NEW TESTAMENT 2023 - WEEK 04 [MATTHEW 3; MARK 1; LUKE 3] - Creative Come Follow Me with Maria Eckersley

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Hey everybody. Welcome back. This is week four of Creative Come Following for the New Testament. And this week we are gonna set aside the Book of John so that we can focus in on the synoptic gospels. So we're gonna hear John taught us last week about the Ministry of John the Baptist, and about the baptism of the Savior.

And now we get to see that from a few different vantage points. So we're gonna read Matthew. Mark one and Luke three and hear about this same phase, you're also going to catch a glimpse of all the goodness that is to come, because as we study in the Book of Mark, especially, you're gonna start to get a glimpse of the Savior's ministry because it really kicks off his public ministry, begins with this baptism, and isn't that.

Lovely about the savior. It doesn't begin with a big, showy miracle. It begins with this sacred sweet ordinance, this humble start, and it's, it opens up a gateway to power that he demonstrates for us. In fact, that's what I felt I learned this week. Uh, I feel like every one of these gospels is teaching us about the gift of repent.

This is why when you go in the Bible dictionary, in fact this is in the Almi manual this week, it talks about how repentance is simply a fresh view. Seeing God and yourself and your fellow men with fresh eyes. It's, it's a turning away from the natural man and turning yourself towards God. And I love that perspective on repentance because I feel like that's what the Savior demonstrated for us, and he demonstrated it for all of those who would be around him in his mortal life.

He. God differently than others did. He saw himself differently than others did, and he saw every single person he encountered, whether they were friendly or not, or needed his help or not. He saw them with fresh eyes. So I think studying that process in his ministry opens up understandings for me about how I can see.

With fresh eyes. So I watched for that theme. As you go throughout this week, you're gonna see him demonstrate it. You're gonna see John the Baptist, preach about it, and there's power in it. Especially as you open yourself up to the spirit to see where you need to see things better, uh, revelation will come.

So I, I think you're gonna love these chapters. So grab your scriptures, grab your notes. It's time to get.

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To be honest, sometimes I'm kind of baffled that people were drawn to John the Baptist because when you start in Matthew three, you're gonna see. An introduction to John. First off, he's out in the wilderness, so away from the cities people had to make a trip to get to him. He is deliberately apart. In addition to that, you go into those first few verses, I think it's verse four.

It talks about his appearance that he wears camel's hair, that he eats locust, that he's, you know, he lives differently. He looks different. He sounds different, and he. apart, and yet people come to him. In fact, that was one of the verses that jumped out to me the most in Matthew three. It's in verse five, and then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region roundabout Jordan, he is a peculiar person.

and I think the Lord loves to work through peculiar people. In fact, I don't know that John, in fact, if you look at Jesus the Christ, it talks about how this may have been a season of John's ministry the same way the Savior's gonna have 40 days of fasting and temptation and being apart from everyone.

It's possible that this phase where he's out in the wilderness and eating like this and looking like this is just a phase of John's life. Cuz clearly he would need to be able to relate to people he could. He couldn't have been a complete outsider, but there's something about this idea of him. Distinct and different that catches people's eye.

I think most of them probably come out of curiosity, but when they come and they hear, they stay, and I think there's a powerful lesson for this for me. I remember one of my first colleagues after we got married was I was called to be a Laurel leader. And I remember the other person who was called to be a Laurel leader with me was so vastly, I was like 21 maybe.

And she was easily in her sixties. And I remember thinking smugly as a 21 year old, like, oh, they really should call someone younger because she's not gonna be able to relate to the girls. You know, it's gonna be, and it took one lesson, you. One lesson. I remember sitting in that class and having her teach, and the weight of her testimony made the spirit palpable.

She understood the gospel in a way that I couldn't have understood at my young age. She had lived. a lot of years and it experienced a lot of pain and frustration and sorrow, but she didn't speak about that. You could just feel it and the laurels could feel it, and they connected with her and I learned really quickly then that my assumptions are wrong, , that sometimes God calls someone who is a part.

I think it's the same reason he called Joseph. in the condition he was in. Remember he's this 14 year old boy. He's a farmer. He has limited education. He, his family has bounced around. He is, he is not what you would expect. And I think the Lord loves to work with people who are unexpected because then the miracle is evident when you see the, the journey of Joseph Smith's discipleship and who he becomes by the time he's in Avu.

You see a miracle. I think that's what you're gonna see here as well. I think sometimes he invites us to be peculiar people so that the rest of the world can see miracles, they can see increase where you wouldn't have seen it otherwise. And I wonder sometimes if that's what's happening with John because his ministry and what he says isn't terribly inviting.

So here, lemme set the stage. So if you go on the verses, you can see in six, and they were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. . One of John's ways to prepare the way was to teach people the gospel, to teach them that they needed to change. What's fascinating to me about this is this is not what they were hearing from their own rabbis and teachers.

there was no need for baptism if you were born a Jew. In fact, they really believed for the most part, that if you were born of the house of Abraham, that that kind of gave you an automatic birth into salvation because of just being part of that family line. Except for the very worst offenders, pretty much everybody were guaranteed a spot, and so this is not.

Comfortable doctrine to assume that you're doing fine and everything's fine, and then hear this rogue preacher out in the wilderness tell you you need to repent and you need to confess your sins and you need to be baptized. This wouldn't have been a popular message, but people come. People stay and people seek baptism.

And I think that witnesses to me, the power of the spirit, it has to be right, because what else could compel someone to set aside so much of the natural man, especially when the world at large is telling them that that version of the natural man is fine and they'll be fine to, to feel the pull, that magnetic pull of the spirit that the, that John.

Teaching with it pulls hearts into the water. They want more. They can taste the goodness and they want more, and I think it helps me remember how I should teach that I shouldn't worry so much about being popular or being comfortable or, you know, coaxing people into the gospel of Christ. I should teach it clearly.

I should teach it with truth, with compassion and empathy and all those good things as well. teach it, clearly. Teach the word and the spirit will pull people in. Those who have eyes to see, will see and they will come. John's whole ministry is evidence of that because nothing about his appearance or his way of speaking or like nothing about his situation was the easy road and people still came.

