PICTURE: LIGHT OF THE WORLD, Hunt
WHAT JESUS
TAUGHT
Written for The Deseret Sunday School Union
by
OSBORNE J. P. WIDTSOE
Author of
"The Restoration of the Gospel," Etc.
Published by
THE DESERET SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
{4}
FOREWORD
No other teacher in the history of the world has wielded so profound an
influence upon humanity as has Jesus the Christ. Practically the whole
world has been Christianized. His doctrines have entered not only into
households but also into governments and nations. But the Christianity
that prevails generally, is the doctrine of Jesus highly merged with
the opinions of men. Indeed, the world's Christianity is often more
largely man-made than Christ-made. A perfect knowledge of Jesus cannot
be gained, however, until men learn more about what He Himself taught,
and less about what scholars have said about His doctrine.
This little book is an attempt modestly to present in popular form the
teachings of Jesus. It is intended for boys and girls of high-school
age. It is to be understood, then, that there is here no exhaustive
treatise of the teachings of Jesus; nor is there conducted a study and
investigation of profound scholarship. Such a work from the Mormon
point of view must be deferred, if desirable at all. But it is hoped
that what Jesus taught--in part at least--is here presented simply
and plainly and truly, so that anyone who reads may understand. It is
further hoped that the writing of these lessons has been "moved by
the Holy Ghost," so that those who read them may learn to love the
teachings of Jesus, and to know and to love God, and His Son, Jesus,
whom He sent to redeem the world. "Worship God: for the testimony of
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." O. J. P. W.
Salt Lake City, December 12, 1917.
{5}
The Illustrations
Light of the World.
1. Christ and the Doctors.
2. Nazareth, Palestine.
3. Simeon Blessing the Lord.
4. Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.
5. Jesus and Nicodemus.
6. Christ Healing the Blind Man.
7. The Sower.
8. The Temptation of Christ.
9. Market Scene at Bethlehem.
10. The Forgiving Father.
11. The Consoling Christ.
12. Jesus Praying.
13. The River Jordan, Palestine.
14. "Lord, Help Me."
15. Raising the Dead.
16. The Garden of Gethsemane.
17. Baptism of Jesus.
18. None.
19. Jesus and the Fishermen.
20. Christ's Charge to Peter.
21. Christ Teaching from a Boat.
22. "Consider the Lilies."
23. Christ and the Rich Young Ruler.
24. Lazarus at the Rich Man's House.
25. The Sermon on the Mount.
26. None.
27. Jesus Blessing Little Children.
28. Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.
29. The Good Samaritan.
30. Christ in the Home of Mary and Martha.
31. Jesus Washing Peter's Feet.
32. The Wise and the Foolish Virgins.
33. Christ Driving Out the Money-Changers.
34. Jesus Healing the Sick.
35. Christ before Pilate.
36. Touch Me Not.
37. The Good Shepherd.
38. Come Unto Me All Ye That Labor.
39. The Ascension.
40. Angel Moroni.
{6}
Table of Contents
I
His Father's Business
Testimony of Napoleon--Universal worship of Jesus--Purpose of this
book--Duties of Jesus at age of twelve--Jesus in the temple--His
Father's business--What is eternal life?--Special mission of Jesus.
II
What It Means to Know God
Abraham's determination to serve God--God Himself--God of Abraham and
of Isaac and of Jacob--First Commandment--What does it mean to know
Jesus Christ?--Necessary to understand God's plan--Divine mission of
Jesus--What we would do if we had learned to know God and Jesus--The
condition of eternal life.
III
The God of Israel
A very important question--The truth is simple and easy--Jesus's
explanation of God--The testimony of Paul--God is our Father--A real
joy to know the true God.
IV
What Jesus Said of Himself
Jesus's testimony to the woman of Samaria--The testimony of the people
of Sychar--Jesus taught always that He is the Christ--The answer
to John--The confessions at the trials of Jesus--And on the way to
Emmaus--How shall we find out Christ?
V
The Special Witness of Jesus
The end of the period of preparation--The testimony at the
baptism--John's testimony--Who the Comforter is--The mission of the
Holy Ghost--The Holy Ghost in Jesus and the apostles--The Holy Ghost
amongst the Nephites--How to confer the Holy Ghost--Nature of the Holy
Ghost--Importance of the Holy Ghost.
VI
Before There Was An Earth
A remarkable vision--The pre-existence of Jesus--The spirits of all men
eternal--The man born blind--Conclusion.
VII
The Presence of Evil
A review--The problem of evil--The parable of the sower--The
meaning--The devil the power of evil--A council of the spirits--Jesus
volunteers--Lucifer volunteers--Lucifer rebels--The declaration of
Jesus.
{7}
VIII
Why Evil is in the World
The devil's desperate hope--The temptation of Jesus--The
application--Guard against suggestions of the devil--Why there is
evil--The trial of man--A state of probation--The free agency of man.
