Episode 11: March 11-17 "These Twelve He Sent Forth"
Listen to Episode 11, "These Twelve He Sent Forth" here.
Episode 11! SO MUCH READING! This week I focus on a few of the vignettes we find in the selected chapters, including John sending his disciples to Jesus, Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath, and the woman washing Jesus' feet.
Rescuing Wayward Children:
Quotes come from the LDS New Testament Seminary Manual!
John the Baptist sending his disciples to Jesus
Matthew 11: 1-6, Luke 7: 19-23
Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a clear answer to this question:
“Any inference that the Baptist was uncertain or doubtful in his own mind, as to the identity and mission of the Master, is totally unwarranted. In reality, the imprisoned Elias and forerunner of our Lord was using this means to persuade his disciples to forsake him and follow Jesus.
“John knew who Jesus was; the Baptist was not wavering as a reed in the wind. … This act of sending his disciples to Jesus was in effect a final great testimony on John’s part that Jesus was the Lamb of God, for the Baptist knew that his disciples, seeing the Master personally and hearing his teachings, could not help but follow the greater light” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:261–62).
John the Baptist understood an important truth that President James E. Faust of the First Presidency reiterated:
“Each of us has to receive our own witness concerning Jesus as the Christ. We cannot get it secondhand from someone else” (“A Testimony of Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, Mar. 2005, 3).
Jesus saying nice things about John the Baptist
Matthew 11: 7-15, Luke 7: 24-30
The Prophet Joseph Smith explained why Jesus considered John the Baptist the greatest prophet:
“First. He was entrusted with a divine mission of preparing the way before the face of the Lord. Whoever had such a trust committed to him before or since? No man.
“Secondly. He was entrusted with the important mission, and it was required at his hands, to baptize the Son of Man. Whoever had the honor of doing that? Whoever had so great a privilege and glory? Whoever led the Son of God into the waters of baptism, and had the privilege of beholding the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove, or rather in the sign of the dove, in witness of that administration? …
“Thirdly. John, at that time, was the only legal administrator in the affairs of the kingdom there was then on the earth, and holding the keys of power. The Jews had to obey his instructions or be damned, by their own law; and Christ Himself fulfilled all righteousness in becoming obedient to the law which He had given to Moses on the mount, and thereby magnified it and made it honorable, instead of destroying it. The son of Zacharias wrested the keys, the kingdom, the power, the glory from the Jews, by the holy anointing and decree of heaven, and these three reasons constitute him the greatest prophet born of a woman” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 81–82).
Lord of the Sabbath Day
Matthew 12: 1-9
(healing the withered hand) Matthew 12:10-13
Jesus casting out devils with the power of the devil
Matthew 12: 22-30 Luke 11:14-26
Widow of Nain
Luke 7: 11-17
Woman with the box of ointment
Luke 7:36-50
Seminary man A Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to a feast in his home. At feasts of this kind, guests would recline on cushions around a low table and extend their feet away from the table. Social customs of the day allowed people in need to collect leftover food from the banquets. Thus, it was not unusual for uninvited people to enter the home during a feast (see James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 261).
Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote that the woman referred to in Luke 2:37–50 came to the Savior already having repented and desiring to show her love. In referring to the affection she demonstrated, he said, “All this was the work and worship of a devout and faithful woman who had been a sinner but who was now cleansed; who was now free from the crushing burden of many offenses; who now walked in a newness of life because of him whose feet she now kissed and upon whom she now bestowed all the reverent and awe-inspired love that her whole soul had power to possess” (The Mortal Messiah, 4 vols. [1979–81], 2:200).
Elder Shayne M. Bowen of the Quorum of the Seventy raised and answered the question of whether someone who desires forgiveness is ever beyond the ability to receive it through the Atonement of Jesus Christ:
“Is it possible to reclaim a life that through reckless abandon has become so strewn with garbage that it appears that the person is unforgivable? Or what about the one who is making an honest effort but has fallen back into sin so many times that he feels that there is no possible way to break the seemingly endless pattern? Or what about the person who has changed his life but just can’t forgive himself? …
“The Atonement of Jesus Christ is available to each of us. His Atonement is infinite. It applies to everyone, even you. It can clean, reclaim, and sanctify even you. That is what infinite means—total, complete, all, forever” (“The Atonement Can Clean, Reclaim, and Sanctify Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2006, 33–34).
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