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The Gospel of John is a testimony rather than a history. The Book of Mormon is the same. Their authors selected sermons that taught principles, then stories that reinforced the messages of the sermons. Both follow the encoded pattern of the ancient Israelite temple drama. However, both also follow a chronological order that creates an internal structure like a history. Both begin in the Council in Heaven. John is more obvious: “In the beginning ….” Nephi began by telling about his father’s sode experience “He thought he saw God sitting on his throne….” Then Mormon followed the same formula, using Nephi’s temple drama sequence as an introduction to his own. {1}

John tells the story of Jesus healing the impotent man who sat by the pool on the sabbath day, and then telling the man to “take up thy bed, and walk.” Thereby he broke all the taboos of what the Jews were then attributing to the Law of Moses. They challenged, first the man, and then Jesus. After telling that story, John gives us a very long speech that Jesus delivered to the Jews. At the beginning of the speech we are told,

16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God (John 5:16-18).

Given their twice expressed determination to kill him, it seems unlikely that they stood around long enough to hear the long speech that follows. But given the purpose and pattern of John’s gospel, this story of Jesus’s defying the irrationality of the Jewish distortions of the Law of the Sabbath is the perfect setting for John’s declaration that Jesus has the authority to do exactly what he has just done.

So what follows is John’s brilliant, virtually comprehensive analysis of the Savior’s eternal relationship/heirship with his Heavenly Father. It does not matter if Jesus said these things at one time to an angry mob, or if this is John’s compilation of what Jesus said on several occasions. John has made his point: Jesus is the Son of God, and his Father has put all authority into his hands.

This is one of those places in the scriptures where breaking it into verses can easily distort the intent of the writer. For that reason I am going to quote it here without the verse interruptions. Where the Joseph Smith Inspired Version is substantially different I will put those in italics and use them instead.

As is true with most scriptures, the key to understand them is to pay attention to the relationships of the ideas as established by in the verbs and conjunctions. I will structure this to emphasize those relationships and bold most conjunctions and some verbs.
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Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

     For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
     For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
     For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
     That [so that] all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

     For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
     and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Marvel not at this: For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

     and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. [JST: resurrection of the unjust.]
     And shall all be judged of the Son of man. For as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just;
     For I can of mine own self do nothing; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father who hath sent me.
     Therefore if I bear witness of myself, yet my witness is true.
     For I am not alone, there is another who beareth witness of me, and I know that the testimony which he giveth of me is true.

Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

     And he received not his testimony of man, but of God, and ye yourselves say that he is a prophet,                      therefore ye ought to receive his testimony. These things I say that ye might be saved.

He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

     But I have a greater witness than the testimony of John; For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
     And the Father himself who sent me, hath borne witness of me. And verily I testify unto you, that ye have never heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape;
     For ye have not his word abiding in you; and him whom he hath sent, ye believe not.

Search the scriptures; For in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

     And ye will not come to me that ye might have life, lest ye should honor me.

I receive not honour from men.
     But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

How can ye believe, who seek honor one of another, and seek not the honor which cometh from God only?

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

     For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: For he wrote of me.
     But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

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FOOTNOTE

{1} In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord we examined Nephi’s very closely and only showed Mormon’s outline. In the first edition the chapters are: “Nephi’s Review of the Festival Temple Drama,” 651-63; “Mormon’s Outline of the Book of Mormon,” 655-69. In the second edition (the one on this website), the same chapters are on pages 464-72 and 473-75.

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The Savior said to the woman at the well,

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).

That can be a very confusing scripture. It sounds like John is saying God is a spirit, and we must worship with our spirit. That might sound reasonable for people who believe that their “faith” is all that is necessary for salvation because the way they live their lives has no bearing on the matter. The renowned Bible scholar David Noel Freedman characterized that kind of faith this way.

Faith is a peculiarly Christian concept. While other religious traditions have aspects of what the churches have come to name “faith,” none has the specific quality of intellectual assent that distinguishes faith from fidelity. The problem of faith and the central discussion of it arises in the context of the medieval attempts to codify and integrate the Christian experience into the emerging philosophical language of the scholastics. {1}

As Latter-day Saints, we know that God is more than just a spirit and that worshiping him requires much more than a “spiritual” adherence to what one supposes is the truth. So the question is, “How do we deal with this strange passage of scripture?”

The word “spirit” (Strong # 4151) is used three times in those verses, but even the definition of the Greek word from which they are translated does not help us understand what the sentence means.

My old copy of Strong defines # 4151, pneûma, as:

a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by analogy or figuratively, a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, demon, or (divine) God, Christ’s spirit, the Holy Spirit:–ghost, life, spirit(-ual, -ually), mind.

We came across that word not long ago when we were discussing Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus. There the word is used five times, and one of them is translated as “wind.”

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit [# 4151], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit [# 4151] is spirit [# 4151].
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind [# 4151] bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit [# 4151].
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? (John 3:5-9). {2}

In the account of Jesus’s baptism, it may represent the shechinah. {3}

32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit [# 4151] descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him (John 1:32).

