The Most Precious truths Are Hidden the Deepest and with the Greatest Care

Book of Mormon Notes - Friday, February 23, 2024, 3 Nephi 19, Part 2

Although the exact location is not nearly as important as the purpose and meaning of Christ’s baptism, this article contains a great explanation of the geographical question. In this article Peterson and Hamblin also mention the Israeli baptismal site in “Yardenit” that is south of the Sea of Galilee. Yardenit has little historical merit as the place of Christ’s baptism, but I had the opportunity to travel there in 2016 and to be “baptized” in the Jordan River.

My “baptism” at Yardenit was not the same as my real baptism in Michigan when I was eight years old because baptism must be performed by one who holds priesthood authority from God, as John the Baptist did. The priesthood authority to baptize that Christ conferred upon Nephi at the Temple in Bountiful is the same priesthood authority that John the Baptist held, and the same priesthood authority that John the Baptist conferred upon the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1829.

The gathering at the Temple in Bountiful, the ministry of the Twelve disciples, their prayers for the Holy Ghost, their baptisms and receptions of the Holy Ghost, were all done in preparation for the promised return of Jesus Christ. After the Twelve Nephite disciples were baptized and after they were filled with and encircled by fire and Holy Ghost and angels ministered unto them, Jesus Christ came and stood in the midst and ministered unto them.

Just the day before, the Lord had healed and blessed many people. But a larger crowd had now gathered, and the Lord’s disciples and the multitude were even more prepared, because of their greater faith, to witness the Lord’s miracles. Once again, Jesus Christ commanded the people to pray. They prayed unto Jesus, calling Him their Lord and their God.

Then, in a scene that presents a kind of mirror image of the Lord’s intercessory prayer and His prayers in Gethsemane, Jesus Christ removed Himself a little way from the people three different times in order to commune with His Father. These prayers are very similar to the Lord’s Great Intercessory Prayer that is recorded in the New Testament, but the differences are also significant. Among the major differences between the Lord’s prayers among the Nephites in America and His prayers in the Old World are the fact that Jesus Christ was then Resurrected and the Nephites had much greater faith in Him than did most of the Jews in Jerusalem and the surrounding regions. Because of the greater faith of the Nephites, the Resurrected Lord manifested greater things to these ancient Nephites. Mormon preserved these greater things for our benefit and to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ.

As the Jesus communed with His Father, the people communed with Jesus and the Holy Ghost inspired them with the words that they should ^bpray, and they were filled with desire. Jesus blessed them as they prayed unto Him, and in a miraculous manifestation of His power that, in my mind, represents the literal fulfillment of Lehi’s and Nephi’s visions of the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, shone upon them:

And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his ^acountenance did smile upon them, and the light of his ^bcountenance did ^cshine upon them, and behold they were as ^dwhite as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof. (3 Nephi 19:25)

Remember the whiteness that Nephi beheld in his vision?

And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the ^atree which my father had seen; and the ^bbeauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the ^cwhiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow. (1 Nephi 11:8)

Can you imagine this pure whiteness that exceeded the whiteness of the driven snow, and so exceeded all whiteness that there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof? This kind of whiteness would have driven Henry Rogers (a.k.a. Ibram X. Kendi) and all the critical race theorists absolutely nuts. But as I studied these passages this morning, I was impressed that our Savior Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, was so pleased, so joyful, and so happy because of the faith of these ancient Nephites, that the light of His ^acountenance that smiled upon them and the light of His ^bcountenance that did ^cshine upon them radiates eternally from these events until the same light and the same smile reaches all those who sincerely read the Book of Mormon, and ponder its message. The faith of the ancient Nephites enabled Jesus Christ to manifest more of His light and His love in such a way that now blesses us more than two millennia later.

The light of the Light of the World was so powerful that it radiated from the countenance and even the garments of Jesus to illuminate, brighten, and even whiten everything around Him. These things can help us to better understand why we dress in white when we worship in the Temple, and why so many of the rooms in the Temple are pure white.

Jesus commanded the people to continue to pray, which they did while Jesus returned to commune with His Father apart, thanking Him for ^apurifying those whom He had chosen, because of their faith. Jesus also prayed for those who should believe on their words, people like you and me, in order that they might be purified in Him, through faith on their words, even as the Nephites at the Temple in Bountiful were purified in Christ.

Unlike some of our Lord’s prayers that were ineffable, unutterable, and unwritable, this prayer is recorded. Someone, perhaps Nephi, must have been listening. Someone must have recorded this prayer, or else it was revealed directly to Mormon. The Lord’s prayer included more petitions for purification, unification, and glorification of His disciples.

When Jesus returned again, He was pleased that they continued to pray:

And when Jesus had spoken these words he came again unto his disciples; and behold they did pray steadfastly, without ceasing, unto him; and he did smile upon them again; and behold they were ^awhite, even as Jesus. (3 Nephi 19:30)

But during the last time that Jesus withdrew to commune with His father again, His communion with the Father was so great that no tongue can speak or man ^awrite the words that He prayed.

These are some of the most important moments in the Book of Mormon, moments when prophets such as Nephi, Mormon, and others leave everything to the pondering and the imagination of their audience. This is because the most important messages in the scriptures are not necessarily contained in the words that are written on the pages, but in the words, thoughts, feelings, ideas, and impressions that the Lord communicates to us through His Spirit. I have shared this thought before, but I will share it again because I believe that it is so crucial for our own scripture study, our own conversion, and our own testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

Looking at the scriptures is like looking at a favorite tree, one half of which is above ground and has always been open to study and examination, either close up (micro) or from a distance (macro).  But now you realize that one half of the tree is hidden beneath the ground - the roots.  These life-giving extremities of a tree send nourishment to all that is visible above ground.  What we can see of the tree above ground can be likened to reading and studying.  Like the tree that can be examined close up or at a distance, the scriptures written in columns, verses, sentences, paragraphs, words, and so forth, can be examined either close up or at a distance.  However, the roots under the ground are hidden to the mortal eye.  It is so also with the scriptures: much is hidden to the mortal eye.  Only by searching, pondering, likening, and prayerful reflection will we discover hidden truths. / Until we discover in the scriptures the full tree- roots, trunk, branches, and leaves- we have yet to find the promised height, breadth, and depth in those holy books.  It is a truth that some of the most precious truths in the scriptures are hidden the deepest and with the greatest care.  The Prophet Joseph Smith reminded us that 'the things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out' (TPJS, p. 137)"

The key to our own conversion and testimony of these truths is contained in the next verse as well:

And the multitude did hear and do bear record; and their ^ahearts were open and they did understand in their hearts the words which he prayed. (3 Nephi 19:33)

After His glorious and ineffable prayer to His Father, Jesus was very pleased with His disciples because of their faith in Him:

And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: ^aSo great ^bfaith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great ^cmiracles, because of their ^dunbelief.

Verily I say unto you, there are none of them that have seen so great things as ye have seen; neither have they heard so great things as ye have heard. (3 Nephi 19:35-36)