So doesn't that just motivate you? I, for me, it just motivated me to be a better leader a. Clear-eyed leader, and you see that in John, and then he , he comes out pretty strong. So one of the things John has to do is he has to correct those who are leading people astray, and he calls them a generation of vipers.

And this is not soft speech. The teachers and the leaders have led the people astray. They've taught the doctrine incorrectly. They've warped it and twisted it. And John has to correct 400 plus years. micro adjusting in this fail swoop. And so he does. And the choice of vipers is an interesting one because at least from a biblical perspective, when you hear that word viper, usually it means a poisonous serpent.

And it's one that lets out poison by degrees. You know, like it's, even though the poison might come in all at once, it spreads throughout the circulatory system. And I think it's just this beautiful representation of a post. Because that's basically what happens. I've seen this happen to people I love where they get a bite from, like an Instagram post, or they hear somebody speak about the doctrine or about Joseph Smith or.

They have doubts, they have questions, and they get this initial bite from an an aposty filled heart or even aposty leaning heart. And then if you don't act fast to try and pull that poison out of your system, it circulates and it starts to seep into every part of your testimony. I've even had this happen to me in the past where I have come across some doctrine that caught me off guard and I can feel.

Starting to circulate and unless I act quickly to try and understand and work through my questions the way like President Nelson taught us, I can feel it start to eat away at other things. That's what John is trying to say. I think there's some great, if you, on the notes, I give you some links to the Book of Mormon where you can see this connection made more clearly in the Book of Mormon.

That there, the prophets are speaking very clearly about those who. Pull others towards apostacy that they don't have to be right next to them all the time. They just have to make a quick bite. And then if we don't act on it, it it, that poison circulates and the apostacy starts to take over every other part of the testimony.

So he is warning about that and he comes out pretty clear. If you go a little further, he talks about where they're going wrong. So in verse nine, we have Abraham to our father. That's what they're saying to themselves. We're of this covenant line, we're of the birthright. We, we will have exaltation. And John says, no, there's so much more.

There needs to be fruits of repentance. This is all about where is your heart. Remember John is trying to give them a fresh view. For the last 400 years since they've had a profit, they've been slowly devolving their perspective. Whether they even need repentance or what repentance looks like. So John's trying to open them a fresh view and say, no, it's not about that anymore.

I need fruits. You need to show me that you want to be here, that you want this covenant connection. That's what it means to be a child of Abraham. In fact, if you go on the notes, you can see some links to the other New Testament, especially when the acts of the apostles start to roll out. This is what they.

That you don't have an automatic birth because of your birthright. You have to show up. You have to be a disciple. That's what makes you a child of Abraham. So he warns about what's coming next. If you look in 10, it says, and now the ax is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which brings not fourth good fruit is hued down and cast into the fire.

This is an Isaiah reference. We studied this in the Old Testament. I think you can see this as a heavy handed threat. Like the ax is right there. He's about to chop this down. You need to turn. And although I think that's probably accurate, I also think you can see the fact that the ax is set down, that he who is justified in cutting down that tree Now.

Is staying. He's, you know, like we see in Jacob five where he chooses not to cut down and the servant will come and, you know, remember in the book of Mormon and Jacob five, the servant will come and say like, give me one more try. Let me try again. Let me try and fix this tree one more time. And each time the Lord of the vineyard kind of pulls back and says, okay, you know, there is, there is going to be a reckoning.

There is going to be a point. , but I think it teaches us something about the character of God, that, that acts is at the root of the tree rather than hacking through it. Uh, he is patient, he is tempered. Uh, he is always in a mode of self mastery, and I think that's what the acts represents for me. It's the same feel like it.

When we read later about the Ministry of the Savior and he's talking about the woman taking an adultery, and remember, like all the Pharisees are, there's this heightened tension and he just like writes in the ground with his finger. He, he draws on the ground and gives himself time. To me, that's what the acts at.

The root of the tree is, is he's saying, I'm gonna give myself some time, and that means by extension you have time. So fix, repair, look at things with a fresh perspective. When you go a little bit further, you're gonna see about baptism with water and baptism with fire. So this is a key doctrine that John is trying to help them understand because they might think because they've been baptized, that they are clean and all is.

but we know from what we read in the Book of Mormon, there's much more on this covenant path. This is just the beginning. It's the gateway that gets you on this covenant path, and the next big step will be the baptism of the Holy Ghost that will come when the Savior comes there. There's so much more to come.

The safe. Jo St. Joseph Smith talks about this as well. He says basically, You know, de baptized only with water is half a baptism. It's, it's not, it's not what we need. The easiest way I've found to teach this to my family is I talk about counters. So when I go to teach my kids how to clean a counter, there's some steps.

The first step is to like, get all the stuff off, right? You gotta clear the counter and get the things off. To me, this is that step of repentance. Th those who were coming to learn from John the Baptist didn't get. jump in the water. They were asked to repent and to let go of their sins and to confess sins.

And when they had done those things, they were in a position of. Humility, then they're ready to be baptized. So for me, that's that process of like taking the big things off the counter. The baptism of water is like what happens throughout the day. At our house, I don't sterilize every surface all day long at our house.

Most of the time I'm wiping the kitchen counters with hot water and we're just wiping them down. But then at the end of the night, there is a phase where I get out the cleaner. You know, the very last step of cleaning the kitchen for me before I shut out all the lights is to sterilize all the granite counters.

And so I tend to grab this, you know, one that. A bit more. Ooh, I grabbed the spray from under the sink that says it can keep things clean for 24 hours because of whatever chemical is in there to keep it clean. What I love about that when it comes to baptism is that's kind of the same idea as the baptism of the Holy Ghost that we, if you only have received that cleansing of water, which is an important gateway step, you, you don't have the power to.

They're gonna need the Holy Ghost in order to stay on the covenant path, in order to know how to navigate the covenant path. And that's what comes with that baptism of fire. The Holy Ghost helps clean sins in a way that baptism on its own cannot, and it also provides you the strength you need to stay on this path.

