Healing at the Pool of Bethesda
READ John 5:2-16
Out
of the great crowd of disabled people, why did Christ ask only that one man if
he wanted to be healed?
He was grateful for any help Christ would
give him.
He had the faith to be healed immediately.
We don’t know if He asked others but we
do know that Christ ministered to no one else.
Why
were the Jews so angry about Christ’s Sabbath healings that they tried to kill
Him?
They judged righteousness by outward
(observable) ordinances and actions.
They had changed the Law – put “fences”
around it, and by so doing, made healing on the Sabbath a sin.
Christ challenged their authority and
their right to change the Law.
He undermined their authority by demonstrating
miraculous power on a day when they had proclaimed it was a sin to do so.
The Son and the Father
READ John 5:19-20
What
did Christ see the Father do?
Everything the Father has done, Christ
was also to do.
Christ saw a vision of the Father’s
earlier progression and ascent before He began His own ministry; the Father had lived a perfect life and acted
as Savior to a group of His brothers and sisters living on a similar world to
earth, attaining to the resurrection Himself and redeeming all who had come
unto Him (see TPJS 390-393; LoF 7:15-16 and 7:9); Christ saw this in vision and
didn’t do anything but what He’d seen the Father do before Him.
An interesting
question is whether or not Christ had been present as a mortal in that distant
eternity or not; if so, the vision He saw in this life could have been a
personal memory, forgotten via the veil of mortality in this life, which God
enabled Christ to remember through the Spirit; it is not a necessary pre-condition
of His seeing the Father’s atoning work in vision, here, of course.
READ John 5:24
What
does it mean to have eternal life – to pass from death unto life?
To whomever listens to Christ’s testimony
of the Way and follows Him with faith, there is no end to her/his potential
progression; their progress will not cease.
Christ demonstrates the pathway to
eternal lives (see D&C 132:21-25).
READ John 5:26
Who
gave the Son to have “life in himself”?
The Father gave it to Him.
Which implies that Christ didn’t have it
at one time (but grew from grace to grace – see D&C 93:12-17).
READ John 5:36-47
What
are the greater witnesses of Christ than John the Baptist?
The miracle of the atonement, death and
resurrection; the final steps of the Father’s path which lead through the
valley of the shadow of death to attaining the resurrection for oneself, is the
ultimate witness of Christ – He bears tokens that a living man should not bear.
The works (miracles, ministrations, and
teachings) of Christ in the lives of others.
The prophesies of the prophets (like
Moses).
The word of God, as written in the
scriptures.
The voice and person of the Father
Himself confirming that Jesus of Nazareth is His Beloved Son.
Why
do the Jews not believe these “witnesses”?
They refuse to believe the witnesses
given them by those guarding the tomb – and yet they paid them off not to say
anything about what they’d seen.
They think His miracles are done through
the power of Satan.
They think His teachings are wrong because
they contradict the Law of Moses, which they worship (the standards) – and
which they had augmented.
They do not really believe Moses’
prophesies.
They do not have the “word abiding in”
them – they read the words but no not follow the guidance such that they
believe, repent and come unto Christ in real life.
Which means they cannot hear or see the
Father despite His presence and witness at events in Christ’s ministry (John
heard the Father at the Baptism and the Apostles did on the Mount of Transfiguration).
Instead,
what “witnesses” to the Church leaders believe?
They believe their gospel scholars: the
scribes, and their pious men: the Pharisees, and their chief priests: the
Sadducees.
They will only believe those with earthly
credential; they quote each other and use each other as the final authority on
truth.
Meanwhile, they ignore the light sent
from God in the messages of rustic John the Baptist and the heretic, Jesus of
Nazareth.
In a sad irony, Moses will condemn them
for not seeing Christ in all of his prophesies and writings – while Moses is
one of the Jews’ main sources for scripture – but they’ve perverted and twisted
what Moses wrote, because they don’t believe it.
Feeding the Five Thousand
READ John 6:1-15
Why
did Christ feed the five thousand?
