Behold My Joy is Full

Behold My Joy is Full
3 Nephi 17-19

I am excited to get to discuss these chapters today- they are among my favorite in the Book of Mormon. The reason I like them so much is they give us insight to Jesus as a very personal, kind, merciful, loving Savior. We know that his appearance to the Nephites foreshadows the Millenial appearance when he will come with healing in his wings to prepare for the ultimate triumph of the plan of salvation..

Jesus has been with the Nephites giving them the fullness of the gospel. He has instructed them in the higher law that is to be lived now that the law of Moses has been fulfilled In him.

3 Nephi 17
1 Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my atime is at hand.
2 I aperceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot bunderstand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.
3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and aponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and bprepare your minds for the cmorrow, and I come unto you again

How would pondering help prepare the Nephites for what Jesus would teach them the following day?

Marvin J. Ashton
Pondering means to weigh mentally, to think deeply about, to meditate. By pondering, we give the Spirit an opportunity to impress and direct. Pondering is a powerful link between the heart and the mind. As we read the scriptures, our hearts and minds are touched. If we use the gift to ponder, we can take these eternal truths and realize how we can incorporate them into our daily actions. (Marvin J. Ashton, “‘There Are Many Gifts’,” Ensign, Nov 1987, 20).

Pondering is an action- one which we must take the initiative in if we expect to glean the reward. It is an outward expression of a desire for further light and knowledge from our Father.


Catherine Thomas
The Lord reminded us of the place our agency has in our receiving spiritual growth and blessing. We may understand spiritual experience too passively, waiting for something to happen to
us. Perhaps we wait too patiently for the arrival of the spiritual blessings we need. We may not realize that many blessings require, initially, acts of will on our part, a labor in the spirit, a setting aside of time: cleansing of selfish purpose from the heart, submission, envisioning the blessing, thanks in anticipation of receiving the blessing. God gave us agency, and it may have more power than we have used. Studies in Scripture, 8:182-83

3 Nephi 17
4 But now I ago unto the Father, and also to bshow myself unto the lost tribes of Israel, for they are not clost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them.
5 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were ain tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them.
6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with acompassion towards you.

The savior was filled with compassion and empathy for all those who suffered from any ailment: physical, spiritual and emotional. He knew exactly what they felt. How? Because he had experienced it. “His compassion and mercy had been thoroughly perfected in Gethsemane and on Golgotha as he partook of the “bitter cup”. DCBM 4:115. As Alma had prophesied, because of his suffering by accomplishing the atonement, Christ knew perfectly how to succor his people.


7 Have ye any that are asick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or bleprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will cheal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.
8 For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your afaith is bsufficient that I should heal you.
9 And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their ablind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.
10 And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did akiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears.

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The Lord healed the Nephites because of their faith, because the Nephites wanted to be a part of what he had done in Jerusalem, because of His great love for them and because in order to be equal in spiritual things, it is necessary to be equal in temporal things.

11 And it came to pass that he commanded that their alittle children should be brought.
12 So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.
13 And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should akneel down upon the ground.

What is the significance of asking for the little children to be brought to Him?

The Savior’s love for little children is not only evidence of his divine compassion but was also symbolic of the requirements for the gospel.

Matt 18:3
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little achildren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Through the atonement of Jesus Christ we are all able to put off the natural man and become as little children- literally born again as the spiritual sons and daughters of Jesus Christ.


Mosiah 3:19
19 For the anatural bman is an cenemy to God, and has been from the dfall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he eyields to the enticings of the Holy fSpirit, and gputteth off the hnatural man and becometh a isaint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a jchild, ksubmissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

Jesus commanded the multitude to kneel upon the ground prior to Him offering the prayer to His father. Why is kneeling a significant part of the prayer process?

Kneeling allows you to completely focus on what is being said. It is not an ordinary position. It shows your willingness to humble yourself before the Father. You are more receptive. You are alert and waiting.

14 And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am atroubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.
15 And when he had said these words, he himself also aknelt upon the earth; and behold he bprayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.
16 And after this manner do they bear record: The aeye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;
17 And no atongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.