So there's power in both. And John's trying to teach them that. Cause remember, they haven't learned this doctrine. It's been hundreds of years since a prophet taught it well. So they need. Redirecting. He's helping them see things with fresh eyes. So that's what he's, that's what he teaches them. Another big thing you're gonna see in verse 12 is he makes this reference that we've heard all throughout the Old Testament about gathering things in.

What I love about this, as I was reading it, is he's basically teaching them about this winnowing process. You know, we talked about it where they take all the wheat and they dump it on that big stone, and then sometimes they'll like rub a sledge across it or walk across it to break. All the kernels, all the berries will come out and then they throw it all in the air.

And then whatever is chaff, what's not needed will blow away. And what has weight are the berries and they stay. Those wheat berries are what is nourishing, what is valuable, and those fall down to the ground. The visual I loved about this, or I guess maybe I'd say what the spirit taught me about this, I think this is why we need discipleship.

I think essentially discipleship adds. , it gives my spirit strength, it, it adds this weight so that when I am tossed about with surf of circumstance, right when I am in the, the throes of the whirlwinds, I can't remember how it said it in Heliman, but you know when he talks about this idea of like when you are tossed about you have weight and you stay, the force of gravity is so much stronger than the force of the wind.

Wind is temporary. It looks intimidating, but it doesn't last. Gravity is constant and I think there is some really cool metaphor tucked into that one verse. We're actually gonna see it in almost all these books, and every time I read it, new understandings came. So I'll try to add more as we go through.

One of the things I really love about setting the scriptures is you get to see progression, especially in prophets. So in John the Baptist story, as the prophet, you get to see him progress in in ways that are surprising at times. And a piece of that comes in these last five verses of Matthew three. This is when the actual baptism of the savior occurs, and you can see it when you go into 13.

He glances up and he sees the savior coming. So this was not. It doesn't sound like it was pre-planned, at least not that John was in on it. It just, Jesus just comes, he just comes seeking baptism like all the other pilgrims who have come to see John. But what John is saying to Jesus is, I don't, you don't need me

In fact, that's, that's his words. But John forbade him saying, I have need to be baptized of the, and come us out to me. . In fact, if you look at the Joseph Smith translation, he says that he refused to baptize him because John knows the character of Jesus Christ. He knows that he has no sin. He has no need to repent.

He has no need to set aside the natural man and turn to God, all those things. He's been teaching all those other pilgrims, they don't apply to Jesus. And so he's saying, you don't need to be here. And what I love is, . Jesus takes this opportunity to teach John the prophet about ordinances and why they matter so much, and so he, he says it in this succinct little.

in five or 15, he says, and Jesus answering said unto Tim, separate to be so now for thus it become with us to fulfill all righteousness. And then he suffered him, meaning he's baptized that phrase to fulfill all righteousness. It's in the living Christ. It's in the Book of Mormon. It's in the doctrine covenants.

It simply means to do the will of the Father, to use my agency, to choose to do whatever the father has asked me to do. And when the Savior teaches John the prophet, that it opens up understanding about why this ordinance is essential for everybody. It is the first step on the covenant path. It is the street and narrow way.

If you go into second Nephi 31, you can see how he is the example for all of us. So of course, he's gonna begin at baptism because all of us begin at baptism. In fact, I love that phrase, that straight and narrow gate. It's this one gate where you can get in. I, I've talked in the past that it always reminds me of like an amusement park.

When you go to a place like Disneyland or Six Flags or something, there's always like one entrance point, and then as soon as you get there, there's a whole bunch of different directions you can go. But there's always just this one tiny area where you have to funnel a whole bunch of people through. and I find myself always wondering like, why?

Why wouldn't you wanna funnel as many people as you could towards baptism? Why is it such a narrow gate? And then I think I learned a little bit as I studied more of the words of our modern prophets and a little bit more from the Book of Mormon. You can go in the notes and learn, but I really loved this understanding of when you choose to submit yourself to this very narrow gate.

You automatically show humility. When you show humility, you're in a posture of repentance. So as you get on the covenant path, you're already prepared. And when you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, you are almost. Propelled forward. So the visual that always comes in my mind is mini golf . So I don't, you know when you play mini golf and there's like that one hole that's impossibly hard and there's this tiny little gateway to get to the next part.

You know what, sometimes it's like a two-part hole, and so you're shooting the ball towards like a windmill that has a little tiny narrow opening, and then if you can get it in that opening, it will propel you towards the hole. That's way over here. That's kinda how I see baptism. It is this very narrow opening.

because once you get in it, the fact that it is narrow is designed to propel you forward. You're automatically not gonna be focused on all these distractions on the side. You're gonna have a, you're gonna have momentum to move forward. And that's why I think it's so critical or, or I can think there's a lot of reasons why it's so critical, but I think the Savior's trying to teach us, there's power in submitting to the will of the father.

There's power in ordinances. It's the same thing the prophet has. When we choose to create covenant relationships with God the father, we increase in power. Jesus knows he's gonna need that power. And so he submits because right after this, he's gonna encounter those 40 days of teaching and testing and temptation.

And this added boost of power will help him the same way it will help us. So he is baptized and he sets an example for us. And then John sees the same thing we've heard before. Spirit of God descending like a dove. You hear the voice of the father testify that he is the son, and you get a certainty, not just.

John the Baptist gets a certainty of who this is that he just baptized, but the savior himself gets an added witness from his father that he is well pleased, that he is pleased with him. I love, in fact, I love the phrase says, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. We know that God the father, doesn't speak very frequently on earth.

In fact, they tend to sound like this, but I love that in those. Phrases he chooses to add. Those little adjectives. Those little additions, right? He's not just pleased with his son, he's well pleased. He's not just his son. He is a beloved son and a man who, a God who is choosing his words so carefully that he takes time to add that softness and that compassion and that kind relationship.

I just think it teaches us something about the character of God and the way he sees his beloved.

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Next we're gonna shift into the gospel of Mark. We haven't heard from Mark yet. This is our first chapter in Mark, and here's a few things you might wanna know as you go in. Mark is the shortest. It is the one that probably came out the earliest. It's the least unique of the synoptic gospels. That's probably because it came out first, which means the other two gospels that came later probably pulled from that as a like a.