IX
The Crown of Creation
A wonder-rousing sacrifice--Why should God be mindful of man?--The
parable of the lost sheep--Man's soul without price--Man the offspring
of God--The questions answered--Reverence for God--Reverence for
personal honor--Reverence for personal purity.
X
The Forgiving Father
The parable of the prodigal--The forgiving father--Condemnation of the
self-righteous--The publican and the Pharisee.
XI
Sincerity in Worship
Finding and losing one's life--The necessity of harmony--Three forms of
temptation--Instruction in praying and alms-giving--The real value of
worship--Humility and sincerity.
XII
How to Pray
The Lord's prayer--Jesus had found God--The prayers of the Jews--The
prayer of Jesus--The Lord's prayer analyzed--Teach us to pray.
XIII
Persistence in Prayer
The Lord will answer--Pray often and persistently--The importunate
friend--The unrighteous judge--An urgent desire necessary--Implicit
trust necessary--Seek first the Kingdom of God--Labor and confidence
hand in hand--The sin of worry--God knows best--Thy will be done.
XIV
The Power of Faith
Confidence vs. faith--The incident of the fig tree--Forgiveness
accompanies prayer--Reason for concrete examples--The
interpretation--Jesus's own interpretation--Examples of the power of
faith--The dispensation of the fulness of times, the wonderful example.
{8}
XV
The Handmaid of Faith
The case of Mr. Baldwin--Words added to faith--The principle of
works--A parable--The works of Jesus--The works of man--Conclusion.
XVI
The Meaning of Repentance
The irreverence and ruthlessness of Pilate--The necessity of
repentance--The barren fig tree--Repentance a fundamental
doctrine--Jesus's exclamation against the wicked--Repentance a
universal principle--Things of which to repent--The service principle
of the Gospel.
XVII
Baptism by Immersion
The first principles and ordinances--Baptism essential to
salvation--Humility and obedience the psychology of baptism--The law
of obedience in daily life--The example set by Jesus--The purpose of
baptism--The door of the sheep-fold.
XVIII
The Gift of the Holy Ghost
What Jesus told Nicodemus--The laying on of hands--The teaching and
practice of Paul--The practice of the apostles--The teaching and
practice of the apostles derived from Jesus--What is the gift of the
Holy Ghost?--The conditions and the source of intelligence.
XIX
The Foundation Stone
A few questions--Parables by the sea--The meaning of the parables--The
Church and the Kingdom--The testimony of Peter--The testimony of
Jesus--Its significance.
XX
The Test of Authority
The figure of the architect--The application--One mark not
sufficient--The submission of Jesus--The submission of the
apostles--The second mark--Two orders of priesthood.
XXI
The Third Mark
The horror of darkness--The speech of the Indian Chief--The figure
of the architect again--The plan of eternal life--The necessity of
plans--The application--The principles of the Gospel--Men judged by the
Gospel--The three marks.
{9}
XXII
Single Minded Loyalty
A supreme privilege--The true worth of membership--Conditions of
membership--Single minded loyalty--No man can serve two masters--A
simple application--A parable in point--The light of the body--A
summary--A paraphrase.
XXIII
Riches and the Kingdom of God
A liberal man--An unnatural doubt--The case of the rich young
ruler--The difficulty of the sacrifice--The conclusion of Jesus--The
amazement of the disciples--The power of God--A promise of worldly
blessings--The object of the world's desire--The parable of the unjust
steward.
XXIV
Succeeding With What One Has
The rich man and Lazarus--Wanted, a chance--The parable of the
talents--A general law--The water boy--Intellectual endeavor--Spiritual
growth--The lesson applied.
XXV
Think Right
The great commandment--The beatitudes--A high ideal of life--The great
beatitude--The pure in heart--Things that defile--Vulgarity in thought,
word and deed--Plain teaching.
XXVI
The Ugliness of Anger
The story of Cain--The occupation of Abel--The brothers'
sacrifices--The anger of Cain--The murder of Abel--The lesson at
home--The power of the mind--The teachings of Jesus--Jesus an
example--The strength of self-control.
XXVII
With What Measure Ye Mete
The two school girls--The theft--The suspicion--The discovery--The
tables turned--An every day occurrence--The mote and the beam--What
Jesus said.
XXVIII
The Golden Rule
Positive instruction--The doctrine of reconciliation--The attitude of
a citizen of the Kingdom--The doctrine of forgiveness--The parable of
the unforgiving servant--The meaning--The right attitude towards our
enemies--The golden rule.
{10}
XXIX
The Good Samaritan
The law of love--The reward of brotherly love--Questions of the
tempting lawyer--The parable of the good Samaritan--A discussion--The
real neighbor--The fulness of the answer--The lesson clinched--The
command renewed.
XXX
No One Can Live to Himself
The fable of the body and its members--The time of Aesop--The growth
of society--A football squad--The teachings of Jesus--The family--The
family sacred--The state--The state divinely instituted--The
Church--Duties of membership--The teachings of our own Church.
