, because you don't want to look like you can choose better than Christ. That will not lead you to happy places. You need to sustain your leaders when they are chosen by Christ. Two corollaries to this are first, that if that leader is not chosen by Christ, you can still choose to follow them according to their own merits, but it is presumptive to lead a church of Christ while not actually being delegated the authority by Christ, unless you explicitly acknowledge the humility of your situation. Second, Christ doesn't need or want blind obedience to leaders. He wants faithful, hopeful 'heed' to leaders.

The Beatitudes

The beatitudes are fascinating. They seem like straightforward blessings for general traits, something that is nice to have. Yet Christ taught these both in the Old World and in the New World, and it seems as though he taught them close to the commencement of His ministry in both places, like they were the foundation of the further teachings, or a stepping stone to understand the rest.

Cleon Skousen said that the key to the beatitudes is the 'who come unto me' line. Every beatitude should be read as 'blessed are the <blank> [who come unto me] for they shall <have blank>. Jesus seems to be painting a picture of a world we don't have today but one which, through Christ's power, we can pursue, guided by these beatitudes

I was thinking about the beatitudes one day and it occurred to me that the promise is somewhat logical to the action. Here are my thoughts

3 Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Introductory blessing - if you are humble enough to follow Christ, you are going make it.

4 And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. - Straight-forward enough. the key is the 'come unto me again'. Christ is promising that there actually is respite from sadness, or in other words, that they atonement literally can deliver someone from all loss they receive on earth. Usually we think of the classic death/resurrection case, but this is a pattern to cover weakness, setback, stigmatism, failure etc. Think of that time when you were really embarrassed in high school, or when you loved someone who broke up with you. It covers these things as well.

5 And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. - Most church members have no clue what meekness is - it's no wonder we can't explain it. Jordan Peterson's explanation is best (not perfect): you have your sword at your side, you know how to use it, you keep it sheathed. Meekness requires strength by definition. I'm not sure why they logically inherit the earth on this one, but maybe I'll figure it out when I learn more about meekness myself.

6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. - This is a gospel baptismal promise, and one that Alma and Moroni talk about quite a bit. The promise refers to the Gift of the Holy Ghost and consequential connection to heaven. The key in my mind to this teaching is to have no guile or motive other than righteousness, wherever that takes us. hunger and thirst hint at this meaning: we aren't picking and choosing, we are seeking nourishment on its own terms and we accept it as is because we need that food for our body, so is righteousness food for our spirit.

7 And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. - I think of this more in the days of final judgement. Those who show Christ-like mercy on earth are known by God and will receive the fulfillment themselves.

8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God. - This is something that I think builds on hungering and thirsting after righteousness. you seek righteousness on its own terms, you purify yourself of all un-Godliness, and any insincerity, and how then can God be held back from dwelling with you?

9 And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. - the Mumonkan ends with saying that if you can resolve the paradoxes (edify the wisdom of differences), the universe will be at peace. There is a special divineness at being at peace. God in a way is the source of peace, and all beings and materials can order themselves on that peace. Those who magnify that peace can not help but be the children of God, as directly as the fact that what they do is in exact pattern as God. Peacemaking is also tragically misunderstood in the gospel. It doesn't mean eliminate argument. It is much, much deeper than that. It is helping people to find peace with themselves, with everything around them, and with their fellow man. It is remarkable how close the Buddhist treasures are about finding this great peace with everything as well. We could probably learn some peace-making from them. I think the book 'The Anatomy of Peace' did a great job of talking on this subject as well.

10 And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - this is the same wording as the poor in spirit. straight-forward.

The Salt of the Earth

It is a strange fate that some few can receive the gospel based on the choices of their ancestors, while others spend their whole lives seeking for it, and even suffering without it. If you have the gospel of Jesus Christ, it would be a terrible thing for you to not share it with anyone willing to listen. Everyone needs to make their own choice, and this thing cannot be forced, no matter how good you think it is, but there isn't room for excuse in a world of 7 billion children of God to not do anything to help them.