He had compassion on them – many had traveled
to be healed (see Matthew 14:14) and taught (see Mark 6:34).
It was getting late and they were hungry.
He was always thinking out how to relieve
the suffering of others; the context for this event was that Christ had wanted
to be alone, as He had just got word that John the Baptist had been killed (see
Matthew 14:10-13), but the multitudes sought Him out.
How
impressive was this miracle?
Everyone was sitting down and the
disciples distributed the food in baskets, so to the masses, they probably
didn’t even realize there were only 5 loaves and 2 fishes to start with.
It’s an incredible miracle in hindsight
(all the people ate until they were full) but at the time, many may not have even
realized it was a miracle.
Only “those men” out of the 5000 who
collected the excess (12 baskets) and had seen the original 5 loaves and 2
fishes would have seen it for the miracle it was (see v14).
Why
did the people want to make Christ a king?
They liked the “welfare state” (free food
and medical care).
Why
did Christ want to be on the mountain alone, instead of with His friends?
While it’s possible that He had
introverted tendencies and wanted to recharge Himself emotionally and process
the news of John the Baptist’s death.
Christ spent quite a bit of time alone in
prayer – He was communing with God and recharging His spiritual “batteries” via
His “habitation” with God, so that He could continue to work the miracles
required in His ministry (see Mark 5:24-30).
Walking on Water in the Fourth Watch
READ Matthew 14:23-25 and Mark 6:48
What
does it mean that the wind was contrary?
It was not going the way they wanted to sail
– they had to tack against the wind or in this case, row against it because it
was too strong to tack against (for context, they were 65 to 70 football fields
into the wind and waves – approximately 7000 yards or 4 miles from land – they
were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee).
When
is the fourth watch?
3am to 6am.
How
long had they struggled in the Sea?
Approximately 9 hours – they were
exhausted and fearful at this point.
Did
Christ know they were struggling?
Yes – he saw them from the mountain (or
in vision).
Why
did He wait so long to come unto them?
He was communing with His Father –
something they perhaps should have been doing.
He is a “fourth watch” God (see JSH
1:15-16 and Genesis 21:15-19 and 1 Kings 17:11-12).
Why
is Christ a “fourth watch” God?
We must “labor” in the spirit; sometimes
against an adversary or some other kind of opposition.
It is in the trial of our faith that we
grow – we labor against our own doubt.
As
we labor until the fourth watch, what lies does Satan tell us?
God is not listening.
God doesn’t care about me.
I’m not worthy.
God is not there (doesn’t exist).
What
promises do we have from Christ?
He is watching (from the hillside).
He will come (in the 4th
watch).
READ Matthew 14:26-33
So,
when He finally comes to them, why do they scream in fear?
He comes seemingly out of nowhere – and
He was a dark figure on a stormy night.
They are in the middle of the Sea and no
one should be walking to them out there.
Why
does Peter ask to come to Jesus on the water?
One of Mary’s family mottos was “with
God, nothing is impossible” – perhaps Peter was inspired by it.
Peter had faith that if the Lord asked
him to do it, he could (see 1 Nephi 3:7).
Why
did Peter begin to sink?
He took his eye off Christ (see D&C
6:33-36).
Instead, he looked at the waves.
Looking into the “eye of the storm”, fear
replaced faith.
The Bread of Life
READ Genesis 3:19
What
happened to Adam and Eve’s diet when they were expelled from the Garden of
Eden?
It changed from the labor-free fruit of the
garden trees to bread, which required labor to create.
What
is bread symbolic of?
The staff of life (in this fallen, mortal
world).
Wheat grows from the dust/dirt of the
earth.
Its nature is transformed with leaven.
It is delicious and life sustaining – it
fills the measure of its creation.
It does not stay good and fresh for long
before it molds and goes back to the dust of the earth.
It is symbolic of the saved mortal living
in a mortal probation.
Any
man can reduce bread into carbon, but who can turn stones (dust) into bread
(life)?