It has an even richer meaning in Luke 23:46.

44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit [# 4151]: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. [#1606 breathed his last]
47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man (Luke 23:44-47).

An online version of Strong’s Concordance, breaks down its uses this way:

The KJV translates Strongs G4151 in the following manner: Spirit (111x), Holy Ghost (89x), Spirit (of God) (13x), Spirit (of the Lord) (5x), (My) Spirit (3x), Spirit (of truth) (3x), Spirit (of Christ) (2x), human (spirit) (49x), (evil) spirit (47x), spirit (general) (26x), spirit (8x), (Jesus’ own) spirit (6x), (Jesus’ own) ghost (2x), misc (21x). {4}

So by simply analyzing the meanings of the word, we really have no clue what is meant by “God is a Spirit.”

Fortunately, the Prophet Joseph has done the job for us. In place of the KJV’s “God is a Spirit,” the Inspired Version has, “For unto such hath God promised his Spirit.” So the sentence reads,

25 And the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
26 For unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth (JST John 4:25-26). {5}
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A really important line is, “The Father seeketh such to worship him.” We can passively read that as being about missionary work, but there is nothing passive about the verb “seeketh,” especially when Jesus uses it to describe his Father’s involvement in our salvation. A fascinating scripture that suggests what that may mean is this one:

11 Q. What are we to understand by sealing the one hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel—twelve thousand out of every tribe?
A. We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn (D&C 77:11).

Another is at the conclusion of the Beatitudes. I have described the Beatitudes as saying everything we need to know during this entire lifetime, but it takes a lifetime to know what the Beatitudes say. In that light, it is interesting and important to note that they are followed immediately by a charge to teach the gospel.

13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men (3 Nephi 12:13).

Some time ago I wrote a short article that appeared in the Ensign called, “What does it Mean to be the ‘Salt of the Earth?’” It is not very long, and I would like to quote it here.

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The scriptural phrase “salt of the earth” has come to mean many things. In likening the scriptures unto ourselves (see 1 Ne. 19:23), we may sometimes overlook the author’s primary intent and the key points of comparison in his use of metaphor. A full understanding and appreciation of a given passage of scripture may thus elude us.

That sometimes appears to be the case with the metaphor of salt. Perhaps we have observed that just as salt enhances the taste of certain foods, so we must be as salt, living our lives to bless and enhance the lives of others and make the gospel palatable to them. We may have also noted that salt is a preservative not unlike the preserving influence of righteous Saints who uphold gospel ideals in a world of shifting values.

While such applications are relevant and meaningful to Latter-day Saints worldwide, to the ancients the central figurative meaning of salt had to do not with taste but with smell.

When sacrifices were offered upon the altars of ancient Israel, the Israelites did not give the Lord the flesh of the animal, the fruit of the ground, or the ashes or smoke of such sacrifices. The acceptable part of the offering presented to the Lord was the smell, “a sweet savour unto the Lord” (Leviticus 1:17).

In the Bible, the word savour most often refers to the pleasant smell of burning sacrifice in the Temple. To ensure that the smell would be sweet, the Mosaic law required that the offering be liberally sprinkled with salt.

The scent of an unsalted burnt offering would be the stench of scorched flesh. But if the meat were generously salted, the odor would be quite different, due to the reaction of the salt upon the cells that compose animal flesh. Under high-salt conditions, cellular fluid rapidly escapes the cells to dilute the salts outside cell membranes. When accentuated by heat, these fluids cause a sweet savor to emanate.

The Lord’s requirements concerning their offerings was clear. Referring to “the salt of the covenant,” the Lord instructed ancient Israel, “With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt” (Lev. 2:13). Flavius Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian, explained how that was done. He wrote that the priests “cleanse the bodies [of the sacrificial animals], and divide them into parts, and salt them with salt, and lay them upon the altar, while the pieces of wood are piled one upon another and the fire is burning. … This is the way of offering a burnt offering” (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, trans. Whiston, 1876, 3:9:1).

The purpose of the law of performances and ordinances given to the children of Israel through Moses was to point their souls to Christ and to bear witness of His gospel.
The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of Moses and ended blood sacrifice. The resurrected Lord explained the new law of sacrifice to His followers on the American continent: “Ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away.

“And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost” (3 Ne. 9:19-20).

In this context the charge to be the “salt of the earth” takes on marvelous significance. The Lord said, “I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted?” (3 Ne. 12:13). The Savior’s audience no doubt understood the law of Moses and the close connection between salt and acceptable sacrifice.

It is clear that under the new covenant the followers of Christ, as “salt,” are responsible for extending gospel blessings to the whole earth. “When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant,” the Lord explains, “they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men” (D&C 101:39). It is our privilege and blessing to lovingly lead our brothers and sisters to Christ, helping them receive their covenant blessings. As we do so, we become the figurative salt that makes it possible for them to offer the acceptable sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In addition, our own covenant sacrifice of time, talents, and means is pleasing to the Lord.

