3 Ne 11:1-5
From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
The Book of Mormon > Third Nephi > Chapter 11
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Contents |
Questions
- v.1: Why might the people in this verse be gathered around the temple?
Lexical notes
- Click the edit link above and to the right to add lexical notes
Exegesis
Concerning the structure of the account of Christ's visitation
Christ's visit to the Nephites (as a "whole people") breaks quite easily into two parts: first day (3 Ne 11-18), second day (3 Ne 19-26). Though the record of this double visit is then followed by the record of another visit (one further visit among many, apparently, that followed the first two), it is clear from the way Mormon writes the record that the first two visits should be considered separate from the other, at least at first. Together, the three visits are considered quite widely to be the heart of the Book of Mormon, the highlight of the Book of Mormon, the meaning of the Book of Mormon. As such, it might be worth considering them collectively in order to draw from them an overall structure, which should in turn allow for richer readings of the details as they occur in the text. According to the comments above, the first two visits will be considered together, apart from the third recorded visit, before any consideration of the third is taken up. Now, in order to approach the structural possibilities, it might be best first to list the several events of the three visits:
First visit Christ descends (after a three-fold word from the Father) and introduces Himself (3 Ne 11:1-12) The multitude feels the Savior's hands and feet (3 Ne 11:13-17) Christ gives Nephi the authority to baptize and teaches the order of baptism (3 Ne 11:18-28) Jesus offers a short discourse on the "trinity" (3 Ne 11:29-41) Christ then (nearly) repeats the "Sermon on the Mount" (3 Ne 12-14) He explains the meaning of the supersession of the Law (3 Ne 15:1-10) The twelve disciples are taught of the Abrahamic covenant (3 Ne 15:11-3 Ne 16:20) Christ goes to leave, but is pursuaded (silently) to stay (3 Ne 17:1-6) He heals all the people and prays before them (3 Ne 17:7-10) He blesses the children and angels surround them (3 Ne 17:11-25) Christ institutes the sacrament (3 Ne 18:1-14) He offers a few closing words concerning prayer and leaves (3 Ne 18:15-39) Second visit Christ returns during baptisms, and a series of prayers ensues (3 Ne 19) He provides the sacrament for the now larger multitude (3 Ne 20:1-9) Jesus teaches the whole multitude of the Abrahamic covenant (3 Ne 20:10-3 Ne 26:12)
With these details in order, some consideration of the structure of the text becomes possible.
Perhaps the best starting point in discovering a structure here is to note a sort of chiasm formed by the close of the first visit and the opening of the second:
Christ institutes the sacrament
He offers a few closing words concerning prayer
He leaves
The multitude gathers about the baptism of the twelve disciples
Jesus returns
Jesus and the people pray
Christ administers the sacrament again
The chiasm laid out here is doubly significant. It is highlighted by the events immediately preceding and following it. Just before the institution of the sacrament is the visitation of the angels as Jesus blesses the children--certainly a climactic moment. Immediately following the second administration of the sacrament is what Mormon apparently considered to be the most important part of the first two visits: a lecture on the meaning of the Abrahamic covenant (Mormon emphasizes the importance of this last event in two ways: he records more of this lecture--3 Nephi 20-26--than of any other event during the two visits, and he says quite explicitly in 3 Ne 26:6 that he had not written "a hundreth part" of what Jesus taught during the lecture). The chiastic series follows the breaking of the veil (the literal formation of the heavenly council on earth) and opens onto what might be called the most important discourse ever given. Certainly, the structure of the two visits is of some significance, but it remains to work out what exactly the structure implies.
The historical weight of the events preceding the chiasm must also be felt, and this weight perhaps helps to open the meaning of the chiastic structure of the transition between visits. The event in which Christ blesses the children and the angels descend to attend them is of great importance in the Nephite tradition. On one reading of the writings of Nephi, son of Lehi, there is an implicit promise made to the Nephites/Lamanites that they will eventually be gathered into an angelic chorus. (The promise might be read by connecting 1 Ne 1:8 to 2 Ne 31:13, Lehi's vision of the angelic praise to God opening Nephi's record and Nephi's promise that the baptized will sing and shout praises to God in the angelic tongue. The implication is that the Nephites/Lamanites are to proceed through Nephi's two books from the distant possibility of the angelic chorus to actual choral inclusion. If the angelic chorus is understood as the council at work in the Holy of Holies, Nephi's two books might well be read as a temple text, one to be historically fulfilled. Not until 3 Nephi 17 does any real fulfillment of that broad promise appear.) If the angelic encounter is read in connection with the implicit promises of Nephi, another aspect of Christ's two visitations is of some significance: while Nephi (and Jacob with him) speaks extensively of the Abrahamic covenant (of Israel, the Jews, and the Gentiles), the prophets between Nephi's time and the visitation of Christ almost entirely (if not entirely) ignore the theme. The parting of the veil and the formation of the heavenly council of angels, then, parallels the return to the theme of the Abrahamic covenant.
