Pool of Bethesda

Since living in California, I have seen many homeless people. They live in terrible conditions and it is quite sad to see their state of affairs. I have rarely interacted with them, only passed by them.

It is with this in mind, that the Savior's trip to the pool of Bethesda is viewed with more awe. He was among the infirm and homeless, the poorest in society. Here he finds a man who has been there 38 years, and heals him. I can imagine how awful the man looked and smelled. Jesus didn't care; he blessed and healed the man. He just wanted the help the man.

Here's the account:

2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

8 Jesus saith unto him, ^aRise, take up thy bed, and walk.

Coming unto Christ - necessary to avoid spiritual condemnation

It was fairly common when I was on the mission to teach people about the gospel and invite them to be baptized. A fairly common response to this was, "I don't think so. I wouldn't want to rush into something and then fall away. Besides God is no toy; it's not wise to play around the things of God."

Generally this was just a reason to say no, and it must have been something mentioned in various churches because people used the phrase, "God is no toy" with me dozens of times.

There was one woman, however, who was fairly sincere in not wanting to fall away. It was while teaching her that a thought came to my mind. John 3:16 is quite famous across Christianity. It says,

16 ¶For ^aGod so ^bloved the ^cworld, that he ^dgave his ^eonlybegotten ^fSon, that whosoever ^gbelieveth in him should not perish, but have ^heverlasting ⁱlife.

Verse 17 is not nearly as famous, and verse 18 isn't well known at all, but these two verses help complete the message the Savior is giving:

17 For God ^asent not his Son into the world to ^bcondemn the world; but that the world through him might be ^csaved.

18 ¶He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that^abelieveth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the ^bname of the only begotten Son of God.^c

It is foolish to say, "I don't want to believe because I will be condemned more if I fall away." The truth is that those who don't believe are already condemned. It is through belief in Christ (and in following Him the correct way) that the condemnation leaves. Christ did not come to condemn, but to save. Likewise, he put his church on the earth in our day in order to help people know how to come close to him and be saved.

I appreciate Jesus' message of salvation.

Joining Families Together - Testimony of Brother Kay, a Sealer

We are on vacation in Hawaii and had the great opportunity to go to the Laie, Hawaii temple. We went through an endowment session (1.75 hour session where we're taught about God's plan of salvation for the human family). Afterwards we joined a sealing session (30 min-1 hour session in which families can be joined together officially in the next life). That is quite a statement, that the sealing session involved "certifying" marriages in the next life and also certifying the parent-child relationship in the next life. This has scriptural precedent - Matt 16:

19 And I will ^agive unto thee the ^bkeys of the ^ckingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt^dbind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Peter had the ability to say, "this is valid on earth and heaven". That power exists in the church today and that's what we were participating in on Thursday. At the end of the session, I asked the sealer to give us his thoughts on the work. He said that the work we're doing is as real as anything on the earth. He participates in the work in a weekly basis and gave us his word that the work we're participating in is absolutely valid and affects people in the next world in a significant way. He mentioned that occasionally there are unusual experiences that help showthe work is real.

It's always worth going to the temple. It is a special place. I also know all the things that happen there are real and affect people in the next life. I feel that is true.

John the Baptist - Elias - Elijah

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we know that a prophecy from the Old Testament about Elijah (Elias) returning before Christ returns to the Earth has been fulfilled. The prophecy is from Malachi 4:

5 ¶Behold, I will ^asend you ^bElijah the prophet ^cbefore the coming of the ^dgreat and dreadful ^eday of the Lord:

6 And he shall ^aturn the ^bheart of the ^cfathers to the ^dchildren, and the heart of the ^echildren to their fathers, lest I come and ^fsmitethe ^gearth with a ^hcurse.

Often other churches use a statement by Jesus about John in which Jesus says John was an Elias (one who comes before). This usually happens because the common church member doesn't realize that Elias can be used as a title and that the specific name Elijah in Malachi does refer to the prophet Elijah. Also, if they believe John the Baptist is Elijah, they essentially believe the same person can be born twice, which is something I have never heard a Christian religion teach.

The other church members also don't often know about or remember this verse from John 1 about John the Baptist:

21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou ^aElias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

23 He said, I am the ^avoice of one crying in the wilderness, Make^bstraight the ^cway of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

John the Baptist was fulfilling a different prophecy from Isaiah, not the one from Malachi. If John the Baptist was Elijah the prophet, he either didn't know it or he lied about it. I don't think either is likely. Instead, John was acting like Elijah in preparing the way of the Lord but in this way was only a type (or symbol of) Elijah coming in the last days. Here's a verse explaining he would act "in the spirit of Elias" from Luke 1:

17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of ^aElias, to turn the hearts of the ^bfathers to the children, and the ^cdisobedientto the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people ^dprepared for the Lord.

Finally, this is when Elijah came back to the Earth, as recorded in the D.C. 110:

13 After this vision had closed, another great and glorious ^avisionburst upon us; for ^bElijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

15 To ^aturn the ^bhearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

16 Therefore, the ^akeys of this ^bdispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful^cday of the Lord is near, even at the doors.

The Earth is being prepared for the Second Coming of the Lord. Elijah has returned. I love seeing the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints progress so that more people can be prepared for his coming.

These verses from Matthew 17 causes confusion, but taken in context with other verses from the Bible and Latter-day revelation, it is clear who Elias and John the Baptist are/were:

12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they ^alisted. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Have a great day.