This tremendous responsibility of helping bring salvation to others is coupled with caution: “But if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men” (3 Ne. 12:13). Salt used anciently for sacrifice could easily lose its savor, and always for the same reason—impurity. If such impure salt was heated, the combination of impurities and salt can result in an unpleasant odor. It was therefore discarded, lest its use desecrate the sacrifice and offend the Lord.

Likewise, we are displeasing to the Lord to the degree that we are impure and ineffective “not the saviors of men,” but instead “as salt that has lost its savor” (D&C 103:10).

So how do we become the salt of the earth? The Apostle Paul points out that charity is a key to this process: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Eph. 5:1-2). We must seek to love others purely, as the Savior loves us. It is through this love that we can help bring souls to Him, that they and we might be found acceptable “unto God a sweet savour of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:15). {6}
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FOOTNOTES

{1} David Noel Freedman, “Faith,”The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Doubleday, New York, 1992, vol. 2 p. 744-745

{2} For a discussion of this passage use the search engine to find “John 3:8-12 — The Breath of Life (Nicodemus, part 3).”

{3} Use search engine to find, “Ether 2 & 3 — veil of light, of fire, of cloud, shechinah.”

{4} The online version of Strong’s Concordance is www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html

{5} John 4:23-24 are verses 25-26 in JST.

{6}LeGrand L. Baker, “What does it mean to be the ‘salt of the earth’?” Ensign 29, (4 April 1999): 53-54

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Many species of animals are territorial and will defend their home or hunting ground with great vigor. Humans are territorial in that same way, but in many other ways as well. Our territory might be the high school “in-group” that the nerds are not allowed to join; or the conservative social club where the newly rich are not invited; or the academic elite where the “others” do not have the right to have an opinion; or the “good old boys” and their wives where new comers are looked down on with distrust. They are all territories (political, religious, social, cultural, economic) where the “chosen” may belong but where the “others” are not welcome. Most religions teach that their community is made up of God’s “chosen” people, where strangers are not welcome, or where converts must learn to fit in and conform in order to be “chosen” also.

The Jews were, by definition, God’s chosen people. That is their greatest strength because it is the cohesive power that has enabled them to keep their identity for the last 3,000 years. It was also their greatest weakness because it alienated them from other people, and the “others” from the Jews.

The way the Jews understood their special relationship with their God was at the root of their hatred for the Samaritans. The Jewish version of their history says that when the Assyrians captured the ten tribes and deported to the north, they filled Samaria with non-Israeliltes who were deported from other conquered lands. The Samaritan version of their history is that some Israelites remained there after the Assyrian conquest and others returned later, so the people in Samaria were as much “Israel” as were the Jews (The truth probably is a combination of both versions.)

When the Jews returned from Babylon and began to build their Second Temple, the Samaritans offered to help. The Jews rejected the offer because the Samaritans were not “chosen” and therefore were not worthy to worship Jehovah or to be in the temple. So the Samaritans build their own temple on their sacred mountain, Mount Gerizim. The two temples were centers of two different religions, and both worshiping Jehovah, until about 129 B.C. After the Jews rebelled against their Greek overlords and estabilashed their own government, the Jewish leader, John Hyrcanus, invaded Samaria and razed their temple on Mt. Gerizim. They could destroy the Samaritans temple, but their military superiority could not ameliorate the Samaritan hatred for the Jews, nor did it it lessen the Jewish contempt for the Samaritans. (That mutual repugnance has remained unchanged for 2,500 years.)

In Jesus’s time the Jews read the Law differently from the way Moses wrote it. After the Babylonian captivity they edited the Law completely. The editors left so many fingerprints in its new wording that many modern scholars believe that the Law was not written earlier than the third or fourth century B.C. After the editing, the Jews understood the Law of Moses to say they could neither share food nor drink with non-Jews, that included the Samaritans. {1}

So one can understand the Samaritan woman’s surprise when Jesus spoke to her, and her even greater surprise when he asked her for a drink.

5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain [their temple on Mount Gerizim]; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
41 And many more believed because of his own word;
42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.
44 For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country (John 4:5-44).

Jesus did not acknowledge the prejudices that either side felt for the other. We do not know how far the gospel spread among the Samaritans after the Savior was there. However, the resurrected Christ instructed the apostles to preach the gospel to the Samaritans as well as to the Jews. Luke reports,

1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight (Acts 1:1-9).

One who went to Samaria was Philip who was a very successful missionary there (Acts 8:4–25).

As members of the LDS Church, we have the same charge that the resurrected Savior gave to his disciples. We must embrace others without prejudice. Sometimes that is as difficult for us to do as it was for the Jews to accept the Samaritans or the early Christians to accept the gentiles. We also live in cultures with built-in biases, and sometimes it is as hard for us to overcome those artificial boundaries as it was for them — and that is no more a valid excuse for us than it was for them.