These next verses seem to point to that. Christ talks about persecutions that you will face for His name's sake. He reminds us that the prophets suffered the same thing. This makes me feel like He is saying that if we can bear these things, we become worthy to be in the company of prophets and messengers. I think of King Theoden in the Lord of the Rings who, riding out to a hopeless battle, fighting an un-killable foe knows that he nevertheless did the right actions to honor his covenants and protect the people of Middle Earth and, dying on the field of battle, says' I go to my fathers in whose mighty company I shall not now feel ashamed'. The world needs people who follow Christ, follow the beatitudes and light the darkness with something better than themselves.

A Break-down of the Lord's Prayer

Christ also shows the same pattern for praying in His ministry to both old and new worlds. I feel like sometimes we brush off the details of the Lord's Prayer as just an example, but I see an important pattern that I think will help a lot of our prayers go better.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. - the fact that God still asks us to pray directly to Him still blows my mind. It seems impossible that someone as glorious as God would listen to each word the people the world over utter. Christ shows that we should pray directly to the Father, as incredible as that may seem, and that we need to acknowledge the incredible holiness that this act means. I personally work to keep my prayers at a conversational level with God so I don't get caught up in the words, but it may be time to rethink how to honor God in our prayers.

I think you should all watch this excellent scene from The Chosen. Listen to how Jesus speaks of his Heavenly Father when he asks for a blessing on the water to turn into wine. Also see the pattern of how he honors his earthly mother (there is more on that in the episode).

10 Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. - Notice the complete alignment with The Father's will, and the desire to turn earth into a heavenly place.

11 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. - Acknowledgement that we are not yet holy as God is holy, nor are we perfect in our single purpose to make earth into heaven, and an ask for help to overcome.

12 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. - Acknowledgement that not only are we not yet able to make earth a place of heaven by ourselves, but also the fact that existence is a fragile endeavor where one can be wiped out in an instant, whether directly from choices or not, whether we knew what could be done to prevent it or not. It is also a small way of showing acceptance of God's plan, His knowledge of it's goodness, and the goodness of one's place in it, despite the terrible suffering that is on the earth.

13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. - Closing with the dedication to following God, and His holiness, once again.\

Have we not prophesied in thy name?

I get the regular feeling that none of us know just how much is on the altar to get to heaven, or in other words, how much of us it takes to get there. In chapter 14, Jesus says that 'not everyone who saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father.' Christ says there is one sure rock and that is to hear and do, put into practice. A lot of good people have built foundations on all types of worldly things. I've done it. I care about my job, about my image, about my future, my money, how good I sound, how many people read my blog... This stuff isn't what matters with God. And even if some people read this blog, and are enlightened, or converted, or inspired, it is certainly a good work of God that that happens, but it means nothing for my own soul if all I care about is people reading it, or praising me for it, or even if I care more about being the one to help others, instead of making sure that they get help they need. It is a delicate business. There are many that will ask God what could be wrong with all the truly good and wonderful works they did on earth, and I think God is going to ask them where their heart was the entire time they did those good things, and then ask them if their heart isn't in the Kingdom, how are they going to get the rest of them in. And if they do get in, but their heart is not in it, how long will they remain before they get uncomfortable?

Ineffable

Christ gives prophecies of both what He is doing in his current ministry, and in the promises of the ministry in the last days. There is an overarching lesson in the peoples, the promises, and the fulfillment of these promises that is important for us to remember. God is playing a much greater game than we at present comprehend. As we come closer to Him, we may be able to understand more and more the purposes he has set forth for the immortality and eternal life of all mankind, his children.

I have at times past probably treated too lightly the words of Jesus Christ, not out of doubt, but simply because I didn't understand as much at the time. I still have much to learn from the teachings of Christ, but I cannot help but think as I read and write what He said that these are the words of eternal life.