Jog your memory kind of a situation. So his is not necessarily unique, but. Tone and his speed is different. Mark's not one of the original disciples or apostles of the savior. He is someone that most people think is, must be associated with Peter, that it's possible that these words through Mark are actually Peter's stories that are told to Mark.

He's gonna be kind of a junior companion to a few of the apostles and he's gonna write his stories down and published them first. He also has. A speed to his writing. He makes it seem like we go very fast through time, . So I wonder if he's younger. Cause I found this with the Ysa that there's, their speed is different, and I wonder if that's happening with Mark.

He goes from one miracle to the next. In fact, it's a lot of miracles. Mark's big focus is not as much on the doctrine of why the savior is doing what he's doing, but to witness the miracle. . That doesn't mean it's a lesser gospel. It doesn't mean it's less valuable to us. I think we know from, if you read the Bible dictionary or topical guide about miracles, they are an essential part of the Savior's ministry because miracles are what teach people that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

It's what gives all of us hope that we can have miracles in our life. So they're important. They're just. Not everything, which is why I think it's so powerful that we have all the gospels to choose from and to study and to synthesize. So Marx is gonna be a little more fixated on the miracles, so just head in with that perspective.

He also tends to speak towards a different audience, so probably more of the Roman audience or the Gentiles in the surrounding areas. He, he makes a lot of mentions about Jewish traditions and customs, and so you get the feeling that he's not speaking to Jews, but to others. Um, and so that will help you underst.

what to expect as you head into Mark and he's gonna start his story with the be the baptism of the Savior as this beginning, right? I love, that's how he phrases it in verse one, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Because we know this baptism is a straight and narrow gate, and that it gets us on this covenant path with some momentum.

That's where the gospel of Jesus Christ begins. It's not his life story, it's where his gospel starts. And so that's where Mark. and we're gonna see a lot of the same kinds of verses that you read in Matthew, but just told with a slightly different word choice. So for example, in four, John did baptize in the wilderness and had preached the baptism of repentance and the remission of sins.

Whereas in Matthew, we learned a little bit more about them having to confess sins. Now you're learning more about the remittance of sins and why those are both important. So you can go in the notes and see some beautiful. Prophetic commentary about why those are still so important. Why is it critical that we confess and remit sins?

Um, and there's a lot of great commentary on it. . I also think it's, when you go on these verses, it reminds you where this baptism happened. So he says in five that it happens in the river Jordan, as people are confessing their sins. The thing that's critical about this, and we saw this a little bit last week with John, is where he has baptizing, is in Beth Abar, which is this gateway.

It's the Jordan River is the main river for all of Israel and it. Part of so many scripture stories, and it's this channel that cuts through the middle of Israel, and then as it opens up, it drops into the Dead Sea. Beha Barr is right at that junction point, that last city on the way to the Dead Sea. In fact, if you printed out the map from a few weeks ago, you're gonna wanna stick a pin in Beha Barr.

That's where he is. The reason I think it's important to understand. Piece of doctrine is because it teaches us something about the savior. This is the Dead Sea is literally the lowest place on earth. So he chose this spot to baptize, to be baptized. And again, kinda like I talked to you last week, I really feel like, because we know the gospel came first and then he created the world.

I wonder if you know. I don't know how many countless eons of time he had been planning the structures of the planet to create this dead space. This deep space where people, where he could eventually be baptized. I wonder if people forced centuries wandered past it and wondered why the Lord would create a place that was so dead and so empty of life.

And then when he's baptized, you realize, because this is a symbol. This is a symbol of the savior descending below all things of dying and being reborn the same way. It's a symbol of that for us, that when we choose to be baptized, we are setting down who we were and we are coming out a new creature with a new devotion to God.

So I love the visual of Beth Barr and what it means. It's also a great place of crossing. So if you think of this same location as the place of crossing for Joshua, . There's a lot of parallels between Joshua and Jesus. In fact, you can see that if you look in the strength of the youth man, or not manual, the um, magazine for the youth, they have a page on this.

The comparison between Joshua and Jesus is someone who comes after Moses and Christ is the one who fulfills the law of Moses. And Joshua is somebody who led people through this Jordan River and opened up a pathway to the Promised Land. And the Savior is someone who will come into the Jordan River and open up a covenant path to get to the celestial kingdom.

There's a lot of cool. . So go and look in the notes or in the magazine this month and you can see some of those. But I think there is intention in this location of his baptism. And then you're gonna see similar phrases that you saw last week that they're, John's immediate reaction to them is to say, I know you think you're following me, but really something greater is coming.

You need more than just what I can offer you. He is this quintessential, powerful, ironic priesthood holder. So if you have some at this age, that ironic priesthood holding age. Help them see John, the power and the might of John, and that John's role was to say, oh no, something even greater is coming. Let me teach you about it.

So I love that connection. You're also gonna see that he sees the heavens open, that he sees the spirit like a dove, that he's, you hear that same phrase, but spoken a little bit differently. So when you hear this, the God the Father's voice in Mark, it sounds a little different. He says, thou art my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased, it's a little more person.

It's a little more pointed towards the savior, and I can see how that would build him up for all the things that are coming next. And then you get a quick glance from Mark about what happens next. We're gonna study this a little bit more in the next coming weeks, but this understanding that right after his baptism is this time of testing and learning, where for 40 days he will fast, he'll be in the wilderness, he will suffer some different obstacles.

In fact, you're gonna see in this verse in Mark, you don't see it anywhere else, but in. It talks about how he encountered wild beasts and the temptations of things, and I thought it was interesting that Mark added that in. I think it's supposed to help us understand that the savior was still mortal and he had to deal with all those same struggles that anyone would have to deal with in the wilderness.

He, you know, we've been watching an Alaska show lately. Jason's big on Alaska. His dream is like to live there someday and live off the land. It is not my dream. So I don't think , I don't think it'll ever happen, but this is, this is what this reminds me of, but it, it was. a testing of physical and spiritual strength and, and we'll see more of that next week.

Um, as you go on a little further, you learn that now is the shift from when we've been studying about John the Baptist preaching, and now it shifts to the Savior's preaching because John the Baptist whole job was to get people ready so that they could hear the savior end. Really here. And one of the things I loved you guys as I was studying in the footnotes.