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FOOTNOTE

{1} See Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the chapters called “The Ancient Jewish Apostasy that Rearranged the Order of the Psalms and Changed the Festival Drama” and “Evidences of Ancient Jewish Apostasy.”

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So far as we are told, the conclusion of the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus was Jesus’s explaining that he is the Light of the World.

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God (John 3:16-21).

The implications of that are enormous. Earlier this year, in several discussions of John 1:1-4, I wrote about what it means that Jesus is the Light. Briefly the ideas are these (In the following paragraph I make no attempt to justify my rationale, but you can use the search engine to find the16 discussions of John 1:1-4 that deal with those ideas).

Christ is the Spirit of Truth and knows all truth. Truth is knowledge of reality in sacred time. When an intelligent entity assimilates truth he exudes light. Because Jesus knows all truth, his light “fills the immensity of space.” That light (not just the photons we see) is the energy from which all spiritual and physical things are made, and it is our source of life. When an individual exudes pure (celestial) light, that light is love, therefore love is tangible in the same way that light/energy is tangible. Truth/light/love are equivalents, the words are simply different ways of describing the same characteristics of deity and of persons who are becoming like God. Love is the power that binds together the souls of all intelligent beings. The quality of one’s light/love defines the quality of his eternal nature, therefore of the glory of his resurrected body, and therefore the quality of his eternal life. The product of truth/light/love is joy. The quality of one’s joy is determined by the quality of his truth/light/love. As the Savior is the source of the light from which our bodies are made, so is his love the power that enables us to both experience and repent. His Atonement enables us to choose to love or not love, and to exude the quality of light that defines the quality of our love. While we are free and independent beings, our freedom and our power to grow are nurtured and made possible by the power of the Savior’s love.

I believe that is what Jesus explained to Nicodemus. Therefore he could conclude,

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God (John 3:18-21).

When the Savior taught Nicodemus (and ourselves) about the power of truth, he did not limit our relationship with truth to what we know, but he broadened the meaning to include what we do. He said, “he that doeth truth cometh to the light” The Prophet Joseph elaborated on that principle in his Inspired Version where he used two other words in place of “doeth.”

21 But he who loveth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest.
22 And he who obeyeth the truth, the works which he doeth they are of God (JST John 3:21-22).

He divides “do” into two separate parts: to love and to obey the truth we know.

To love truth is easy to understand. Truth/light/love are equivalents, so to love truth is simply to bask in the beauty of its glory. One cannot love truth without first loving God and his children.

To obey truth is to bring our lives into conformity with the Truth/light/love in which we rejoice. To do this, we must first rely on the Church to enable us to make the necessary priesthood covenants and participate in the ordinances which affirm and validate those covenants. When we do that and begin to be cleansed by power of the Holy Ghost we also begin to obey truth.

Whether we read it as “do truth” or “obey truth,” it is the same. There is a propriety that rules the kingdom of God, and everything must be done accordingly or it is not acceptable. Elsewhere I have discussed the word zedek which is translated as “righteousness.”{1}

Zedek means absolute correctness in priesthood and temple things. In ordinances like baptism it means doing it in the right place, dressed the right way, using the right words with the right authority, holding one’s arm the right way, burying the person in the water and lifting him up again. If anything is added and taken away, the ordinance is not performed in zedek and therefore is not valid. But when they are done correctly, the love one exudes — and accepts from God and others — seals the covenants and ordinances and makes them eternal. As the psalmist sang,

142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.
144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live (Psalms 119:142-44).

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Even though that ends John’s account of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, it does not end the story. The story concludes with these words:

22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized (John 3:22).

In the next chapter we learn that, “Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples (John 4:1-3).”{2} Now the questions are, Who is ‘them’ and who is ‘he’ in the words, “he tarried with them, and baptized”? ‘Them’ is Jesus and the twelve. ‘He’ is Nicodemus. Otherwise, to say that Jesus tarried with himself and his disciples is a redundancy and makes no sense whatever. The meaning has to be that “Nicodemus tarried with them and baptized,” which tells us that Nicodemus became a disciple of Jesus, received the priesthood, and acted in Jesus’s behalf.

John mentions Nicodemus twice more, once when he defends Jesus before the Pharisees (7:50); and again when he brings spices and helps prepare Jesus’s body for burial (19:39).

My conclusion is that Nicodemus became — and remained — Jesus’s dear and trusted friend.

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FOOTNOTES

{1} Check zedek in the search engine. I always use that spelling, but it is sometimes also spelled tsedeq.

{2} The Inspired Version says “he [Jesus] himself baptized not so many as his disciples (john 4:23).” While it says Jesus did baptize some people, it does not change the meaning of “he tarried with them.”

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Jesus speaks as though their condemnation is a given, as though no further judgement is necessary. How can that be?

