Jesus has been teaching the Nephites since chapter 11, and
now he thinks the people need a break before they can absorb anymore.
As Jesus is about to leave, he looks around and sees that
everyone is in tears and wishing he wouldn’t leave yet. And then the Savior of
mankind – probably the busiest person in the universe – has enough compassion
to stay a little longer. And he heals them.
7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.9 And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.10 And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears.
There were about 2,500 people in the crowd (see vs. 25) so
this wasn’t a brief delay for Jesus – but He felt the people were worth the
extra time. And after Jesus healed the people, He prayed for them. The prayer was
so powerful that it wasn’t even possible to write it down. The people later
recalled that, “the eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard…and no
tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the
hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard
Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the
time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.” (vs. 16-17)
Then Jesus had the little children all brought to him, and
he blessed them, one by one, and prayed again for the children. He loved them
so much that he wept – Jesus wept! The Savior of mankind loved these people so
much that he cried. I love that.
Jesus tell the crowd to “Behold your little ones” (vs. 23) and when they looked, “they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.” (vs. 24) Pretty cool!
After healing the people and blessing their children, Jesus
stays a little longer and introduces the Sacrament to the Nephites, like he did
with his 12 disciples before he was crucified. He breaks bread and passes a cup
of wine. He gives authority and commandment to the leadership of the church to
continue to give the Sacrament to the members of the church after Jesus leaves.
Jesus tells the people that when they partake of the bread
and wine, it will remind them of his body and his blood, and they are
demonstrating to God that they will always remember Jesus (vs. 7 and 11) and
are willing to follow His commandments (vs. 10). In return, Jesus promises that
that they will always have his spirit to be with them (vs. 7 and 11).
Jesus instructs the church to not forbid anyone from coming
to meet and worship with them, but that they should welcome everyone and pray
for those who need extra help (vs. 22-23). He says, “ye see that I have
commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye
should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the
world.” (vs. 25)
One of the most-repeated promises in the scriptures is given
in this chapter:
“And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.” (vs. 18)
Do you believe that? Why or why not?