So if you go on 14 A, it connects you to the teaching mode of Jesus Christ in the topical guide. I don't normally flip to the topical guide once cuz I, there's just a list of scripture references and I didn't think it would help me much. But this time I did. And then all these things opened up. It were all these scripture references of how the Savior teaches.

So you see, Authority. You see that he uses the scriptures. You see that he teaches with parables to be relatable to people and easy to be understood that he perceives people's thoughts and changes his teaching to help them and to get them to understand. Like I just, for me, it was almost like teaching in the Savior's way was embodied in that one section of the topical guide.

So go, don't miss that part of it. I highlight some of it in the notes, but go in the topical guide and see how he preaches Differe. I think another reason that John the Baptist was a part and taught in the wilderness and wore different clothes and was so peculiar is because he wanted to make it very clear that he was not the light that that way when the savior began his preaching and he was among men and he taught where everybody else lived and he dressed like they did and lived like they did, they would see who he is.

It would be very clear that this is the savior. I think the contrast is power. And his message is the same. When you look at the first message we have from the Savior in his public ministry, it's about repentance. He's saying in 15, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe in the gospel.

I love, there's some great quotes in the notes about this, but I love this understanding of the kingdom of God opening up that when you choose to be baptized, when you choose to get on this covenant path, you choose to become a citizen of the kingdom of God. And he wants you to be a patriot. You know, he wants you to be fully invested and trying to do everything you can to welcome other people in and to grow the strength of the land that's there.

And you know, like there is a, I dunno, there's a motivation to it that I just really loved studying this week. So I think that invitation to be a part of the kingdom of God is not just to be protected and in his flock, it's to do something great and be a part of something great. And that's his in. . One of my favorite verses from the Book of Mormon is an Ether 12, and it talks about weaknesses and being made into strengths, but I love that it says that when you come to the Lord, he will show you your weakness, and then if you are humble enough, he'll give you the grace to turn it into something more powerful.

I think that's demonstrated by these disciples who will turn into apostles. In this second half of Mark, basically you're gonna see Andrew and Peter encounter the Savior and also James and John a couple verses later, and they're gonna be asked to put something. They're gonna be asked to set something aside with Andrew and Peter.

They're gonna be asked to step away from their whole fishing life. Like they, they're gonna ask to set those nets down with James and John. It sounds like there's even a family relationship that gets set down. I don't think it means they're ever gonna abandon their father's e, but I do think it means they're stepping away from the future that maybe Zdi planned for them, where they might inherit the business and they would take over and you know, there's an inheritance that they're gonna miss out on because of their choice to follow.

but because they choose to follow, the Lord can take this weakness and turn it into something greater. I don't think it's that fishing is bad or that any employment generally is bad. I think what he's saying is when your employment or your family connections or traditions get in the way of the discipleship, I'm calling you to, you need to set it down.

So you'll notice like later in this chapter, we're gonna see. Simon's mother-in-law gets healed. So it's not like they're, he's asking 'em to step away from all of their family and their fishing. He's just saying, step away from these fish, step away from these nets. And to me, it's kind of the same thing we read in Alma 32, where he teaches that if you're gonna plant a seed, you have to give place for the seed.

Something's gotta go. This is really helpful to me because I tend to add, I'm, I'm really good at adding to my plate. I'm not as good at setting things down. And I started to think back on. The revelation I've received, especially about like new callings or even just new invitations to be a better disciple.

Like sometimes I'll hear something at conference and think, I wanna get better at that. My temple attendance needs to get better. And so I'll pray for the motivation to go to the temple more regularly. And then I never really pray to understand what I need to set down. And I think there's power in that connection to say The Savior's not asking you to just continually add to your plate.

He's saying there is something so good over here, and in order for you to hold it in your hands the way I want you to, I need you to make space. I need you to open up room so when you're calling shift or your obligations, Adjust. You need to pray for. Where can I make space? Basically the prayer I'm asking myself now is, okay, what are my nets and what do I need to sit down?

What are the things that are gonna entangle me or make me feel like discipleship is too heavy? And what can I set down? And you guys, I can get answers there when I ask what needs to go. He's pretty clear, that I can get all kinds of ideas. I almost never watch TV anymore because it's something I've chosen from the help of the spirit.

Not because I wanted to, but because he. Maria, set that down. There's other things I need you to focus your time on and you don't have enough time for both. So set that down. It's not that I think all TV is bad or that any of the shows I would've watched are so awful, it's that I don't have space. I need open space in order to accomplish all the things he wants me to do.

And the promise is when you choose to do that, you see things you wouldn't see other. that I can testify to. It's the same thing that Peter could testify to when he chose to walk away from that net. He saw things that are so much greater than a boat full of fish, but he had to choose to give place first.

So I love that lesson of, of the apostles in here. When you go a little bit further in Mark, you're gonna see a couple healings happen. So the first one is a healing of a man who has an unclean spirit. Now this gets a little tricky. It's kind of tricky doctrine to teach. So I try to put a lot in the notes to help you understand.

Taught by the prophets and what is clear for me, the big message was this, that when it's wrong to assume that all of this. That we don't need to pay attention to it. It's wrong for me to assume that this is kind of like mystical and not real, and I shouldn't even think about it cuz there's even evidence like in Joseph Smith's time of the effect of unclean spirits.

So I do think we should study it and understand it. So I gave you some good links in the notes. I also think on the opposite side of that coin, you can't hyper fixate on it. The savior didn't hyper fixate on it. We're gonna see more of those stories in the Book of Mark because he tends to show miracles.

He doesn't fixate on it. In fact, I think what Mark is trying to focus our attention on is that the power of Jesus Christ overwhelms the power of the adversary every single time, so that even though this is real and this does happen, it's something that the power of Jesus Christ conquers every time. In fact, there's this great, what is it?

Oh, I don't know if I have it in front of me. I thought it was in my margins, but there's this great, I think it's in the book of James, where he basically says, Face your face, the adversary, and he will run from you . I should have written it down, but that's what I think he's trying to say is like, yes, it's real.