The theme of the Abrahamic covenant certainly underlies much of the structure of these first two visits. The first hint of the theme is in chapter 11, when Christ dedicates Himself to a discourse on the "trinity." Though the theme does not appear at first to be a question of the Abrahamic covenant, it becomes clear in chapters 15-16, when Jesus teaches the disciples concerning the covenant, that the "trinity" teachings were preparatory to understanding the historical meaning of that covenant. The disciples, then, are twice taught during the first visit concerning the Abrahamic covenant, and this double discussion meets up with the incredibly abbreviated discourse of the second visit. Taking the focus of the two visits to be the Abrahamic covenant, the remainder of the events fall into some coherent order:
Towards the foundation of the covenant (the "trinity") Descent and introduction: Christ implicitly ties Himself to the covenant by making reference to the OT prophets The multitude feels Him: Christ explains that they are to do this to know that He is "the God of Israel" Setting up baptism: Christ offers the Nephites/Lamanites the ordinance Nephi tied to the Abrahamic covenant Concerning the "trinity": Jesus teaches the "trinity" in connection with baptism, since all three are named in it From the foundation to a first summary of the covenant The Sermon on the Mount: Jesus takes the Nephites/Lamanites beyond the Law and, hence, back to the covenant behind it Explaining the Law: Christ's teachings concerning the supersession of the Law just go to explain the point above Of the Abrahamic covenant: Christ offers the disciples a preliminary understanding of the covenant--but just them Sudden fulfillment of Nephi's implicit promise Christ decides to stay: pursuaded by the desire of the people, Jesus begins to fulfill the promises made through Nephi Jesus heals the people: a work of atonement is undertaken, and all then witness the prayer that inaugurates the chorus Children blessed, chorus arrives: with the people arranged circularly, the chorus itself descends and Nephi is fulfilled Chiastic transition from fulfillment to covenant discourse The sacrament instituted: contextually, the sacrament becomes the rite of the angelic discourse (as in Revelation?) Words on prayer, departure: with the Spirit promised in the sacrament, prayer becomes a possibility in the purest sense Baptism of the disciples: since the twelve heard a first summary of the covenant, they enter into it through baptism Arrival, series of prayers: possibility becomes reality and the praying Nephites/Lamanites becomes (?) angels in chorus The sacrament issued again: the increased multitude is all joined to the angelic chorus in preparation for the dicourse The covenant itself is put on display Of the Abrahamic covenant: all are taught of the covenant at length (7 chapters are not a hundredth of it!)--apparently in preparation for their own baptismal entrances into the covenant
At the very least, the experience seems to center on the Abrahamic covenant, even to restore the focus on the Abrahamic covenant. With that broad theme in place, one might read the whole account more fruitfully: every step of the way is a working out of the explication of the covenant.
Verse 1
It really is a curious detail that the people are gathered around the temple when Christ comes again. Of course there are obvious reasons to see this as significant: the temple is the place of theophany, etc. But for what reason exactly they are gathered there is somewhat elusive. The phrasing of verse 1 seems to make allusion to the Day of Atonement, or at least to King Benjamin's speech: "a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple" (cf. Mosiah 2:5). A Day of Atonement connection would be rather interesting, though it must be admitted that there are some difficulties in reading the Day of Atonement into the situation, especially since Christ had just publically announced the cessation of all animal sacrifice (3 Ne 9:19), and animal sacrifice was at the very heart of the Day of Atonement. Perhaps more fruitful is the obvious connection to King Benjamin's speech, already mentioned. There are other explicit connections between the two events (verse 5 here, for example, parallels Mosiah 2:9 rather closely). But then, it is clear from hints that run through the whole of Mosiah 1-6 that Benjamin's speech was intimately connected with the Mosaic Day of Atonement. Perhaps the close ties to Benjamin's speech are meant, to some degree at least, to summon to the mind of the reader the themes of the Day of Atonement.
In the end, it is reading the Day of Atonement into the background of this story that opens up some of its implicit richness, and not so much because the events of 3 Nephi follow the ritual so closely, but precisely because they continually transgress the ritual. (In fact, there may be reason to read the events of 3 Nephi as transgressing the broad underlying theme of King Benjamin's speech as well: on one reading, Benjamin's speech is a broad "demythologization" of sorts of the Nephite Day of Atonement rites, an emphatic shift from the Abrahamic focus that seems to have accompanied the rites early on. If Benjamin was doing this, then 3 Nephi, moving inexorably towards the great discourse on the Abrahamic covenant, undoes King Benjamin's speech, in a way.) The most significant transgression of the Day of Atonement happens, in fact, right from the beginning: Christ is not sitting on the throne in the Holy of Holies at the temple, and the High Priest does not emerge from the temple at the climactic moment of the ritual; rather, Christ simply descends directly into the midst of the people, and He teaches them outside of the temple. This point cannot be missed: significant as it may seem that Christ comes to the people at the temple, it cannot be missed that He does so outside of it, transgressing the confining house by simply coming among the people as a whole. This "universalization" of sorts might be in itself an explicit transgression of the Law, which was embodied by the temple's confining structure. At any rate, whatever "former things" sorts of themes might be read into the story, it is clear that Christ's visit transgresses them all, that whatever precedent might be brought to bear on the experience can only be brought to the scene to be, precisely, transgressed.