Only a God.
Since man was created from the dust of
the earth (stone) and bread represents life, the metaphor reinforces the fact
that only God can save fallen mortal man and give him eternal life. The miracle
is made greater by the fact that man is even lower than the dust of the earth
(see Mosiah 2:25).
READ John 6:27, 31-35
What
sustains mortal life?
Water.
Food.
Air.
Shelter.
Fire or heat.
God (see Mosiah 2:21).
What
sustains eternal life?
Christ.
The nourishing light and truth which
Christ alone can give us (see John 4:6-34; TPJS 398:2) when we follow His path
and believe on Him.
Until we “attain to the resurrection”
ourselves as Christ did (TPJS 391:2) and gain “life in ourselves” (John 5:26;
TPJS 396:2-3; TPJS 349:4; LoF 7:9, John 11:25).
READ John 6:36-47
Why
did the Jews object so much to this doctrine?
Christ called Himself “I am” or Jehovah;
as in “I am… the bread of life”.
They did not believe He had descended
from above as a messenger sent to model for us the Father’s plan and Way – and
to ascend back to God, saving all who would follow Him.
They claimed He was Joseph the
Carpenter’s son.
What
is the Father’s testimony to any who will hear Him?
Follow the path to the Son (i.e.
repentance, baptisms of water and fire) and believe in Him.
And He will raise you upward in the
resurrection of the just.
What
does it mean that no man has seen the Father, save he which is of God?
No mortal has seen the Father unless they
first descended from God’s presence, as Christ has come – and all who have seen
the Father can testify of Him (they know they have seen Him – there is no doubt
or speculation in their mind).
It can be a bit of a circular argument:
unless you have risen up to know God (after which you can then descend from His
presence), you can’t know God; but this mortal probationary state is just such
an opportunity to awake and arise – and Christ is calling to us, words of light
and truth, if we will just soften our hearts and act on them by following the
path to the Son, and thus from Him to the Father.
READ John 6:48-58
What
does it mean when Christ says He is the Bread of Life?
He is the ONE who gives life – but only
through His death and the sacrifice of His flesh – just as bread must be
consumed to nourish someone.
He descended from heaven like the manna
in the wilderness to rescue or give life to those who would eat or ingest His
words of light and truth.
He is referring to accepting the
atonement through covenant – eat the flesh and drink the blood which was
offered in sacrifice (like in the Passover or sacrament).
Manna
was “daily bread”; how often must we partake of the “Bread of Life”?
He lends us breath from moment to moment
– we should “always remember Him”
that we may always have His Spirit to be with(in) us” (see D&C 20:77).
The sacrament is a symbolic
representation (i.e. an ordinance) of a covenant we make that should affect how
we live each moment of our lives.
The Nephites met together “oft” (it
doesn’t say weekly – that was the apostate Zoramites) to partake of the
sacrament and (see Moroni 6).
Why
is the sacrament bread broken before it is eaten?
It is only broken bread that can enter into
our bodies to give us nourishment – it must be cut, bitten and chewed to be digested
and provide us life.
Likewise, it is the broken body of
Christ, offered in the garden and on the cross that atoned for our sin and
reconciles us to God.
The broken bread thus becomes the most
fitting symbol of Christ, the bread of life, "bruised, broken, torn for
us." (Hymns, 181).
The broken bread not only represents
Christ's broken flesh but reminds us also of the broken flesh of our own heart,
as we ponder His sacrifice and our desperate need for it.
Why
did Christ choose wine as a sacramental emblem instead of water?
It’s color represents His blood which was
split for us, as the grape juice is crushed from the grape to enable wine
making.
Wine is also representative of the mighty
change that comes to us when we come unto Christ - wine goes through a mighty
change when it ferments and when drunk, it gladdens the heart.
READ John 6:60-69
Why
does Christ use offensive, animalistic, “cannibalistic” language here – eating
His flesh and drinking His blood - even symbolically?
Eating together is a custom of covenant.
