Rereading 3 Nephi 11

This past week, I've been back in 3 Nephi 11.  This chapter holds special meaning for all Latter-day Saints, myself included.  When I was a missionary, this was the first chapter that we asked people to read out of the Book of Mormon.  In spite of the fact that they had no idea who the Nephites, the Lamanites, etc. were, it had a way of touching them.  Often my investigators struggled with reading, and so we would read it with them and explain it to them.  The visit of Jesus and the experience of the people in touching his wounds and falling at his feet moved them.  Reading these words with the people were some of my favorite experiences as a missionary, as the Spirit testified to their truth.  And so over the years, I would suspect that I have read this chapter well more than 100 times.  I know the story inside and out.  And yet, this week as I've turned back to this old familiar chapter, there have been things there that I never saw before.  So I wanted to write about a few of those things.

I have always been touched by the beginning of this chapter, as "a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful" (3 Nephi 11:1).  In the shadow of the temple, they were "conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the sign had been given concerning his death" (3 Nephi 11:2).  It was in that setting that they heard a voice come out of the heavens.  Twice they heard the voice and did not understand it, but did not instantly know from whence it came.  Here they were, people gathered around a temple, speaking of Jesus, and yet they still did not comprehend the voice.  I love this because it is a reminder that even for those who are striving to be faithful, it requires significant work to come to understand the voice of the Lord.  They heard it; they felt it; but they did not understand it until they "did open their ears to hear it," "did fix "their eyes . . . toward the sound thereof," and "did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came" (3 Nephi 11:5).  Understanding the voice of heaven required more than just ears; it required the effort of their whole soul.

But here is where my learning began.  The third time they heard the voice, they understood the words.  It was the Father introducing His Beloved Son.  He said, "Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name--hear ye him" (3 Nephi 11:7). And with that introduction, they saw the Savior descend from heaven.  But they still struggled to connect the words that they had heard with the things that they saw, thinking that the Savior was an angel rather than the very Son of God.  After He had descended, He spoke to them, saying "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.  And behold, I am the life and the light of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning" (3 Nephi 11:10-11).  With those words, those assembled remembered the words of the prophets and fell at His feet.  They finally understood, and with that understanding, they were ready to come unto Him and to feel the wounds in His hands and feet and side and then be taught.

As I thought about the early part of this chapter, I realized that it is a chapter about coming unto Christ.  The people began as good people who knew of Christ, who had heard the words of the Prophets, who loved His Temple, and who were spiritual enough to hear His voice.  And yet they had still not fully come unto Him.  There were righteous people who had faith in Him (see Ether 12:7), and yet they still had a lot of room to grow.  They heard the voice but they did not understand it.  When they understood the voice, they still did not fully understand what they were seeing with their eyes.  Perhaps some of us, at least myself, may be like these people.  Perhaps, we have not yet fully come unto Christ and do not yet enjoy the fullness of the blessings He offers us.

Those blessings came as the people experienced the gospel, linking what they had learned from the Prophets and heard from the voice of the Father with what they were seeing with their eyes and feeling with their hearts. Three times in this short experience, the word behold is used.  The Father invited the people to "behold" His Son.  The Son invited them to "behold" that He is the Messiah.  And the Son invited them to "behold" that He was the light and life of the world, that He had drunken the dregs of the bitter cup, that He had glorified the Father, that He had taken upon Him the sins of the world; and that He had suffered and done the will of the Father from the beginning.  The 1828 Webster's dictionary defines the word behold as "to fix the eyes upon; to see with attention; to observe with care."  It is not just to see something, it is to give rapt attention to what we are seeing; to see with an effort to comprehend.  As the people saw in this way, their hearts were touched and they "remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven" (3 Nephi 11:12).  It was this remembering that brought full comprehension to their minds and hearts, and to behold Him with perfect clarity, driving them to their knees in worship.  Is it any wonder that we are asked to "always remember Him" (D&C 20:77).

Only when they had fallen to their knees, only when they had remembered and truly understood, were they ready to come.  At that moment the Savior invited them to come and "feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world" (3 Nephi 11:14).  Much later, after He had taught them His doctrine, He would heal them and bless their little ones (see 3 Nephi 17).

Perhaps some of you are like me and have an idea that if the Savior were to come today, the first thing He would do would be to heal us of all of our afflictions and challenges.  At the very least, He would immediately invite us forward to touch His sacred scars.  But 3 Nephi 11 suggests something different.  Before we can come unto Him and before He can heal us--even before He can really teach us--we must hear, understand, behold, comprehend, remember, and fall down in worship.  He cannot truly teach us nor heal the greatest wounds of our souls until we come unto Him and feel the power and depth of what He has done for us.  And we will not come unto Him and feel the power and depth of what He has done for us if we do not truly know Him and believe in Him.  We will not truly know Him and believe Him unless and until we have heard, recognized, and understood His voice.

And so we begin like the people of Nephi, spending time in His house, speaking of Christ and the prophets, and listening for His voice.  Having heard His voice, we seek for understanding and comprehension.  We accept the humble invitation of the Father to behold, to truly see and fix our gaze upon, His perfect Son.  And we accept the humble invitation of the Son to behold, to truly see and fix our gaze upon, His perfect sacrifice and His perfect example.  Having done these things, we will remember and come to a new understanding of the words and testimonies of the prophets.  And we will fall to our knees in humble adoration and heightened comprehension of who He is, and what that means for us.  In this humble state, He can lift us up, invite to feel of His sacrifice in greater depth, to be taught with greater clarity, and to be healed of our various afflictions.

That we may all so come.

Brett