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name [covenant] of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

As far as I can tell, there are two kinds of sins: bad thoughts and bad actions. A bad action that is not initiated by a bad thought but has unintended consequences may not be sin (stupid, perhaps, but not a sin), just as an accident is different from a premeditated crime in our courts of law. But a bad thought, even though it may not be followed through by an action, still has a cankering effect upon one’s soul and, therefore, may be a very serious sin. That principle is the focus of part of the Savior’s Sermon on the Mount. For example, the Savior said,

27 Behold, it is written by them of old time, that thou shalt not commit adultery;
28 But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart (3 Nephi 12:27-28, Matthew 5:27-28).

Adultery is a sin that only married people can do because it is primarily about breaking a covenant and secondarily about sex. The covenant may be broken without sex being involved. But when sex is involved, the covenant is shattered.

I have wondered about the origin of evil, and this is my opinion: When we were intelligences, as soon as we began to be cognizant, we were confronted with the most important question of our existence: What is in my best interest? The answer fits on a huge spectrum with good on one end and evil on the other. However, the possibilities are all shades of only two answers. The object of our existence is to seek what is pleasurable to our Selves, and only we have the power to define what makes us happy. Lehi said our object is to have joy, but joy is a very refined kind of pleasure that fits high on one end of that spectrum. At the other end of that spectrum is a total contempt for the needs or worth of other people.

Ultimately, the answers to the great question are these: It is in my best interest to use others to my advantage. Or, Is it in my best interest to bless others and accept blessings from them that we may be exalted together. We are confronted with some form of those options every moment of our lives, and the way we respond to them defines who and what we are.

It is for that reason that Alma could say with confidence,

13 Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.
14 For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence (Alma 12:13-14).

It grinds upon our egalitarian principles, and on our sense of democracy (and sometimes on our understanding of agency) to suppose that some people are evil, and are not capable of repentance or salvation. Yet the Savior was surrounded by such people, and he knew who they were. John tells us,

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man (John 2:23-25).

Jesus taught ordinary sinners that they must repent, but he issued no such invitation to those whom he called children of the devil. He challenged them,

43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
46 Which of you convinceth [convict] me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God (John 8:43-47).

Jesus knew what was in men. They could not hide the intent of their hearts, and John’s gospel exposes them for what they were.

The aftermath of Jesus’s raising Lazarus from the dead is a prime example of their hatred and even fear.

43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done
47 Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
…………….
53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death (John 11:43-53).

Judas conspired with the chief priests to trade Jesus for money, and probably thought that his betrayal must remain undetected or it would not succeed. But Jesus knew.

21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.
23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
25 He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?
26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.
29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.
30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night (John 13:21-30).

Jesus knew who would be responsible for his mock trial and execution, but he also knew who would not be responsible. Consequently, he showed empathy rather than judgment toward the soldiers who were simply obeying orders.

33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God (Luke 23:33-35).

The story of the Savior’s murder by people who should have supported him is not unique because evil men and women have always sought to eliminate the prophets. The Savior explained,

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved (John 3:18-20).

Bad people who are uncomfortable in the presence of good people try to justify themselves in the same way the chief priests did when they mocked Jesus on the cross. “And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.”

With that same rational King Noah and many others in the Book of Mormon sought to destroy the prophets. Similarly, there were men who tried to murder Joseph Smith: William and Wilson Law; Joseph Jackson; John C. Bennett; Thomas Sharp; Governors Ford, Reynolds, and Boggs; and many others. Some of these men were the leaders of the church and had claimed to be Joseph’s friends. Others were leaders in government and were legally bound to protect him. They all acted in lurid self defense because they hated the light that exposed the darkness of their own souls.

Like Abinadi, the Lord’s anointed cannot be stopped before they have completed their mission. But, like Noah, the eternal fate of those who would kill them is not imposed upon them by some external judge. Their damnation is simply a product of who they are. As the Lord explained in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph,

19 For after it [the earth] hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father;
20 That bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified.
21 And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.
22 For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory
………………..
33 For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.
34 And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.
35 That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment. Therefore, they must remain filthy still.
……………….
40 For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things (D&C 88:19-40).

The principle is very simple. God never prevents anyone from repenting, neither does he punish those who refuse to repent. Each person is simply defined by who he is, so even though a formal final judgement is requisite for the sake propriety and order, in fact, everyone judges himself by simply having acted upon to his own desires. Thus, the Savior explained,

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name [covenant] of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

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

There is always a new name associated with each new covenant. To not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God is to deny the validity of the covenants that enable our salvation.

“The Only Begotten Son of God” is a name/title that identifies Jesus as the Son and heir of his Father. That name connotes the full spectrum of his identities, among which are Creator, Redeemer, Savior, First Fruits of the Resurrection, Eternal Judge, and many others. To not believe in his names is to deny both the authority and the covenants that the name denotes. {1}

When one makes a new covenant, that adds a new dimension to a person’s being and the new name is the title of that new identity. In our culture, as well as in our Church, every time we make a new covenant we get a new name.