It symbolizes Christ “dwelling” in us.
We “live by” (or because of) the things
we take into our bodies (or we die by them, i.e. poison); in this case, we will
live endless lives, worlds without end.
We will be brothers and sisters with Him
– of His flesh – Sons and Daughters of God.
Christ is the “bread that is broken” – He
is the bread that will give us life if we eat it or take Him into our bodies
and souls.
It is only Christ’s spirit that will give
us eternal life, if we allow it to enter our bodies and sanctify and change us
to become like He is.
Because we are broken – and He had to
allow Himself to be “broken” to help us.
His flesh will fill us with light – that
we never again hunger for light.
The wine representing Christ's blood is
drunk - it has left His body (when He sweat blood in the Garden for our sins) and
is available for us to consume into ours.
Blood sustains life in mortality, so when
we “drink” His blood it is representative that His death by sacrifice gives us
life, as we sacrifice our whole souls to Him.
His “blood” will quench us with truth –
that we never again thirst for truth, because we are filled with His Spirit,
which gives life, and which is light and truth.
What
does it mean that the “words” Christ speaks unto us are “spirit” and are
“life”?
Live by every word; word is truth (things
as they really are); word/truth is light; word/truth/light is spirit (see
D&C 84:44-46); and light giveth life (see D&C 88:13).
The words give eternal life, i.e. when He
testifies to the Father, in our presence, that we are clean from the blood of
our generation, in fulfillment of the promise He has made to us (see D&C
88:75).
…That “promise” is the Holy Spirit of
Promise, by which we are sealed up to eternal life (see D&C 88:3-4) – it is
the “saving knowledge” of our standing before God, given to us in words from
His own mouth.
And this is life eternal, that they might
know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 17:3).
Why
is this doctrine of the atonement a “hard saying”?
Because He requires a sacrifice of a
broken heart and contrite spirit in return.
We must give up our whole soul – completely
submit our wills – to God, as Christ did, and many people would rather retain
control.
Ultimately,
it’s a “hard saying” when you come to realize the full implications of the need
to become precisely like Christ to be saved (see LoF 7:9), for how are you to
become precisely like Him unless you, too, walk the same path that He has
walked, including living perfectly the commandments of God or eternal law, and
working out an infinite atonement with fear and trembling (see D&C
19:9-19), before your Father and God, who has walked the Way before you, and
thus attaining to the resurrection yourself, for loved ones who are in great
peril and totally dependent upon you (see TPJS 390-393)?
Why
did Christ teach “hard, offensive” sayings?
The Gospel Way is what it is.
If we find it hard, it is because we lack
faith in Christ and the Father to help us to accomplish it; this is
particularly true now in this stage or life, for the amount of the burden
carried by Christ compared to what is left to us to bear is not even worth
thinking about (see Matthew 11:28-30).
If we find it offensive, it is because we
are judging it against the cultural values of our society that we have adopted
and believe to be “true” – i.e. “a loving God would never…” or “the God I
believe in is…”.
What
other options do we have?
There is no other place or person to go
to – Christ is the Way and the Gatekeeper; His is the only feasible way, if
your intention is to maximize your happiness and enjoy eternal lives.
His Way is much, much lighter and easier
than the alternative (any other way – our own or a devil’s); not only are they
harder – bearing your own burdens – but they will not lead to a happy outcome
but to the deaths (see D&C 132:25).
READ Ezekiel 36:26-28
How
are we symbolic of the stones that Christ turns into bread?
God condescended to become man and took
upon Himself a tabernacle of clay so He could eventually turn all the stones
into bread.
You and I—we're the stones. But when our
stony hearts are softened, and then finally broken, Christ can work His miracle
in each of our lives, thus giving us—and making us—the bread of life.
Once our hearts have been broken and our
spirits contrite, He will give us a mighty change of heart – a new heart and a
new spirit – His heart (the pure love of Christ – unconditional love) and His
Spirit (the mind of God – His light which enlightens and sanctifies).