XXXI
He That Exalteth Himself
The old law and the new--The teaching of Jesus psychological--A
concrete example--The motive all important--Jesus's doctrine of
rewards--A parable in point--A sound psychological principle--A further
illustration--Peter and the question of recompense--The reward worth
while--Conclusion.
XXXII
Extra Service
The parable of the laborers--The value of service in the
world's work--The value of service in the Church--The test of
profitableness--The application to the day's work--The application to
the Church service--An exclamation against mere formal--performance of
duty.
XXXIII
A Prophet in His Own Country
A perfect man and an exemplary leader--A work full of wonder--A healer
and worker of miracles--The conditions in Palestine--A mission of
love--The centurion's servant--Stilling the tempest--The raising of
Lazarus--In His own country.
XXXIV
The Meaning of Miracles
The explanation of the scribes--The universal presence of law--The
miracle of the telephone--Other miracles of science--The power of the
Priesthood--The purpose of miracles--The privilege of the sick.
{11}
XXXV
An Atoning Sacrifice
An incredible thought--Jesus's foreknowledge of His death--The
necessity of Jesus's death--The significance of the death of
Jesus--Worldly views of how Jesus's death can save--The real
significance of the death of Jesus--The Nephite explanation--Why Jesus
submitted to His enemies--The new testimony of Jesus.
XXXVI
The Place Called Paradise
A well established fact--The five appearances of the risen Christ--Five
more appearances of the Christ and the ascension--The value of the
testimony--Where had Jesus been?--Today in Paradise--The Gospel to the
dead--A plain explanation--Every knee and every tongue.
XXXVII
Other Sheep
The first commission to the twelve--The leaven of the Gospel--The
Kingdom of the Gentiles--The case of Cornelius--The preaching of
Barnabas and Paul--"Other sheep"--A puzzling question--Forty days--In
the land of the Nephites--The appearance of Jesus to the Nephites.
XXXVIII
Our Advocate With The Father
The householder and the husbandmen--God the great householder, Jesus
the Son--The exaltation of Jesus--Our advocate with the Father--Many
mansions in the Father's house--Lord of Lords and King of Kings--Jesus
to come again--The nearness of Jesus.
XXXIX
The Living Christ
Jesus the living Christ--The testimony of Napoleon--The conviction of
an English philosopher--Declarations of Emerson and Webster--Additional
testimony--Reasons for strong testimonies in the Church--Evidences of
testimony in the Church--"The testimony last of all."
XL
A Religion Worth While
The feeding of the five thousand--The meat that endures to everlasting
life--What Jesus taught--The acts of the apostles--The great
apostasy--The restoration of the Gospel--A religion that satisfies--A
comprehensive religion--A Church of authority--The bread of life.
{12} PICTURE: CHRIST AND THE DOCTORS, Hofmann
{13}
What Jesus Taught
I
HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS
[Sidenote: The testimony of Napoleon.]
When the great military hero and world conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte,
lived in exile on the island of St. Helena, he declared that Jesus was
so supremely great that it is impossible to make comparisons between
Him and any other being in the world. "I know men," said Napoleon, "and
I tell you that Jesus is not a man. Everything in Him amazes me. His
spirit outreaches mine, and His will confounds me."
[Sidenote: The universal worship of Jesus.]
It is wonderful that a man like Napoleon, whose natural arms were fire
and the sword, should be so deeply impressed by the life and teachings
of the lowly Nazarene. But Napoleon is not alone in his admiration
and love. Throughout the nineteen centuries that have passed since
the Master lived upon the earth, men of every clime have learned to
know Him and to worship Him. Today there are but few peoples known
to mankind that do not acknowledge Jesus the Christ. The wonderful
story of His life has thrilled both the young and the old the world
over since first it was told. The wisdom, the justice, and the loving
kindness of all His teachings, have inspired the nations to make them
better. No other man in all the history of the world has exerted so
profound an influence on the lives of his fellowmen, and on the laws
that govern them.
{14} [Sidenote: The purpose of this book.]
Now, you have read in other books the story of the life of Jesus. You
know when and where He was born; how God the Father protected His Son;
how he grew to manhood, waxing strong in spirit; how He taught, and
wrought miracles amongst His own people; how they rejected Him and
crucified Him; and how He rose from death and returned to His Father
in heaven. It is a strangely beautiful story. But we do not want to
retell it here. It must be our purpose, in this little book, to tell
as interestingly as may be what Jesus taught. Certainly, it must be
interesting to know something of the teachings of the Man who has made
so profound an impression upon the history of the world. We want to
know what the life-work of Jesus means to us and to our fellowmen. And
to begin, we must try to find out what Jesus Himself thought about His
mission on the earth.
[Sidenote: The new duties of Jesus at the age of twelve.]