Yes, the adversary is real. Yes, he has spirits who are viciously, you know, like roaming the earth, trying to take over people, but the power of Jesus Christ and the power of covenants and the power of Discipl discipleship. Overwhelms it every time. So face it, head on and don't be afraid, and he will run because ultimately he's a coward.

That was, I think it was President faus who said it that way. So go in the notes and you can read about it, but you're gonna see that miracle first. Then you see this kind of beginning of a lot of miracles. So basically, Simon Peter's mom is ill with a fever and. So he, the savior goes and he heals her. And then her first reaction is to get up and minister that that doesn't mean to preach.

It means to serve and to help. And I kind of loved that piece of her story, that as soon as she is well, she seeks to serve others and probably serve the savior himself, because I think that's what you see in the Book of Mormon too, right? As soon as Alma and the Sons of Mosiah are spiritually well, , the first thing they wanna do is serve.

In fact, they'll do it for 14 years. , they'll, they'll go on a mission to the hardest mission ever and serve because that's what happens when the atonement of Jesus Christ is at work in you. You have a desire to serve and to give and to do what the Savior would do if he were in your shoes. So I love that you see that in her little, little story.

You go a little bit further and you see that these miracles are starting to catch fire and people are gathering. So the first, the healing of the man with the evil spirit happens on the Sunday or on the Sabbath, I should say. And so people wait till the end of the Sabbath when the sun goes down and then they come in droves.

It sounds like, in fact in 33 it says, and all the city was gathered at the door. So people are hearing that he has this power and they are coming and what is amazing to me, How the savior handles it, so he heals. This is the middle of the night you guys, and he's just been teaching in the synagogues and dealing with all kinds of hard, and he stays up late into the night.

I mean, we know his character. This is probably a one by one touching each person, helping each person and heals them. And then I think it's really instructive what he does. So that's in 34, and then in 35 it says, and in the morning rising up, a great while before the day, he went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed.

He gets to a point where he is, he knows he needs replenishment. He needs to be refilled and refueled, and so he. Goes. I think this is that same idea of not just adding to your plate. There is a point when you can feel that you have served and you have helped, and you have done what you can that you need to go and restore and replenish.

In fact, I love that that's what the Sabbath is supposed to be for us. Every week. It's supposed to be a time where we refuel, we begin again and start fresh. So I, I think it's beautiful that the savior demonstrates. . It's interesting to me that the apostles follow him. , they, they basically, I, I don't know if they wake up and see that he's gone, but they follow him and try and find him and basically say like, there's so many others who want to talk to you and want your help.

What's interesting to me is what the savior says in response to them. He says in 38, and he said unto them, let us go into the next town that I might preach there also. And so they do. They go into another town. I think because the savior at this point is compassionate. I. , the motivation for all of his healings is always compassion.

But what he came to do was not to heal them of this temporary malady, even the severe ones like blindness and you know, an unclean spirit. It, he came to save them from something so much bigger and he doesn't want to confine his ministry to the miracles he wants to preach. All those things we just studied about in the topical guide.

He wants to preach the scriptures. He wants to open up their eyes to the doctrines of. God. He, he wants to, he wants to give them a healing that can last always. You know, it's that message of the living water that he tries to give the woman at the well. He doesn't just want this little pot of water for her.

He wants living water that can last always, even though the savior, I think is hoping to preach more than perform these miracles, he does wherever he goes. So you can see in 39, he's casting out devils. It doesn't talk about healing until you get to the leper, and I wonder if it's because of the interaction with the leper.

Jesus chooses to perform yet another healing miracle, which by, by default will bring a whole bunch of others his way. But he, he has a com compassionate heart that cannot be contained, especially when someone is in a, a place of humility. And that's what I think you see with the leper. So you can go in the notes and learn more about leprosy, but it is a.

Degenerative painful disease that caused you to be completely separated from the rest of society. So it's, it's illegal according to the love Moses, for this leper to even approach anyone else. He's supposed to be completely apart, but he comes to the savior with hope. In fact, I think the very fact that he chooses to come shows his abiding hope that this could be the answer.

And I think Xavier's heart responds to that. Hope he can see it and what the lepers says, I. adds to that hope. He basically says unto the savior, he says, if thou wilt, thou can't make me clean. The leper isn't demanding healing. He isn't making any bold kind of statements. He is simply saying, I know you have the power to make me clean.

If it's thy will, please do it. And I think that's the posture of prayer that I'm supposed to have when I'm seeking healing for myself or for. It's this position, it's, I know you have the power to do all things. If it's that I. Please heal. Please help. Please lift. Please save. That is a position of humility and honor, right?

It's, it's saying to the Lord, I know your power. I have faith that you can, but I also understand that you can see so much bigger than I can see, and it might not be your will to solve this immediate problem. Maybe you're trying to give me a better chance at this bigger living water instead of just this small pot of water that I'm seeking right now.

So I trust. And I think that posture of prayer opens up the savior's heart. I think he sees his humility. In fact, you can read in the notes, there's some quotes from prophets and apostles about this, but it, it touches the savior and he. Overflows with compassion and then he heals. And so in 41 and Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him and say it unto I will be the how Clean.

First off. I love that you learn about the saviors compassion. In fact, you're gonna see as we study these miracles so often the apostles point out that it was compassion that motivated the healing, faith and compassion are the biggest indicators of why these healings happen. . The second thing I love about this verse is that he chooses to touch him.

He could have healed him in any number of ways. You're gonna see a lot of those different ways. He, he doesn't heal in the same way every time. He does it differently with different people. And he didn't have to touch this Leo Earth, but when he does, he chooses to see him and he helps all the rest of the people see him.

And by touching him, I feel like he gives him dignity. It's not just healing. Uh, his condition is healed, but he also gives. Dignity, which is I imagine this man missed so profoundly, and I think he does this in the gospel all the time with us, where he gives you opportunities to serve when you feel like maybe you're not the right one for the job.

In fact, you're certain that there are people who do it better than you, and when he asks you to do it, it's like touching you saying, I see what you can be. I don't see how you are right now and how everyone else has judged you. I see what you can be. Be that clean start, go, and it's just this dignity, this touch.