It may be, in the end, for this reason that Mormon (or Mormon's source) passes so quickly over the details of the gathering. There is enough mention of the fact that one can draw connections between this event and Benjamin's speech or the Day of Atonement, but Mormon (or Mormon's source) is not, in the end, particularly interested in developing the connection at any real length: this experience goes beyond all the earlier ones, and the reader is perhaps to feel a sort of newness about the experience, a transcending spirit that leads the reader beyond everything that has gone before. New things are afoot, and the reader is alerted to the fact from the very start.
It is perhaps of some significance as well that the event takes place in Bountiful and not in Zarahemla. Obviously, a major reason for this is the fact that Zarahemla had been destroyed during the disasters preceding Christ's visitation (see 3 Ne 9:3). Right up until that destruction, the governmental center of Nephite and eventually even of Lamanite activity seems to have been Zarahemla (as late as 3 Ne 6:25 there is reference to Zarahemla as the seat of the chief judge). Certainly while the monarchy remained (the Mosiah-Benjamin-Mosiah dynasty), Zarahemla was the ritual center of the kingdom as well, based on the only temple in the Nephite lands at the time. With the development of the churches under Alma, there seems to have been a sudden proliferation of temples throughout the land (see Alma 16:13, for example). Whether this democratization of the temple marked a relativization of the Zarahemla temple or not is not clear from the Book of Mormon, but that the single temple at Bountiful becomes a central location for this visitation is of some significance: a single temple emerges as the ritual center of the Nephite/Lamanites lands, perhaps as a marker of the return of a sort of monarchy (now under Christ as King?). That, as was pointed out above, the temple rites are--at the very same time--transgressed (perhaps as a token of the fulfilled Law of Moses) is somewhat ironic: there is clearly a gathering at a temple, but perhaps the temple only marks the spot now, as opposed to its previous role of containing God and covering His presence.
The significance of the topic of discussion is unclear: why does Mormon (or Mormon's source) seem intent on making such a big deal of what the people are speaking of? Perhaps more curious still is that their conversation about Jesus Christ is added afterward as a sort tack-on: apparently of more central concern (whether to the people or to the narrative) is the question of teh "great and marvelous change which had taken place." Why this emphasis?
Summary of 3 Nephi 11
This chapter demonstrates the Savior’s love and concern for all of God’s children, wherever they might be.
From the very beginning of the chapter, we see that the people of the Americas were gathered around the temple. This is a sure sign of people under the covenant of the Lord. This is also a reason that Christ came, to validate the faith of the people found in the Americas.
Upon arriving, the Lord introduces himself, and the multitude fell to the earth. This is an interesting characteristic found throughout the Book of Mormon. Whenever someone or a group of people find themselves in the presence of Deity, they fall to the earth. Most likely they do this to show respect and to worship, but also they do it to show humility because they recognize the great difference between their spiritual state and the spiritual state of God.
The Lord allows all people to come unto him, and feel His hands, side, and feet. This allowed the people to know for sure that this man really was the Savior of the world, of which so many prophets had testified. This validation of their belief caused the people to cry out, “Hosanna” which literally means “save us”. Upon hearing this, the Lord calls Nephi—the prophet of the time—to come forth and gives him the power to baptize. This clearly shows the importance of baptism. After the people fall down and cry, “save us”, the first thing the Lord does is institute the true order of baptism. This is clearly an essential and saving ordinance of which all mankind must partake. It also shows the importance of effecting the ordinance in the correct way. The Lord did not allow the people to continue to baptize any way they felt, He clearly explains to them the way in which He wants His ordinances to be effected.
In the closing part of the chapter, the Lord incorporates some of His new law into His teachings. He teaches the ideas of love, peace and harmony as He advises the multitude to steer clear of contentions which come of the Devil. Other ideas that He teaches are humility and the unified nature of the Godhead. These teachings enable the multitude to understand the foundations of the gospel and what they need to do to return to the presence of the Lord.
Related links
- User:Bhardle explains how the beginning of this chapters shows the importance of listening to the spirit here.
- Comments from an anonymous user about oneness can be found here.
- See 1 Kgs 19:11. Compare Elijah's experience with the Spirit to the the voice of the Father here.
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