When Jesus reached the age of twelve years, He entered--according to
Jewish custom--upon a new and important period in His life. You may be
used to thinking of Jesus as a very wonderful boy, altogether different
from other boys. That is not quite true. Jesus was a perfectly natural
and normal boy. He liked to run and jump and play the games that other
boys played. He had to go to school as other Jewish boys did--first
at His mother's knee, then at the village synagogue. Jesus was unlike
other boys in that He began early to understand something of the nature
of His mission upon the earth. This made Him like serious things, and
often to think about the teachings of {15} God; for it was the aim of
all Jewish education to learn about God and His commands, and how to
keep them. Now, when Jesus became twelve years of age, there came to
Him many new duties. The Jewish law required that He should assume all
the religious responsibilities that devolved naturally upon a faithful
Jew. Amongst other things, Jesus must hereafter go to the temple three
times a year, to fulfill the demands of the law. Accordingly, when
Joseph and Mary set out for Jerusalem, to observe the Feast of the
Passover, soon after their eldest son's twelfth birthday, they took Him
with them.
[Sidenote: Jesus in the temple.]
It is needless here to follow in detail the journey of the pilgrims
over the great highway, across the Plain of Jezreel to Bethshean,
down the western side of the Jordan Valley to Jericho, and then
four thousand feet upward over the barren, robber-infested hills of
the wilderness of Judea to Jerusalem. Jesus seems to have been much
impressed by the road, for He referred to it later in the parable of
the Good Samaritan.
When the celebration of the feast of the Passover was accomplished,
Joseph and Mary set out to return to Nazareth. They had complete
confidence in Jesus, so they did not look for Him till they reached
Bethany. Jesus was not there to be found. Anxious at heart the parents
returned to Jerusalem; and there, after three days, they found Him
discoursing in the temple with Shammai and the learned teachers of the
temple. The boy's zeal for knowledge had caused Him to remain at the
temple even after the feast was over. "And all that {16} heard Him were
astonished at His understanding and answers."
When Mary saw her son in the midst of the learned men of Israel, she
cried to Him, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy
father and I have sought thee sorrowing."
"And He said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I
must be about my Father's business?"
"And they understood not the saying which He spake unto them."
[Sidenote: His Father's Business.]
It was, indeed, a strange saying to understand. Not Joseph and Mary
alone, but countless thousands of people have failed to understand
it. Do you think you know what the boy Jesus meant? Of course, to
understand, one must know what the Father's business is. Then we can
understand what Jesus thought about His mission on the earth. "For,"
Jesus said many years later when He had grown to manhood, "I came down
from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me."
What, then, is the will of God? What is His Father's business? Once,
many hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God gave to a man named
Moses a marvelous revelation. Moses saw how the earth had been formed,
and how living things were put upon it. He saw how man was shaped in
the image of God and placed upon the earth to have dominion over it.
Then God said to Moses, "Behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring
to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."
{17} This, then, is the Father's business; this is His will. It is
exactly what Jesus told Joseph Smith, the great American Prophet, in
our own dispensation: "And if you keep my commandments and endure to
the end, you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of
all the gifts of God." And it is also exactly what Jesus taught while
He dwelt among men. Said He, "And this is the will of Him that sent
me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have
everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
[Sidenote: What is eternal life?]
But perhaps it is not quite clear yet what the Father's will is.
Perhaps you are asking yourself, What is eternal life? Of course,
eternal, or everlasting life, is a condition of being--or of living--in
which there is no death. When we gain the gift of eternal life, we
shall go on living for ever and ever. Jesus gave once an excellent
definition of the conditions of eternal life. He had spent considerable
time exhorting His disciples, and instructing them in things that were
yet to come. Then He raised his eyes to heaven and prayed; and in the
course of that prayer, He said, "This is life eternal, that they might
know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
[Sidenote: The special mission of Jesus.]
Now we may begin to understand fully what Jesus thought about His
mission on the earth. God did not put men on the earth to destroy them.
He put them here to save them, if they would be saved. It is the glory
of God to save men, to bring to pass their salvation and everlasting
exaltation. This is the Father's business. But to gain the gift of
eternal life men must learn to know {18} God. Here then we discover
the nature of Jesus's mission. As child and boy and man, Jesus devoted
His life to learning to know God and to the teaching of His brethren
also to know Him. Through the love and sacrifice of Jesus, we may gain
eternal life. In the temple, the boy of twelve was about His Father's
business, learning and explaining. As a man, He fulfilled the will of
His Father, making it possible for men to know God. In His death. He
accomplished the general salvation of mankind, making it possible for
them to gain eternal life.
It is small wonder that Napoleon revered the Man who thus unselfishly
devoted His life to the good of His fellowmen, and finally laid it down
for their salvation. We shall be glad to study the teachings of this
Man. But first, we must understand what it means to know God and Jesus
Christ whom He hath sent.
THE REFERENCES
Luke 2:42-52. Moses 1:39.