It's the same thing we're gonna see when he talks to the woman with the issue of blood. You know that he stops in the street and he seeks her out and he asks her to rise and he tells everyone else in the city basically like she is clean, because the savior is never seeking to just heal a malady. He is trying to restore dignity and help people see who they are.

Remember he's giving people a fresh view. So that's what you see in these. Sadly he isn't. This leopard doesn't always follow the Lord. I think it's out of a good place. He is jubilant, I imagine with his healing cuz it happens immediately. The leprosy departs from him and the Lord charges him. In fact, if you go on the footnotes, you see this is a strong like a stern warning.

Please do not go and tell everyone about this healing. I did this out of compassion for you. I need you not to tell anyone else. I just want you to go and fulfill the law of Moses, make an offering That's interesting to me, that the Lord does this, that he like his parents, he fulfills the law of Moses. He teaches people the law, and then he helps 'em understand what it means and why it happens.

So he directs him to go to the priest and make an offering and don't tell anyone because remember, he's hoping to preach and teach the real doctrine to as many as he can, but this leopard can't be contained. And so, Spreads it about much. In fact, it says he blazes abroad matter in verse 45. So I think it's, it helps me remember why we're directed to keep sacred things sacred.

It's not that they are not powerful and that they couldn't change a lot of hearts. I, I imagine this leper things, he can get a lot more people to follow Jesus if he tells this story. But what the savior is trying to say is, I need them in a different way. This miracle isn't a convergent tool. It is something that.

Reinforce converted hearts that can't create them, and so it causes trouble. All of a sudden he can't preach openly because this sacred thing that was supposed to be kept sacred wasn't. So I think there's a warning in that for us as well.

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Luke starts things off a little bit differently cuz he focuses our attention on the leadership of the day, both the political leaders and the religious leaders. And then puts a big spotlight on John and I think he's trying to teach us about the value of prophets. That if you need help to. Deal with your world.

You should look to prophets. You should seek guidance from prophets. And then you see the guidance kind of flow out of John and we'll see a lot of verses that sound pretty familiar. You see how he is a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah and Malachi. You're gonna see that he teaches the gospel and makes you know his.

The Savior's gospel is something that will bring mountains down and fill up valleys and make things straight. All that doctrine that we talked about last week when you were on the sledding hill, you can see a little bit. In Loop chapter three, you also see this invitation to bring. fruits worthy of repentance.

So it's a slight word adjustment. I think the meaning is the same. It's the same thing we heard from President Nelson, that as we choose to look with fresh eyes at our connection with God, our understanding of ourselves and our connection with our fellow men, we gain power. When we connect with these ordinances, when we choose to lean into our discipleship, we gain power.

And his list of powers that he offers is so powerful. In fact, there's a great devotional. President Worthen from BYU where he listed all the promises of the prophet in the last five or six years, kind of back to back and talked about all these promises of power. If you haven't heard it, it's just from the last week or two.

Um, that's kinda what I saw here. It's the same thing that King Benjamin offered his people when he directed them to put off the natural man and become a saint through Christ. I think that's the fruits of repentance. When you choose to have a humble heart, a broken heart, and a contract spirit, what you gain.

is an ability to put off all the natural man sides of you and become a saint. It's both right? It helps you get rid of all the parts you don't want and helps you build on what is good and make it better. And so you see some of that in these verses when you flip the page. You're also gonna see those same mornings about don't think you have an automatic birth because you're of the children of Abraham.

In fact, you're gonna see later in the New Testament that they'll say that it's those who believe in the words of Christ are the seed of Abraham's. I think he's trying to warn them of that same principle. Sometimes we get the impression that discipleship is sort of one size fits all. And if you need evidence that that is not the case, you can see it in Luke three because people come, they, their hearts are starting to turn.

They can feel this change beginning and they want to know how to use what they're feeling. So they come to John and he, they say intent. And the people asked him saying, what shall we do then? You know, like, I, I feel like this all the time when you just listen to conference and you get all these stirrings of like, I think I need to do better.

And then you. Where, how do I do those things? That's what they're asking. And what's interesting to me is when you seek the guidance of a profit, you get more pointed direction on how you can change. You yourself can change. When you seek your local leaders and their help, they can help you target those stirring motions and know what to do differently.

So John teaches each of these groups differently, but the message is the same. So different groups come, like Republicans come, and soldiers come and they say, well, how do I apply the doctrine? Here's my basic life structure. How do I do this? And they each get different answers, but the message is the same.

It's serve and do good and be fair, and don't extend beyond what you are supposed to do and be grateful for the blessings you've been given. It's, it's the same message, but it's targeted to each little group, and I kind of love that. I think it teaches us something about John's leadership style, that he takes time to help them understand.

Where their discipleship should go next. And then he teaches them something powerful. So if you look in 16, it's that same message we read from a couple different places about there's somebody else coming and he's gonna bless you with the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, every other time I read that verse, I was like, okay, yeah, I've heard this from all four gospels.

I get it. There's somebody else coming and he's gonna bring the gift of the Holy Ghost. But what I love about it in Luke is you've just seen people who are wrestling. Yeah, but how, what do I do next? And I think that's the answer. He's saying, I'm gonna help you in this short term. I'm gonna help you know that as a soldier, you need to be really kind to people.

You need to extend. Help. As a public, you need to be fair and not take more than you're supposed to and don't, you know, don't game the system, but there is someone who is coming who will give you a gift that will help you know these things. That's why I think the gift of the Holy Ghost is such a profound gift, cuz although the Holy Ghost can impact hearts before baptism, the Holy Ghost is at work in the, you know, it touches the light of Christ and it can be at work.

But when you have the gift of the Holy Ghost, , the promise is that you have an added endowment of power, so that as you get on this covenant path and hope to stay on it, the Holy Ghost will help you. It, it will, you know, kind of nudge you in the right direction so that when you try, you can get that. You know, momentum and that trajectory, that's what he's promising.

It's not just that the savior is coming, it's that the savior is coming with a gift that will help you know how to do these things without me getting in the middle. You won't need to ask anymore. I think this is interesting from what we just saw in conference, like with Elder Christofferson, talking about the strength of the youth and all the standards that that.