For example Mr. Richards is elected as governor. He takes an oath (which is making a covenant) and gets a new name/title. His name is now “governor.” Brother Jackson is called to be bishop. He does not make a new covenant because he did that when he was endowed and renews it every time he takes the sacrament. However, he is ordained and the ordination was preceded by a new promise rather than by a new formal covenant, and he receives a new name, “Bishop.” The new assignment carries inherent responsibilities and powers; and the new name describes his new identity; and that identity defines him as a new person. The same thing is true when a young man goes on a mission and is called “elder.” Mormon describes the people at the time of Captain Moroni that same way.

15 And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come (Alma 46:15).

For that reason, the word “name” is often used in the scriptures to refer to both the person and his covenant. A few examples where the Savior’s name also means his covenants in the psalms are:

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake (Psalm 23:3).

11 For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great (Psalm 25:10-11).

9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake. Psalms 79:1 – 13)

John the Beloved reminded the Saints of his day,

|12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father (1 John 2:7-17).

By the mouth of Isaiah, Jehovah himself declared,

9 For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another (Isaiah 48:8 – 14; 1 Nephi 20:9 – 12).

Probably the best explanation of the relationship of covenants and names is by King Benjamin.

7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.
8 And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.
9 And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ.
10 And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God (Mosiah 5:3-10).

When the Lord spoke to Alma and assured him that all would be well, he commended Alma and his friends for their faith in his name. It is significant that in this conversation the Lord makes a real, though subtle distinction between himself and his name.

14 And it came to pass that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying:
15 Blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi.
16 And blessed are they because of their exceeding faith in the words alone which thou hast spoken unto them.
17 And blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people; and they shall be established, and they shall be my people.
18 Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called; and they are mine.
19 And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed.
20 Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep.
21 And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive.
22 For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive.
23 For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand (Mosiah 26:12 – 23).

Mormon put it all in a very neat package when he placed our faith (pistis) and the Savior’s name is the same equation. {2}

37 And may the Lord Jesus Christ grant that their prayers may be answered according to their faith; and may God the Father remember the covenant which he hath made with the house of Israel; and may he bless them forever, through faith on the name of Jesus Christ. Amen (Mormon 9:34 – 37).

In ancient Israel there were some covenant names that were much more significant than others, just as some covenants were much more long-lasting than others. The most important publicly known covenant name was “son”—the one formally bestowed on the king at the time of his coronation. It was the epitome of those names because his adoption as a son of God contained the implicit assurance that his sonship would not terminate with his death. It was that name that established the eternal covenant relationships between the king and God, and by extension, between the people, the king, and God.{3}

New names often represented a covenant where no written contract was necessary. All that was necessary were mutual agreements on the terms of the covenant, and a verbal exchange of names, as illustrated in the following hypothetical story: Two persons make a covenant. Sam and Joe covenant that they will be friends forever. The agreement is that if Sam still remembers Joe in ten years, Joe will give him $100 that he will spend taking both families to dinner. The responsibilities are these: Sam will contact Joe, and Joe will provide the $100. To bind the covenant, they exchange new names. Sam’s new name is Green, Joe’s is Brown. Each person is now a larger and more complex individual than he was before because something new has been added to his Self. The new covenant names are more than just an affirmation of friendship, they are an evidence of an expansion of their Selves. They are each a larger and more complex person because their friendship made them so. Their covenant names represent their new realities. The covenant names relate to, and are only known by each other. However, those new extensions of Self will only survive for as long as the covenant remains unbroken. (So, in 1 Nephi 20:11 we hear the Lord say, “For mine own sake, yea, for mine own sake will I do this, for I will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory unto another.”) Ten years pass, a child knocks on Joe’s door and says, “You are Brown, and my daddy is Green,” and she holds out her hand for the money. She need say no more than that. She is not Sam, but she knows the names, and the covenant is embodied in the names. If Joe does not respond, the covenant isbroken and both Green and Brown cease to exist. For example, Nibley writes that in ancient Egypt, preserving the name was of the utmost importance because “the name is a person’s essence. If his name perishes, he himself does not exist any more.”{4} However, the converse is also true. If Joe does respond correctly, and gives the little girl the $100, then the covenant is sealed, and both Green and Brown—and their bond of friendship—live forever.
Mowinckel understood the significance of new names, and explained why it was so important to the king of Israel. He wrote:

[The king’s] anointing was related to his endowment with the spirit. The later tradition says explicitly that when David was anointed, ‘the spirit of Yahweh leaped upon him’.
In virtue of his endowment with the divine spirit, the king is filled with superhuman power. He receives ‘a new heart’; he is changed into a new man (1 Sam. x, 6, 9). …He receives a new disposition expressed, according to oriental custom, in giving to him a new name which indicates his new, intimate relationship with the God who has chosen him, and whom he represents.
Through his anointing and endowment with the divine spirit, the king also receives superhuman wisdom. {5}

The new name that the king received at the time of his coronation accorded to him the responsibilities and powers embodied in the ancient concepts of covenants, treaties, adoption, and heirship. His anointing had been the confirming evidence of the validity of those powers, and his new name was the personal verification of them. As was true with all other parts of the ceremony, when the king received his new name, each participant in the audience received the same covenant new name. When a person received a new name, both the name and the covenant become a part of the individual’s living Self. If one were to break the covenant and lose the name, he violated that part of the law of his own being, and consequently he became less than he would have been otherwise. It was understood that God could not break his part of the covenant, so that left the king (and his individual subjects) entirely free to define their own destinies. The underlying concept was that God’s children had the power to shrink or to expand their individual Selves by breaking or keeping the covenants they had made with God.