John 6:38-40. Doc. and Cov. 14:7.
John 17:1-3.
THE QUESTIONS
1. What, in your opinion, is the value of Napoleon's testimony of Jesus?
2. What does Napoleon admit in his testimony?
3. What peoples in the world today do not acknowledge Jesus the Christ?
4. Name some points in which the world has been affected by the
teachings of Jesus.
5. Outline briefly the story of the life of Jesus.
6. Why should it be more important to know the teachings of Jesus than
merely to know the story of His life?
7. What new responsibilities came to Jesus when He reached the age of
twelve years?
{19} 8. Why did Jesus remain at the temple in Jerusalem when the feast
of the Passover was accomplished?
9. What was the answer that puzzled His mother?
10. Why were men placed upon the earth?
11. What are the conditions of eternal life?
12. In what sense has Jesus always been about His Father's business?
13. What should be our attitude toward the Father's business?
{20} PICTURE: NAZARETH, PASESTINE
{21}
II
WHAT IT MEANS TO KNOW GOD
[Sidenote: Abraham's determination to serve God.]
What does it mean to know God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent?
About two thousand years before Jesus was born, there lived in a land
called Ur of the Chaldees, a young man whose name was Abram. Abram
seems to have been a very intelligent and serious-minded person. Like
many another good man in ancient and modern times, he strove to find
out the true and living God. But it was very difficult to do so in
Abram's time, for most of Abram's people had forsaken the worship of
Jehovah, and had turned to the worship of idols and graven images. This
grieved Abram very much. He determined that he would serve the true
God; and that if necessary, he would move away from his father's house
to a strange place, in order that he might worship as his conscience
demanded. The priests who served the strange gods worshipped by Abram's
kindred, heard of Abram's righteousness, and his refusal to worship the
images of wood and stone and metal they had set up. They determined,
therefore, to seize Abram and to sacrifice him on the altar of Elkanah.
[Sidenote: God Himself.]
But Abram had found a true friend. It was the true and living God
Himself. He delivered Abram from the hands of the false priests, and
the Lord God said to Abram, "I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven,
the earth is my footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys
my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say {22}
to the mountains, Depart hence, and behold, they are taken away by a
whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly."
[Sidenote: The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.]
This was the true and living God, the God Almighty, creator of the
heavens and the earth and all that lives therein. In the midst of the
worship of idols and graven images and strange gods of many lands,
Abram had learned to know God--that is, he had learned to recognize
the true God, the living God of power. He was not confused. He did not
mistake an image of stone for the true God.
Afterwards Abram's name was changed to Abraham. He became the father
of Isaac, and the grandfather of Jacob. These three men all served the
true God. From them sprang the Children of Israel, all of whom learned
also to worship the true God of heaven and earth. That is why He is
often spoken of as the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.
[Sidenote: The first commandment.]
In the days of Moses, God gave a commandment in these words, "Thou
shalt have no other gods before me." That commandment was still in
force at the time of Jesus, and is still in force today. Of course,
there are not many idols or graven images held up to worship today;
but there are still many different kinds of God worshipped even in the
Christian world. To some, God is merely a spirit; to others, He is
merely an influence, or a power; to others still, there is no real God,
but the name is used merely to designate the forces of nature--and so
on. Naturally, we cannot gain eternal life through any such conceptions
as these. Like Abraham we must learn to recognize the true and living
God. We must not be deceived by false {23} doctrine. This is life
eternal, to know--to recognize and to worship--the true God, the living
God--of heaven and earth.
We know now the meaning of the first part of Jesus's statement. We know
what it means to know God. But what does it mean to know Jesus Christ,
whom God sent?
[Sidenote: What does it mean to know Jesus Christ?]
Two young men were sitting at luncheon one day in the dining-room of
a students' club house. One of them was registered in the School of
Divinity of one of the oldest and largest universities in America, and
was studying to become a minister. The other was preparing to become a
teacher.
"Do you believe that Jesus was really the Son of God, and the Savior of
the world?" asked the young teacher.
"I believe," replied the preacher--the would-be representative of
Jesus--deliberately, "that Jesus was a great leader, a great teacher, a
great philosopher--in every way a great man. But I do not believe that
he was really the Son of God, nor really the Redeemer in the usually
accepted sense."
[Sidenote: It is necessary to understand God's plan.]
Had this young minister, who was preparing to preach the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, learned to know Him? Surely not. It is not enough merely
to recognize the true and living God, and to distinguish Him from the
many false gods of the world. One must learn also to understand God's
plan for the salvation of mankind, The first man, Adam, was just like
us. He did not {24} understand the plan of salvation until it was
taught to him. One day, when he was offering sacrifice outside of the
Garden of Eden, an angel appeared to him. The angel told Adam many
things about the Fall, and sin, and death. These things we shall learn
more about later. The important thing to learn now is this: Because of
the fall of Adam and Eve, it became necessary to send Someone to the
earth to lay down His life for the salvation of men.