We've reached a point where you're supposed to seek that out for yourself. All of us have been blessed. Those have been baptized, have been blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, which means I should be able to know for myself how I'm supposed to dress, what music I'm supposed to listen to. My boundaries might need to be different than yours, and so I have a different work to do, so my discipleship might look a little bit different, and I think that's the message of this little part in Loop three is.

We need the Holy Ghost in order to be those disciples. And so John is trying to help them see something great is coming. You won't need a middle man anymore. You'll be able to know what the Lord wants you to do, and that's pretty powerful. The last part you see is that John the Baptist ends up in prison.

We're gonna learn more about this later, but essentially he offends one of the leaders because one of the leaders. Trying to make a wife out of his brother's wife. So he divorces his initial wife and he tries to bring this other wife in. And John the Baptist doesn't mince words and basically says that's wrong.

In fact, you're gonna see it when he, when you quote it in John, he basically says to the highest leader there, this is wrong. And that gets him thrown in prison and he'll stay there for months. Which is again, interesting to me. I think everybody's path of discipleship looks different and for whatever reason, John stays in prison even though he has power and he can do great things and he could do great work for the church.

He's in prison. I think this is interesting cause if you've ever known a missionary, like maybe one of your kids who goes out and sometimes. , they're confined in some way. You know, like during Covid a lot of them had to stay indoors and they couldn't teach or preach or do what they hoped to do. Sometimes they have a companion that's just hard and you don't understand why the Lord doesn't liberate them

Why don't they let them free? Cuz they could do so much good. And I think there's something to be learned that John the Baptist is in prison like nine months to 12 months. We're not sure. In fact, he never really gets out. He'll be headed by the end, but there's something. Choosing to be a disciple no matter where you are placed.

That's powerful. I think we can look back on Joseph and Egypt's story and see how that plays out, right? No matter where he is placed, he's a disciple and he leads, and you're gonna see that happen with John the Baptist. Just not in the way. He's always taught it's a different. a different kind of teaching, and I think it's kind of cool to see how the Lord uses lots of different mortal circumstances to help us become the immortal people we're supposed to be.

This last part, we don't have time to go into all of it, but this is basically the genealogy of the Savior, and I think it's interesting. It's taught a little bit differently here than it is in other gospels. We go all the way back to Adam on this one, and I think Luke's purpose here is to help us realize that we are all related to the savior.

There's a lot of big family history messages at the end. Chapter because I think he's saying we're all connected. Cause remember, Luke's a Gentile. He's someone that converts to the gospel, so he doesn't have that line of Abraham Link that Ev other people have. So he's trying to show, look, we all come from this same great place.

We are all this big family and everybody is included in this Gospel of Christ.

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Hopefully now you're really excited to get into your scriptures and study these doctrines for yourself, but it's a whole nother challenge to try and teach your kids or your classes how to be excited about them as well. So that's what this part of the course is all about. So for those of you on YouTube or are listening via podcast, I'm gonna give you a quick preview of the three object lessons and those of you who are in the course right after this, I'll take you a lot deeper and help you understand how to pull.

Okay, here's your first one we're gonna talk about pickles . The reason is Elder Bednar gave a talk about baptism, about this mighty change that begins with baptism where we're kind of becoming a new preacher. And the parable he plays out is all about cucumbers turning into pickles. So I couldn't resist making an object lesson out of it.

So we're gonna talk about pickles. There's a game you could play and it. Having a few pickles on hand. So whether your kids like pickles or not, I want you to go buy a big jar or you could make your own like I did this week, um, and then play this game to help your kids understand that process of becoming a whole new creature.

Second one is all about. Unity. So we're talking about the Godhead and there is, if you're in the course, one of the great things about being in, in the course itself is you actually can access the content from all the years of study that we've done. So if you are seeking one that is easy to do in a classroom setting and this one doesn't fit the bill, there's another good one.

And Doctrine and Covenants, week 10, that's the one that I use, the three different colors of light and have them combined to make a white light. We're talking about the same principle this week, but I wanted to teach it in a different way, hoping to reach a little more of. Audience. So if you have teenagers or you have girls who love to dance, I think this is a really good object lesson for them.

We're gonna talk about the Godhead and we're gonna do a TikTok Challenge dance to help them learn how members of the Godhead are distinct and different, but work in perfect harmony. Okay. Your third one is all about the covenant path. This week we're gonna study a lot about the savior and how he began and was an example for us on how to begin this covenant path and that it starts with baptism.

I was, as I was studying that in the Kal manual, I noticed on the digital version of the Kal Manual, there's an extra section, it's called the Appendix, and it's at the very end and it actually talks about how we can teach our kids about the covenant path. And I, when I was reading it and study. All kinds of creative ideas started lighting up in my mind.

I wanted a way for my kids to understand the covenant path, the way they lay it out in the appendix, and I needed a visual so I made one. So this week you're gonna learn the covenant path, but since it's game week, I provide you a way that you can play game. I'm calling this fridge Darts cuz you're basically gonna print the covenant path, put it on your fridge, and then throw magnetic darts at it so that you can learn all about the covenant path.

Why it matters so much. So for this one, there's a printable and then you're also gonna want a few magnets on hand, and I'll walk you through all the details after.

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Okay guys. That's it for week four. All right. Hopefully you have everything you need. You've got notes and videos so you can get into the scriptures and study and figure out what the spirit has to teach you in these chapters and a few tools at your disposal so that you can take all the excitement you have about these verses and help ignite some hearts in those you teach.

n, come join me on Instagram,: 10:00

Just click that little icon at the top right, and it'll open up a way to chat with me directly. So hopefully that will help give you all the tools you need. But otherwise, I just wanna say thanks for being here. Whether you're watching it in the full course, or you find it on YouTube, or you listen to it in Podcast Forum, I hope it motivates you to study yourself.

I hope it prompts you to see that there is revelation and blessings waiting for you. Under these verses like dig in, find something. I only know that cuz it happened for me. Answers to prayers that I didn't even know I needed came as I studied the message of John the Baptist and the Ministry of the Savior.

And I think it'll happen for you too. So get into the verses and see what bubbles up to the surface. All right, you guys, enjoy your week and I will see you on Monday.