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FOOTNOTES

{1}See “Christ, Names of” in the Bible Dictionary.

{2}Faith is pistis which means covenant or contract. See pistis using the search engine in this website.

{3}This and the following paragraphs are from Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.

{4} Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1975), 139.

{5} Sigmund Mowinckel, He that Cometh (New York: Abingdon, 1954), 66.

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This encapsulation of part of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus contains what may be the most beautiful sentence in the scriptures.

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

In the New Testament, only John uses the Savior’s name, “the Only Begotten Son of God.” That may be significant because it is also true that only John uses a discussion of the premortal Christ as the beginning point of his gospel, and also of letter we call First John. When John uses that name, he always does it with great reverence.(John 1:14-18; 3:17, 18; 1 John 4:1-21). {1}

One wonders if there is more to “the disciple whom Jesus loved” than just their comradery in this life. It may be that when John focuses his writings on the glory of the premortal Christ, that John is reminiscing about their earlier friendship as well. The admonition that concludes in his letter to the Saints includes these tender words that express his total devotion.

7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another (1 John 4:1-21).

The fact that Jesus used that name/title, “only begotten Son,” in his conversation with Nicodemus, is another evidence that the Jewish scholar had access to, and was familiar with, historical documents that we do not now have in our Old Testament.

The name, “Only Begotten Son,” is very ancient, but it is not found anyplace in the Old Testament. However, it is found throughout the version of Genesis that is the Book of Moses . Of the 54 times the Savior is called “the Only Begotten” in our scriptures, 26 (almost exactly half) are in the Book of Moses, indicating that even though the name was known by the early Israelites, it had been lost — probably along with the temple rites, during the Jewish apostasy that happened about the time Lehi and his family left Jerusalem.

The name is both a statement of the Savior’s relationship with his Father, and also an assertion of his royal heritage, and his eternal kingship and priesthood.

Jesus used this name/title twice during his conversation with Nicodemus. The second time was near the end when he explained,

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).

Like those in the Book of Moses, this reference also calls our attention back to the very beginning by asserting that we must believe “in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

In that verse, as elsewhere, “name” denotes “covenant.” One always receives a new name when one makes a new covenant (as, for instance, when we are baptized and take the sacrament, and elsewhere, we take upon us the name of the Savior). Because that is so, the word “name” is often code for “covenant,” as it is here:

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name [covenant] of the only begotten Son of God.

Nephi also taught that concept. He prophesied that after the Jews left Babylon and returned to the land of Jerusalem they still would not have peace.

12 But, behold, they shall have wars, and rumors of wars; and when the day cometh that the Only Begotten of the Father, yea, even the Father of heaven and of earth [that is another of the Savior’s names], shall manifest himself unto them in the flesh, behold, they will reject him, because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks.
13 Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name (2 Nephi 25:12-13).

Theother name/title that Nephi uses for the Savior is “the Father of heaven and of earth.” It is about Jehovah’s role as the Creator God.

It is intriguing to me that the prophetic name “the Only Begotten Son of the Father” is most frequently used about the Savior before he was born on this earth. He was called that from the very beginning. That name also identifies him as the Creator.

31 And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.
32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.
33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten (Moses 1:31-33).

1 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I reveal unto you concerning this heaven, and this earth; write the words which I speak. I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest (Moses 2:1).

26 And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so. And I, God, said: Let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them (Moses 2:26-27).

In the Book of Mormon, Nephi, Jacob, and Alma all refer to the premortal Savior as the Only Begotten Son of God. {2} For example, while Alma was speaking to Zeezrom and others, he explained,

Now we see that Adam did fall by the partaking of the forbidden fruit, according to the word of God; and thus we see, that by his fall, all mankind became a lost and fallen people (Alma 12:22).

He then taught his listeners the origins of the Nephite temple drama and assured them of the Father’s promise that “whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest (Alma 12:34).” Alma said,

28 And after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, behold, then he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning the things whereof he had appointed unto them;
29 Therefore he sent angels to converse with them, who caused men to behold of his glory.
30 And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works.
31 Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—
32 Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God.
33 But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will repent and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son;
34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.
35 And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest ( Alma 12:33-34).

Then, almost immediately after reviewing the origin of the Nephite temple drama, Alma explained the origin of the orders of premortal priesthood. {3}

5 Or in fine, in the first place they were on the same standing with their brethren; thus this holy calling being prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son,
……………………………….
9 Thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen (Alma13:1-9).

