Whenever a story takes
place in or near the
temple, it’s interesting
to see if there is something about
it that directly
relates to our own
modern experiences in the temple. Jacob’s discourse
(given at the temple) contained many elements of our temple covenants, and King Benjamin’s sermon
echoed it almost
exactly. In the marvelous climax of this nearly
thousand-year history,
Christ chose to meet His people at the temple.
Many elements of our temple worship can be
found in the record of His visit.
A few years before the birth of Christ, Samuel the Lamanite
stood up on a city wall and preached
about the signs of Jesus’s coming. The
signs of His birth did appear, but they were followed by thirty-three long years when nothing was known of the Savior. The
Nephite society
went through various upheavals, and
then, when hope was nearly lost,
the signs of Jesus’s death
and Resurrection occurred, including the destruction of many cities at the time of His Crucifixion. Finally, a still small voice was heard,
proclaiming His coming, and
Jesus Himself descended into
the midst of the people, and they became acquainted with Him over the course of many days.
LDS scholars agree that it was during this time that Jesus revealed the
higher ordinances to His disciples. John Welch stated, “Jesus
only had a short time to
spend with these people at the temple at Bountiful. He didn’t waste a word. What he says is of crucial importance. It’s the kind
of thing that you and I can look to as an anchor in our lives to
put our bearings straight, . . . and to see what really matters
most in our covenant
relationship with our Father in Heaven.”1
Jesus Meets His People
at the Temple
The fact that Jesus meets His people at the temple is significant, for it is through
the temple covenants
that we step into a new relationship with Him. We wait until we’re adults to go to the temple for a reason;
this is a crucial time on life’s
path—the phase where many people give up on faith altogether. This loss of innocence
is the stuff of literature, and it is also a theme
in the temple. Adam and Eve had
to decide whether to cling to innocence or choose experience. Their courageous
choices show us, however,
that the loss of innocence need not signal a descent
into sin. We can
move from innocence to experience,
from childhood faith to spiritual maturity, by making and keeping covenants with
Christ. Thus, the temple has been given
to us, not as one more thing on our to-do list, but as a vehicle for spiritual
rebirth. It is through
covenants that our efforts to keep the commandments meet the grace
of Christ. As we go through
the worship services
at the temple, we experience
many of the same things that the Nephites did. We are blessed
and taught, and we experience
sacred moments of prayer.
The culmination recalls the beautiful moment when Jesus invited each person present to
come and receive a personal
witness of His redeeming
grace:
And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:
Arise and come forth
unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side,
and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my
feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole
earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. And it came to pass that the multitude
went forth, and thrust their hands
into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and his feet; and this they did do, going forth
one by one until they had all gone
forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record,
that it was he, of whom
it was written by the prophets, that should come. (3 Nephi 11:13–15;
emphasis added)
Jesus’s appearance to the Nephites
is replayed, symbolically, in every session of temple
worship; the same joy the Nephites felt is available to all of us if we just do
as they did—look up: “And it came to
pass, as they understood they
cast their eyes
up again towards
heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven;
and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them”
(3 Nephi 11:8).
Sometimes, in the
press of the many responsibilities we have in life, it’s easy to miss the joy that Jesus offers, the sense that He is actually
here in the midst of us. The temple allows us a quiet place and time to concentrate on the relationship we are building with Him though our covenants.
We can pray for angels to attend
our loved ones and receive
the power that is promised us as we are faithful. We can rehearse, in a
small measure, what it will be like to meet Him again one day and hear
Him whisper (in that still small voice), “Welcome home.”
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