Why could the things that Jesus spoke unto the Father not be recorded?

“The reason that words cannot describe such prayers is not that they are secret, but rather that mortal language cannot adequately capture the language of the Spirit. “ DCBM 4:117

18 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the ajoy of the multitude that they were overcome.
19 And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.
20 And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And anow behold, my joy is full.

As children, we have a natural desire to please our parents and make them happy. How do we do this? By being obedient. The same is true with our relationship with our Father In heaven and his son Jesus Christ. Their joy is full when we exercise faith to action which leads to repentance and the bringing of our brothers and sisters to the gospel.

21 And when he had said these words, he awept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and bblessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.
22 And when he had done this he wept again;
23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.
24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and aencircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.
25 And the multitude did see and ahear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children.

(“Can we imagine anything more lovely, more touching, and more glorious, than this scene must have been? Can we conceive the joy that must have filled the hearts of these Nephites as they beheld the angels of Heaven descending from the Courts of Glory and ministering to their little ones? How deep must have been their love for the Savior. Who had brought these blessings to them? How strong must have grown their faith in Him? We cannot recall a circumstance in recorded history that draws Earth nearer to Heaven than this, or that seems to bind the ties so strongly that unite the Powers of Eternity with the children of mortality.” (Reynolds and Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 7, p. 175))

When Nephi tells us that the angels ministered unto the children, what does that mean?
Hugh Nibley
“When angels come and minister, what they do is bring the word. That’s what their ministry is, to bring the word, so they come and talk with us. But minister is a two-way road. You talk back and forth. It’s not just a vision or revelation-they come to chat and discuss. That’s what ministry is-to take care of you, to explain things to you, to satisfy you. “ ( Teachings of the Book of Mormon 3:364)

Can you imagine the powerful witnesses these children made of the Savior to their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren? Not to mention to all those who read the Book of Mormon?

After the Savior blessed the children, He instituted the sacrament among the Nephites. What specifically do we learn about the sacrament from 3 Ne 18:1-11?

a. The sacrament must be blessed and passed by those who have been ordained to do so (3 Nephi 18:5).

b. The sacrament is to be administered to all worthy members of the Church (3 Nephi 18:5, 11).

c. The bread and wine represent the body and blood of the Savior (3 Nephi 18:7, 11; see also D&C 27:2, noting that today we use water instead of wine).

Why did the Savior institute the Sacrament?

As sacrifice was thus to cease with the occurrence of the great event toward which it pointed, there must needs be a new ordinance to replace it, an ordinance which also would center the attention of the saints on the infinite and eternal atonement. And so Jesus…initiated the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Sacrifice stopped and sacrament started. It was the end of the old era, the beginning of the new. Sacrifice looked forward to the shed blood and bruised flesh of the Lamb of God. The sacrament was to be in remembrance of his spilt blood and broken flesh, the emblems, bread and wine, typifying such as completely as had the shedding of the
blood of animals in their days. Bruce R. McConkie, DNTC, 1:719-20)

What is the purpose of the sacrament?

To renew our covenants
Which covenants are we renewing?

According to our latter-day prophets and leaders, when you partake of the sacrament you renew whatever covenants you have made with the Lord. For example, if you have been baptized only, that is the covenant you renew. If you have received the Melchizedek Priesthood, you also renew that part of the oath and covenant related to your having received that priesthood. If you have received your endowment, you also renew the covenants associated with it. Further, if you have been sealed, you also renew that covenant. In other words, when you partake of the sacrament, you renew all the covenants you have made with the Lord. John E. MacKay, Ensign, Mar 1995, 66)

President Spencer W. Kimball elaborated on this theme: “Remembering covenants prevents apostasy. That is the real purpose of the sacrament, to keep us from forgetting, to help us to remember … [that which we have] covenanted at the water’s edge or at the sacrament table and in the temple.” 3 President Kimball further said: “The Savior emphasized that the tangible bread and water of the Sacrament were to remind us continually of the sacrifice he made for us and for renewal of our covenants of righteousness. … If a person, not a member of the Church, is in the congregation, we do not forbid him partaking of [the sacrament], but would properly advise that the sacrament is for the renewing of covenants. And, since he has not made the true covenant of baptism or temple covenant, he is exempt.” 4

The Sacrament is the ordinance that allows us to remember all other ordinances we have participated in and made covenants in. Because it is an ordinance, preparations should be made prior to participating in it.