Just as our beginnings are described withing the context of “the Only Begotten Son of God,” so also are our endings. Here are some excerpts from the vision that is Doctrine and Covenants section 76. While they are about those who inherit the celestial glory, they also tell us a great deal about who Christ is.

12 By the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God——
13 Even those things which were from the beginning before the world was, which were ordained of the Father, through his Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, even from the beginning;
……………………………….
22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father——
24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.
……………………………….
50 And again we bear record——for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just——
51 They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given——
52 That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;
53 And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.
54 They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.
55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things——
56 They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;
57 And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son.
58 Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God——
59 Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
60 And they shall overcome all things.
61 Wherefore, let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet.
62 These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.
63 These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people.
64 These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection.
65 These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.
66 These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.
67 These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn.
68 These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.
69 These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.
70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical (D&C 76: 12-13, 22-24,50-70).

We cannot know how many of those concepts Nicodemus already understood before he talked with Jesus, but given what else Jesus told him, it is reasonable to suppose that most, if not all of these facets of the name “the Only Begotten Son of God,” were included in their conversation.

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FOOTNOTES

{1}The phrase “Only Begotten in the flesh” is a convenient modern explanation, but it is not found anywhere in the scriptures (except in the LDS Bible Dictionary). Still, it tells a truth that is important to tell.

{2} 2 Nephi 25:12-13; Jacob 4:6, 11; Alma 5:35-53; 9:26; 12:33-34; 13:5. 9.

{3} There is an analysis of priesthood “orders” in the essay called “John 1:1-4 — & Alma 13:1-20 — ‘in the beginning’ — ‘Orders’ of Premortal Priesthood.”

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14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

That story is told in the Old Testament, but its meaning is not given there. Jesus tells Nicodemus that it is symbolic of himself and of the saving powers of his Atonement. He is not just talking about mercy in this life, but also about eternal life through the resurrection.

Here is the story as it is told in the Old Testament.

5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. [the light bread was the manna which the Lord had provided for them to eat]
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived (Numbers 21:1-10).

In the Book of Mormon, when Nephi was confronted by apostate judges he cited the testimonies of many prophets, saying that the Messiah to come was the Son of God. Among those prophets was Moses, about whom he said,

13 But, behold, ye not only deny my words, but ye also deny all the words which have been spoken by our fathers, and also the words which were spoken by this man, Moses, who had such great power given unto him, yea, the words which he hath spoken concerning the coming of the Messiah.
14 Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.
15 And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal.
16 And now behold, Moses did not only testify of these things, but also all the holy prophets, from his days even to the days of Abraham (Helaman 8:12 – 16).

The Hebrew word, Messiah, is the same as the Greek word, Christ. They each mean “the Anointed One.” In ancient Israel, kings and priests were anointed to become such.

About the time Lehi left Jerusalem, the Jews lost their king, and temple, and Melchizedek priesthood. The were never to become an independent nation again until the last century. The oppressed Jews then chose to understand that the Messiah to come would be a king who was a remarkable military leader. But, as Jesus explained to Nicodemus, his being the Messiah meant something quite different from that: “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

There was a time when the Jews had understood that, but that time had long since passed. The ancient Feast of Tabernacles temple drama told of the crucifixion of their Messiah, and of his ultimate triumph in bringing the gospel to the people who had died without it. The account was still in their Psalms, but in Jesus’s time there were probably few who knew what it meant. It is likely that the scholar Nicodemus was among those who did understand, and it is also llikely that he and Jesus talked about this psalm during their conversation.

As part of ancient temple drama, the Jews had recited the 22nd Psalm which contains a vivid description of the Savior’s pain while he was on the cross.

After his crucifixion, each of the authors of the gospels cited Psalm 22 as prophetic evidence that Jesus was the Messiah (Matthew 27:35,46; Mark 15:24, 34; Luke 23:34; John 19:24).Luke 23:34; John 19:24).

The first two thirds of Psalm 22 are about Jesus on the cross. Its first lines were quoted by the Savior as he experienced the horror the psalm had prophesied:

1  My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. [gossips] {1}
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

In the last third of the Psalm, we see the triumphant Messiah fulfilling his covenants in the midst of the congregation among the dead where “all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee,” as described in Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the redemption of the dead (D&C 138).

22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this (Psalms 22:1 – 31).

John began this story by telling us that Jesus was very careful whom he talked to. It is a testimony of the character of Nicodemus that Jesus told him that he had the authority to perform the ancient temple rites, that he was a true prophet, that he was Jehovah, and now that he is the Messiah. That was not all, before this conversation is over, Jesus will tell Nicodemus everything.
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FOOTNOTE

{1} In the phrase “strong bulls of Bashan” the word “bulls” is in italics and was added by the translators, leaving room for us to wonder if “bulls” was the intended meaning. Jacobs’s reports that “cow of Bashan” was a derogatory term describing a gossip. Paul F. Jacobs, “‘Cows of Bashan’—A Note on the Interpretation of Amos 4:1,” Journal of Biblical Literature 104 (1985): 109-10.

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