Real Compassion
Book of Mormon Notes - Thursday, February 8, 2024, 3 Nephi 17, Part 1
This is perhaps the most beautiful chapter in all of scripture, and no blog post, book, or even volumes of books could ever do it justice.
Nevertheless, if my Book of Mormon Notes help or inspire even one person to improve his or her study of the Book of Mormon, it will be worth it.
As a brief side note, it looks like the remnant of which the Lord warned us may already be here. It’s well past time to awaken to our awful situation.
It saddens me whenever I hear a person refuse to read the Book of Mormon because he or she supposes that the Bible contains all there there is to know about Jesus Christ. Remember the Apostle John’s observation:
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be awritten every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the bbooks that should be written. Amen. (John 21:25)
Later in this same book of 3 Nephi, Mormon makes a similar observation:
And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people; (3 Nephi 26:6)
Why should we be surprised, then, or refuse to receive more of God’s word when other books come forth? As much as I love the Bible - the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, I am eager for more revelation regarding our Savior Jesus Christ. As I was re-reading the beginning of 1 Nephi this morning, it occurred to me that just a couple of the great books that may soon come to light are the Book of Lehi and the Brass Plates. Elder Maxwell taught that:
Lost books are among the treasures yet to come forth. Over twenty of these are mentioned in the existing scriptures. Perhaps most startling and voluminous will be the records of the lost tribes of Israel (see 2 Ne. 29:13). We would not even know of the impending third witness for Christ except through the precious Book of Mormon, the second witness for Christ! This third set of sacred records will thus complete a triad of truth. Then, just as the Perfect Shepherd has said, “My word also shall be gathered in one” (2 Ne. 29:14). There will be “one fold and one shepherd” (1 Ne. 22:25) in a welding together of all the Christian dispensations of human history (see D&C 128:18).
Think of that! There are more than twenty lost books, treasures of wisdom and testimony of Jesus Christ, that have yet to come forth. How exciting is that? There is no reason to protest: “A Bible, a Bible, we already have a Bible.” or “A Book of Mormon a Book of Mormon, we already have a Book of Mormon.” God has spoken and He has caused His word to be written by and for many other people besides the Lehites and the Jews. There is much, much more to be revealed in the Lord’s own due time, according to His wisdom.
As Elder Maxwell mentioned, perhaps the most startling and voluminous will be the records of the lost tribes of Israel. When these records come forth, will creedal Christians refuse the further light and knowledge concerning Jesus Christ that these records contain? I hope not.
Meanwhile, the book of 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon already contains beautiful spiritual gems and unfathomable eternal riches. Certainly the Lord wants us to appreciate, study, assimilate, and share what He has already given in order to prepare us for more.
As 3 Nephi 17 demonstrates, we mortals are not always ready or able to bear the truth and wisdom that the Lord desires to bestow upon us. The good Nephites who had gathered at the Temple in Bountiful were already overwhelmed by the experience of Jesus teaching them the things that He had taught His people in the regions of Jerusalem. The Lord had given them as much as they were able to bear, and before leaving to show Himself to the Lost tribes of Israel, He perceived that the people were weak and could not understand everything that Heavenly Father had commanded Him to teach them. Thus He commanded to the people to return to their homes, to aponder upon the things that He had taught, and to ask of the Father, in His name, in order to understand and bprepare their minds for the cmorrow.
What follows is one of the most tender and beautiful scenes in all of scripture. Jesus was not in a hurry to deliver His message and then skedaddle. He visited and taught the people, His other sheep, because He loved them. When He beheld the multitude, and that they were in tears, looking steadfastly upon Him as if they would ask Him to tarry a little longer with them, He was filled with compassion for them. The combination of the people’s faith and yearning and our Savior’s infinite compassion elicited His loving response:
And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with acompassion towards you.
Have ye any that are asick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or bleprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will cheal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.
For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your afaith is bsufficient that I should heal you.
And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their ablind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.
And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did akiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears. (3 Nephi 17:6-10)
Notice that Jesus’ compassion wasn’t some kind of vague humanitarianism. He was filled with love and compassion for specific individuals, and particularly those who were suffering the most. As important as it was for our Lord to fulfill His Father’s commandment to visit the lost tribes of Israel, He responded to the faith and yearning of the people who were with Him in the present.
With Divine discernment, Jesus knew that the people yearned for Him to show them what He had done for their brothers in Jerusalem. They had probably remembered the stories of His ministry, prophesies that had been passed down from the time of Lehi onward. Jesus called for the asick, lame, blind, halt, maimed, bleprous, withered, deaf, and any who were afflicted in any manner, in order to cheal them.
With overflowing compassion and bowels filled with mercy healed His afflicted sheep, one by one. Jesus Christ healed every single one of them. Imagine being present for such a miracle. The Lord’s disciples in Jerusalem had witnessed many miracles on many separate occasions, but these Nephites were blessed to witness a miraculous mass healing event.
No wonder then that everyone, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bowed down at the feet of Jesus Christ and worshipped Him. No wonder that as many as could come for the multitude followed the previous example of their leader Nephi by akissing Jesus’ feet, and bathing His feet with their tears. Their reverent and worshipful attitude reminds me of the true worship of one of the Savior’s disciples in the Old World:
And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
And, behold, a awoman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster bbox of ointment,
And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and aanointed them with the ointment.
Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred apence, and the other fifty.
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly aforgave them both. bTell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are aforgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
And he said unto her, Thy sins are aforgiven.
And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that aforgiveth sins also?
And he said to the woman, Thy afaith hath saved thee; go in bpeace. (Luke 7:36-50)
It is my belief that these penitent and worshipful Lehites were among those whom Father Lehi saw in his vision of the Tree of Life. Remember how Nephi described the people who partook of the fruit of the Tree of Life in his father’s vision:
But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the arod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree. (1 Nephi 8:30)
What happened next was so beautiful and sacred that neither Nephi or Mormon could record all of it. These sacred events will be the subject of my next post.