Traditions - Cause of people missing the truth; John 7

Lately there has been quite a bit of discussion in the media about whether or not Mormons are Christians. Many traditional Christians do not think so because members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do not believe several of the traditional beliefs of Christianity, though the principle tenet of the faith is a belief that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. It is interesting that traditions can often cloud judgement. It certainly affected how many people believed in the Savior.

Look at these verses in John 7. Jesus explains that it is incorrect to be angry with him for healing on the Sabbath when other good things are allowed to occur on the Sabbath.

22 Moses therefore gave unto you ^acircumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.

23 If a man on the ^asabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit ^bwhole on the sabbath day?

24 ^aJudge not according to ^bthe ^cappearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Joseph Smith Translation replaces "the appearance" with "your traditions". It is interesting that Jesus was often not accepted because his actions/doctrine didn't align well with the religious traditions of the people. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also is not accepted by many as a "Christian" church for the same reason. We believe there's more scripture than just the Bible, that Prophets are alive on the earth again, that the Trinity isn't 3-in-1, but that each member of the Godhead is a distinct being. Ours is the true church of Jesus Christ, but because of tradition, many don't recognize it as even being good.

We shouldn't be surprised as the same was true with Jesus.

Have a good week.

Power of a testimony

We are in a wealthy ward because we live in a wealthy area. Most of the people who have teenagers are wealthy enough to buy a rich home and many also send their kids to nice schools. The result of this along with involved parents who live the gospel is polished kids. They are good speakers and carry themselves well. Today the youth (12-18) presented the Sacrament program. They did a great job. The highlight for me though was the last speaker. He is an 18-year-old boy from Tonga who recently moved to the U.S. His accent is fairly think, but he did a good job preparing his talk.

When I was in the MTC, I heard a story about Brigham Young's conversion. He was listening to two missionaries. One of them was more polished and able to explain the gospel and preach for a significant amount of time. The other man was relatively unlearned. At the end of the first man's speech, the second man got up and simply bore a testimony. I imagine he testified that he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the true Church of Christ was on the earth. Brigham Young said that this man's testimony, accompanied by the Spirit is what helped convince him the church was true. I had a similar experience today. I heard some very polished, talented kids speak of the church. It was nice, however, I was very moved when I heard this Tongan boy with bad English testify that he loved the Book of Mormon and that Thomas Monson is a prophet, and that the church is true. I felt this was true when hearing his words. I appreciate the chance to feel the Spirit thanks to this boy's testimony.

Have a great day.

Sacrament - Clearest Example of Its Importance in the Scriptures

When thinking about why John would include Jesus' explanation of his body and blood being critical for eternal life, I thought of who he wrote the book of John for. It's widely believed John wrote this gospel specifically for the members of the Church, the Saints. He goes into great detail redacting a speech Jesus gave the day after he fed the 5,000. None of the other gospels give this speech. The speech essentially explains that Jesus is greater than Moses and that while Moses offered manna to the people, which fed them temporarily, Jesus offered spiritual bread and water, which ensured eternal life and living with the Father forever.

The promises for eating the living bread(body) and living water (blood) of Christ are great. Jesus promises eternal life and living with the Father for those who do. Every Sunday we partake of the Sacrament, which consists of bread to represent the body of Christ and water to represent the blood of Christ. It is a representation of what we're asked to do, to come unto Christ and by doing so, accept his Sacrifice for us. John's inclusion of this helps to illustrate how critical the Sacrament is for Church members. I appreciate his emphasis on this.

Here's some of the verses from John 6:

52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye ^aeat the flesh of the ^bSon of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

54 Whoso eateth my ^aflesh, and drinketh my ^bblood, hath eternal life; ^cand I will ^draise him up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, ^adwelleth in me, and I in him.

57 As the living Father hath ^asent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall ^blive by me.

58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

I should also mention that John 6:66-68 are among my favorite verses in all of the scriptures. After many left Jesus because of his teaching about his role as the Savior of the world, Jesus asked the apostles if they would also leave. I believe Peter's response is similar to mine. I have thought many times that I could never leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because I could not find the truth or have the experiences I have in this church any other place. I am absolutely convinced of this. Here's the verses:

66 ¶From that time many of his ^adisciples went back, and ^bwalked no more with him.

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the ^awords of eternal life.

Sign Seeking

In John 6, we have the tremendous account of Jesus feeding 5,000 men, plus women and children with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. Also, Jesus miraculously walks across the water the night after feeding the multitude. Upon not finding Jesus the next day, the multitude crosses the lake and tries to find Jesus again. They had just become convinced he was a powerful person because of the miracle of the feeding.

Then Jesus starts getting frank with them about his role as Savior. I'll paste the entire passage below, but there's a few critical points:

1) The Jews that had just seen a great miracle, enough for thousands to seek after him, ask for a sign like Moses gave.

2) Jesus responds by saying that he, himself, is the sign. He is the son of God that gives everlasting life, something much more important the the manna God gave in Moses' time.

3) The Jews are upset that he calls himself the bread of life. They either wanted something more tangible (real bread), or don't believe that they need to follow a significantly different path than they've been following; particularly not to follow someone great but who is standing before them.

It's very sad how blinded they were. Did they really need another sign? It's important for us to not be so blind ourselves...

28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye ^abelieve on him whom he hath sent.

30 They said therefore unto him, What ^asign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?

31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them ^abread from heaven to eat.

32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the ^abread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never ^bthirst.

36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

37 All that the Father ^agiveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise ^bcast out.

38 For I ^acame down from heaven, not to do mine own ^bwill, but the ^cwill of him that sent me.

39 And this is the ^aFather’s ^bwill which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose ^cnothing, but should ^draise it up again at the last day.

40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and ^abelieveth on him, may have ^beverlasting life: and I will raise him up ^cat the last day.

41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.