Outlines of Ecclesiastical History. B. H. Roberts

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      5. Was John the Elias?—"Art thou Elias?" said the messengers from Jesus to John. "And he saith, I am not" (John i). Afterwards, as Jesus, Peter, James and John were descending the mountain on whose summit they had seen in vision Moses and Elias, the following conversation occurred:

      JESUS: Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

      DISCIPLES: Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

      JESUS: Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things; but I say unto you that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. * * * * Then the disciples knew that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. (Matt. xvii.) From this it appears that John denied being Elias, while Jesus declared that he was, and in consequence much controversy has arisen on this subject. The matter may be easily understood, however, when it is known that Elias is the name of a person, the name of a prophet who lived, doubtless, in the days of Abraham (Doc. and Cov. sec cx: 12), and who also appeared to Jesus on the occasion above named; Elias is also the name of an office—the office of Restorer. "The spirit of Elias," said the Prophet Joseph (March 10, 1844) "is to prepare the way for a greater revelation of God, which is the priesthood of Elias. * * * * And when God sends a man into the world to prepare for a greater work holding the keys of the power of Elias, it was called the doctrine of Elias, even from the early ages of the world." Hence any man who came to prepare the way for a greater revelation was an Elias, and in this sense John the Baptist was pre-eminently Elias; but it is equally true that he was not Elias, the prophet who lived in the days of Abraham, who appeared unto Jesus in the mountain and who also appeared to the Prophet Joseph and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple.

      In the revision of the New Testament, by the Prophet Joseph Smith, often improperly called the new translation, the difficulty in respect to the denial of John that he was Elias is easily understood. We quote the passage: "This is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and seventies from Jerusalem, to ask him: Who art thou? And he confessed and denied not that he was Elias; but he confessed, saying, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, saying: How art thou then Elias? And he said, I am not that Elias who was to restore all things. And they asked him, saying, Art thou that Prophet? And he answered, No." (St. John i: 20–22.) From the above it may be plainly seen that while John was not the particular Elias who is to restore all things, yet he is an Elias because he restored some things in respect to the gospel.—Roberts.

      6. John the Only Witness of the Descent of the Holy Ghost.—I suppose that John the Baptist was the only one who was a witness of the Holy Ghost resting upon Jesus in the form of a dove. In all the accounts given of this event, except by Luke, the pronoun "he," referring to John, is used. While in Luke it is not said that anyone else saw it, but it is merely stated that "the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him." John's own testimony is as follows: "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."—"The Gospel" (note), Roberts.

      7. The Fate of Herod Antipas.—He was not allowed to enjoy his prosperity long. His nephew Agrippa having obtained the title of king, Herodias urged him to make a journey to Italy and demand the same honor. He weakly assented to his wife's ambitious representations; but the project proved fatal to them both. Agrippa anticipated their design; and when they appeared before Caligula, they were met by accusations of hostility to Rome, the truth of which they in vain attempted to disprove. Sentence of deposition was accordingly passed upon Herod, and both he and his wife [Herodias] were sent into banishment and died at Lyons in Gaul.—Kitto.

      8. The Sign of the Dove.—The Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove, or rather in the sign of a dove, in witness of that administration [Messiah's baptism]. The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in the form of a personage. It (he) does not confine itself to the form of a dove, but in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem or token of truth and innocence.—Joseph Smith.

      REVIEW.

      1. State what you can of the childhood of Christ.

      2. What can you say of Nazareth?

      3. What happened when Jesus was twelve years old?

      4. Describe the Passover. (Note 2.)

      5. What can you say of the fabulous stories related of the childhood and youth of Christ?

      6. At what time did John the Baptist appear as a preacher?

      7. Who were the parents of John? What their descent?

      8. Relate all you can concerning John's birth and childhood.

      9. What was the burden of John's message?

      10. How did he treat the deceitful Pharisees and Sadducees?

      11. As whom did some of the Jews regard John?

      12. What was the extent of his pretensions?

      13. What can you say of Elias? (Note 5.)

      14. Relate the baptism of Jesus.

      15. Tell the story of John's martyrdom.

      16. What was the fate of Herod Antipas? (Note 7.)

SECTION IV.

       Table of Contents

      1. The Temptations of Jesus.—After his baptism Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he fasted for forty days and forty nights. Then at the moment of his great physical weakness Lucifer came tempting him, but all the allurements of the wily foe were thwarted, from the challenge to turn the stones into bread to the offer of the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them. After his failure to seduce Jesus to sin, Lucifer left him—"for a season," and angels came and administered unto him. (See notes 1 and 2, end of section.)

      2. Commencement of Christ's Ministry.—Having in all things resisted the temptations of Lucifer, Jesus returned from the wilderness into Galilee, the Spirit of God resting upon him in mighty power. It was then that he began his great ministry among the people, teaching in their synagogues, astonishing all with the graciousness of his doctrines, and his power in healing the sick, until his fame extended throughout the land and great multitudes of people from Galilee, and also from Decapolis (De-kap-o-lis), Jerusalem and other parts of Judea followed him.

      3. The Doctrines Christ Taught.—The burden of his teaching at this period of his ministry seems to have been: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."^[26] In addition to this, he also taught beautiful truths and moral precepts in brief, emphatic sentences (see note 3, end of section), that were especially comforting to the poor; such as, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: СКАЧАТЬ