[Sidenote: The divine mission of Jesus.]
God selected our Elder Brother Jesus, to perform this noble mission.
He came to the earth--the Only Begotten of the Father--and taught
men, took their sins upon Himself, and finally allowed His life to be
taken to redeem mankind from the effects of the fall in the Garden of
Eden. Was Jesus, then, merely a great leader, a great teacher, a great
philosopher? He was all that, to be sure. But He was also more than
that. He was--He is--the Only Begotten Son of the Father, the Savior of
the world. To know Jesus Christ whom God hath sent, is to accept the
divine mission of Jesus, to believe that He is really the Christ. This
is life eternal, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He
hath sent.
[Sidenote: A third step.]
Now we understand, in part, what it means to know God and Jesus Christ.
But a third step is necessary before one can claim complete knowledge.
If a man should claim to know the principles of the telephone, then
should try to talk to someone at a distance without connecting the
wires with the transmitting instrument, should you believe that he
really knew what he claimed to know? Would you not {25} rather think,
"If this man understood and recognized the principles of the telephone,
he would do what they require?"
[Sidenote: What we would do if we had learned to know God and Jesus.]
It is just so in knowing God and Jesus Christ, His Son. If we have
really found the true God, and sincerely believe in the mission of
Jesus Christ, we will surely do the things that They command us to do.
Indeed, we cannot claim a complete knowledge without doing God's will.
Once, when John the Beloved was writing to some members of the Church,
he said to them, "Hereby we do know that we know Him (Jesus Christ), if
we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not
His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso
keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby
know we that we are in Him."
[Sidenote: The condition of eternal life.]
Now we may claim to have learned the conditions of eternal life. To
know the true God is to recognize the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and
of Jacob--the God of Israel, and not to confuse Him with any one of the
many false gods worshipped in the world. To know Jesus Christ is to
recognize Him, and to accept Him and believe in Him as the Savior of
the world. To know God and Jesus Christ, is to keep the commandments
They have given to man. It was the whole aim of Jewish education to
learn to know God and His commands, and how to keep them. It should
be the aim of all education. Only by knowing the true God and Jesus
Christ, can we hope to enter the kingdom of God.
{26} "To us, there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things,
and we in Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and
we by Him."
It shall be our pleasure from now on to learn what Jesus Himself
taught, that we may learn the better to know Him and the Father, and
thus gain eternal life.
THE REFERENCES
Abraham Chs. 1,2. Moses 5:1-11.
Exodus 20:3. 1 John 2:3-5.
1 Cor. 8:6.
THE QUESTIONS
1. What was the real problem that confronted Abram in his search for
God?
2. Why is the true God called the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of
Jacob?
3. What is the first of the ten commandments?
4. How does it apply in this age?
5. What does it mean to know God?
6. What do men of the world often think of Jesus?
7. Why was Jesus necessary in the plan of salvation?
8. What does it mean to know Jesus Christ?
9. What does it mean in full to know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent?
10. What should be an aim of all true education?
{27}
{28} PICTURE: SIMEON BLESSING THE LORD.
{29}
III
THE GOD OF ISRAEL.
[Sidenote: A very important question.]
What kind of being is God, the Father, of whom are all things? If you
should be sent into the missionary field to preach the Gospel, you
would find this one of the most difficult questions you would have to
answer. For God is somewhat of a mysterious being in the opinions of
most men. Very few men have ever claimed to have seen God, or to have
held converse with Him. And for that which seems mysterious, men like
to find hard, complicated answers. The simple truth does not satisfy
them.
[Sidenote: The truth is simple and easy.]
Yet, the simple answer is nearly always the right one. A missionary
to the South Sea Islands found himself one day trying to explain to
the natives the nature of hail. There is neither hail nor snow nor
sleet on the islands. There are really but two seasons--the dry and
the wet. When it is wet it rains. The missionary tried by many various
roundabout ways to make the natives understand that hail is frozen
raindrops. The natives knew nothing about frost. They had no previous
knowledge with which to associate his explanation. And, as you know, we
cannot understand anything new unless we can tie it up with something
that we already know.
The missionary became desperate. Finally, he thrust his hand into a
bowl of rice standing on the floor, lifted a handful, and allowed it to
fall again in a shower to the ground. "Hail," he said, "is like that."
Instantly {30} the natives got the picture. They saw the raindrops
turned white and hard, and pelting the earth in their fall. The simple
explanation went home.
[Sidenote: Jesus's explanation of God.]
Now, Jesus's explanation of what kind of being God is, is even more
simple and clear than is this illustration of what hail is like. But
men have strayed into the worshipping of many different kinds of God,
because they have refused to accept the simple truth.
Near the close of His mortal life on the earth, Jesus delivered a very
excellent farewell discourse to His disciples. It is full of words of
cheer and comfort. Amongst other things Jesus said:
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and
from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him.
