This was an exciting week. I took a research trip to Springfield, Illinois and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. The library had a surprisingly rich collection of LDS sources, including sources that will help me on my dissertation. There is always something fun for me about holding letters written by people like Orson Hyde, as well as other materials from the 19th century. Also, I love going to various libraries because I always find the archivists and workers at those libraries to be so helpful to me. I find good people who truly want to assist others everywhere I go. It's a nice reminder of the innate goodness that resides in each of our Heavenly Father's children! Although my main purpose was to do work for my dissertation, I also availed myself of the opportunity of seeing some of the sights such as Abraham Lincoln's tomb (pictured above) as well as his Springfield home. For as long as I have known anything about history, he has been a hero of mine.
This week I spent a bit of time reading in the New Testament--a book which I must confess, I have not studied as diligently as I should have studied it the past few years. It was like reencountering an old friend who is full of insight and understanding, and who didn't chastise me for my years of negligence. A powerful truth stood out to me as I read John 12 and Matthew 21-23. I was struck by the absolute, unconquerable confidence that the Lord had in His knowledge of who He was and the appointed mission He was to fill. No matter whether it was Judas criticizing how He had been anointed by Mary; the Pharisees criticizing the praises heaped upon Him during His triumphal entry; the endless barrage of questions meant to entrap Him; or the growing weight of that final week's impending sacrifice; He remained absolutely steadfast in His understanding of His divine Sonship and of His divine mission as the Savior of the World.
Approached by a set of Greeks that "would see Jesus" (John 12:21), Jesus said, "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified" (John 12:23). Although happy to meet with and teach these people, the Savior reminded them that He was more than just a curiosity. He had a work to do, and the hour for that work was rapidly approaching. It would be this work to which these seekers needed to come to a testimony and an understanding if they were truly to "see Jesus" and be changed by Him. He then gave a parable, stating "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hatter his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour" (John 12:24-26).
I wonder just what their reaction was. I wonder if they understood what He was saying. I wonder if I understand what He is saying. A single grain of wheat is of little value unless it is buried in the field and watered, where it can then grow up in great stalks of wheat that provide not only nourishment (for all those who can eat gluten) but also other grains of wheat with which to fill other fields. The Savior was prophesying that in His death, He would bring forth life and nourishment to others. And then He invited us to follow Him in the way that He lived and in the way that He died. He invited us to give of ourselves so that others could grow and be nourished and thereby give of themselves. He invited us to be that single and seemingly insignificant grain of wheat.
The Savior then uttered these memorable words: "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour" (John 12:27). Amidst the growing agony of the impending trial, Jesus simply refused to forget who He was and what He had agreed to do. He knew who He was, no matter who He was talking to and no matter what the circumstances were. This made me ask myself, "Do I have this kind of certain knowledge of who I am no matter the circumstances or the company?"
Like the people in Anatevka, and (far more importantly) like the Savior of the World, may we all know "who we are and what God expects us to do."
Brett
Truly, though the Son of God had nowhere to lay his head, He knew who he was and never lost faith.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of knowing who I am. It seems as though satan does his darnedest to try and pull each of us away from our core identities, from who we are and who a God knows we can become. This mortal journey isn't easy, but we are not on it alone. How grateful I am for the Savior and a Father in Heaven who have provided not only a way back to their presence, but also a comforter to help us on the journey.