"Philip saith unto Him, Lord shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
"Jesus saith unto him. Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast
thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;
and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?"
[Sidenote: The meaning of Jesus's answer.]
Is not this answer very simple and very clear? Is there any good reason
for mistaking this answer? You hear it said very often of a young man
that he is the very image of his father. If you should some day say to
a young man, "I should like very much to see your father," what should
you think the father looked like, if the young man were to answer, "He
that has seen me has seen my father"? {31} Could you possibly in reason
help thinking that the father and the son were alike?
We know what manner of man Jesus was. Jesus possessed a body of flesh
and bones; or, as John the Beloved, said, "The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us." Besides, Jesus was so much like other men that
His own people could not see anything different in Him. When Jesus
went into His own country and taught in the synagogue, the people were
astonished. "Whence hath this man this wisdom," they asked, "and these
mighty words? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called
Mary? and his brethren, James and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?" To His
own people Jesus was but an ordinary man.
[Sidenote: The testimony of Paul.]
But the disciples of Jesus learned to understand what Jesus meant by
His teaching about God. Said Paul, "God, who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath
appointed Heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who
being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person,
and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by
Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high."
[Sidenote: The truth about God.]
It is not necessary, then, to go a round-about way to find out the
nature of God. The simple explanation is the true one. The God of
Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob--the supreme God of this world--is a
person. He possesses a body of flesh and bones. His Son is so much like
Him that {32} He could say in truth, "He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father." Jesus was the express image of God's person.
[Sidenote: God is our Father.]
Jesus's favorite name for God was Father. This beautiful word means
many things to us in the teaching of Jesus. First, Jesus was really the
Son of God, and could rightfully speak of Him as "My Father." But Jesus
taught us more than that. Not only is Jesus the Son of God--the Only
Begotten in the flesh--but we are all the children of God. He is the
Father of our spirits, so that we may also rightfully pray to Him as
"Our Father who art in heaven." Then, if God is really our Father, He
must have the same kind of feelings for us that fathers always have for
their children. Indeed, since He is God, His feelings must be deeper
and truer than those of any earthly father. Jesus put it thus:
"What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him
a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that
ask him?"
[Sidenote: A real joy to know the true God.]
It is a matter of comfort and joy to know the true God--to worship a
God whom we can understand, whom we may recognize. It is no wonder that
people everywhere become confused when they try to pray to a God who is
something yet nothing, who is everywhere yet nowhere, who sits on the
top of a topless throne, and so forth. It is no wonder that people are
looking for the true God.
{33} "We know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and
eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God,
the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them--that
He created man, male and female, after His own image and in His own
likeness, created He them, and gave unto them commandments that they
should love and serve Him, the only living and true God, and that He
should be the only being whom they should worship."
THE REFERENCES
John 14:6-9. Heb. 1:1-3.
John 12:45. John 1:14.
Matt. 13:35. Doc. and Cov. 130:22.
Col. 1:15. Matt. 7:9-12.
Phil. 2:6. Doc. and Cov. 20:17-19.
THE QUESTIONS
1. How do we learn to know things?
2. Why have men strayed from the true conception of God?
3. What kind of being is God?
4. What did Jesus say God is like?
5. What did His disciples understand Jesus to mean?
6. In what sense is God the Father?
7. How is He like other fathers?
8. Why could you not worship any other God than a personal God?
9. What did Jesus teach Joseph Smith concerning God?
{34} PICTURE: JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA, Hofmann
{35}
IV
WHAT JESUS SAID OF HIMSELF
[Sidenote: Jesus's testimony to the woman of Samaria.]
One day, early in His ministry among the Jews, Jesus "left Judea, and
departed again into Galilee. And He must needs go through Samaria. Then
cometh He to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the
parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well
was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on
the well; and it was about the sixth hour.
"There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her.
Give me to drink. . . . Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him, How
is it that thou being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of
Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
"Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and
who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldst have asked
of Him, and He would have given thee living water. The woman saith
unto Him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep:
from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than
our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself,
and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her,
Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but
the water that I {36} shall give him shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life. . . .
"The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our
fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is
the place where men ought to worship.
"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye
shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the
Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for
salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the
true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for
the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
"The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called
Christ: when He is come. He will tell us all things.
[Sidenote: The testimony of the people of Sychar.]
"Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He." When she heard
this remarkable declaration, the woman ran back to the city of Sychar
and told the people what Jesus had said to her, asking them, "Can this
be the Christ?" The people of Sychar went out themselves to see Jesus,
and invited Him to stay with them. Jesus stayed there for two days, and
many believed in Him because of His teachings. And when He left them
to continue His journey to Galilee, the people said to the woman who
had first met Jesus, "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we
have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the
Savior of the World."
{37} [Sidenote: Jesus taught always that He is the Christ.]
This experience of Jesus with the people of Sychar is full of interest
and rich in meaning. We might spend much time in discussing it. But it
is not necessary now to consider more than the fact that from the very
beginning of His ministry, Jesus taught that He was really the Christ,
the Savior of the world. He was not always so successful in getting the
people to recognize Him--in getting them to know God and Jesus Christ
whom He had sent--as He was here at Sychar. When at one time He bore
the same testimony in the Temple, the priests and the people took up
stones and would have stoned Him to death, had He not miraculously
walked out of their midst. But always Jesus taught of Himself that He
is the Christ.
[Sidenote: The answer to John.]
When the messengers of John the Baptist came to Him and asked, "Art
thou He that should come, or do we look for another?" Jesus answered
promptly, "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and
see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have
the gospel preached to them." These things were all signs of the coming
of the Christ, and the answer was the same as if Jesus had said, "Yes,
I am He that should come; ye need not look for another."
[Sidenote: The confessions at the trials of Jesus.]
It was thus plainly and fearlessly that Jesus, at the end of His
earthly life too, taught that He was the Redeemer of the world. When
Jesus was haled before the high priest. {38} the high priest demanded,
"Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus answered boldly,
"I am: and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of
power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." And to Pilate's question,
"Art thou the King of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "Thou sayest."
[Sidenote: And on the way to Emmaus.]
These answers and explanations are so clear to us now that it seems
hardly possible the disciples of Jesus did not also understand them.
Yet it was so; the disciples looked apparently for a powerful, earthly
king. When Jesus was crucified, they were overwhelmed. For a while
they did not know what to make of it. But Jesus Himself made all
things clear. One day, after the crucifixion, two of the disciples
were journeying toward Emmaus, talking about the strange things that
had happened. Suddenly, the resurrected Savior joined them. Because
these disciples had failed to understand the meaning of His mission on
the earth, Jesus said to them, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered
these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and
all the prophets. He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning Himself." Thus did Jesus after His resurrection bear
testimony to His teaching that He is verily the Christ, the Son of God.
[Sidenote: How shall we find out Christ?]
The knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, is, as we have already learned,
necessary to gain eternal life, the greatest of all gifts. But how
shall we come into possession of that knowledge? Shortly before His
{39} death, Jesus taught His disciples thus: "I will pray the Father,
and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you
forever." And a little later, "When the Comforter is come, whom I will
send you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, He shall testify of me." So, then, we may gain the
knowledge, the testimony, that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the
world, through the inspiration of the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth.
And to be influenced by the Spirit of Truth, we must ourselves worship
in spirit and in truth. Sooner or later the testimony must be obtained,
for it is decreed that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess
that Jesus is the Christ.
THE REFERENCES
John 4:1-42. Matt. 27:11.
John 10:24, 25. Luke 24:25-27.
Matt. 11:3-6. John 14:16.
Mark 14:61, 62. John 15:26.
THE QUESTIONS
1. What is the meaning of the Christ?
2. What is the significance of Christ's ministry at Sychar?
3. On what other occasions did Jesus publicly declare Himself the
Christ?
4. Of what particular value is His testimony to the disciples on the
road to Emmaus?
5. How is a testimony of the Christ to be obtained?
{40} PICTURE: JESUS AND NICODEMUS, Artist Unknown
{41}
V
THE SPECIAL WITNESS OF JESUS
[Sidenote: The end of the period of preparation.]
It was the day of the baptism. Jesus had completed the years of
preparation for His ministry of service. We know very little of what
He did during the eighteen years from the time of His first visit to
the temple to the time of His baptism. The historian Luke tells us that
Jesus went down to Nazareth with His parents and was subject to them.
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and
man." The day of the baptism was momentous, however; for it was the day
on which the special witness of Jesus made special recognition of Him
as the Christ.
[Sidenote: The testimony at the baptism.]
John the Baptizer was performing the ordinance of baptism in the river
Jordan for all those who requested it. Thither, then Jesus went; for
He, too, wished to be baptized. But when Jesus approached, John felt
that in Him was One greater than he; just such a One as he had himself
predicted, whose shoestrings he was unworthy to untie. When, therefore,
Jesus asked for baptism, John replied, "I have need to be baptized of
Thee, and comest Thou to me?"
"And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now; for thus it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered Him.
"And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straight-way out of the
water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and he (John) saw
the Spirit of God {42} descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him.
And, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my Son, in whom I am well
pleased."
[Sidenote: John's testimony.]
A little later, John bore testimony to those assembled about him, thus:
"I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and It abode upon
Him. And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the
same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and
remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."
[Sidenote: Who the Comforter is.]
Now, this Spirit that John saw descending like a dove and lighting upon
Jesus was the same Spirit that Jesus later promised--as we learned in
the preceding chapter--and that was to testify of Him. Concerning this
Spirit Jesus said also just before His crucifixion, "I tell you the
truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away,
the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him
unto you."