What should we do to prepare ourselves to receive the sacrament?

If we were planning to attend a great banquet where the finest foods available would be served, we would go hungry, with an appetite. If not, the food would not be at all tempting or attractive to us, nor would it do us good.

The same is true of the sacrament table. We must come hungering and thirsting after righteousness and spiritual growth. This requires the act of reviewing our lives, repenting of our sins and misdeeds, having a broken heart and contrite spirit.

When we do this, the Savior promises us that we will have His spirit to be with us always.

Elder Melvin J. Ballard
“ No man goes away from this Church and becomes apostate in a week, nor in a month. It is a slow process. The one thing that would make for the safety of every man and woman would be to appear at the sacrament table every Sabbath day. We would not get very far away in a week- not so far away that, by the process of self-investigation, we could not rectify wrongs we may have done.”

It is a tremendous blessing to be able to partake of the Sacrament each week. It is the most important reason we come to church. By doing so, we stir our hearts to remembrance the love the Savior has for us and His intense desire to have us return to Him.

Jesus also instructs the Nephites on prayer, family prayer, and how transgressors and dealt with in the kingdom. He then lays his hands upon the disciples he has chosen and sets them apart to minister to the people.
3 Nephi 18
37 And the multitude heard not the words which he spake, therefore they did not bear record; but the Disciples bare record that he gave them apower to give the bHoly Ghost. And I will show unto you chereafter that this record is true.
38 And it came to pass that when Jesus had touched them all, there came a acloud and overshadowed the multitude that they could not see Jesus.
39 And while they were overshadowed he adeparted from them, and ascended into heaven. And the Disciples saw and did bear record that he ascended again into heaven.


3 Nephi 19
1 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had ascended into heaven, the multitude did disperse, and every man did take his wife and his children and did return to his own home.
2 And it was noised abroad among the people immediately, before it was yet dark, that the multitude had seen Jesus, and that he had ministered unto them, and that he would also show himself on the amorrow unto the multitude.
3 Yea, and even all the night it was noised abroad concerning Jesus; and insomuch did they send forth unto the people that there were many, yea, an exceedingly great number, did labor exceedingly all that night, that they might be on the morrow in the place where Jesus should show himself unto the multitude

Hugh Nibley: “Now there's a reminder of that exciting passage from Thycidides where it says ‘that night, no man slept.’ It's like Christmas Eve-the tremendous excitement about the great thing that's going to happen tomorrow. Everybody is rushing around spreading the news: The Lord has finally come. He's going to be here tomorrow…The multitude dispersed. Everybody went home, but they didn't go to bed…A great thing is going to happen; we're going to receive a great gift tomorrow. We're going to get the gospel tomorrow. They're all excited about it. As I said, not a man slept.” (Teachings of the Book of Mormon, lecture 85, p. 355))

The next day, Nephi and the remainder of the twelve ( names are mentioned in verse 4) went among the people. They divided them into smaller groups of 12 where they taught the people and prayed with them.

What did the Nephites specifically pray for? Why?

9 And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the aHoly Ghost should be given unto them.

(Jeffrey R. Holland: “As Christ had not yet appeared to them for this second day (and
because the Father and Son could not permanently be with them—or us—in a telestial world), the next best companionship came from that member of the Godhead who can be with mortals permanently—the Holy Ghost. In their ministry these newly called apostles could not always have the daily, physical presence of the Savior with them. Nevertheless, because they were to lead the Church of Jesus Christ in righteousness and be witnesses of his name throughout the Nephite world, they would surely need the prompting, the protection, the revelation, and the comfort of that One who is the spiritual extension and telestial representative of the Father and the Son. In our own time the Prophet Joseph Smith was asked wherein The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints differed from other religions of the day. He replied that the distinction lay in ‘the gift of the Holy Ghost’ and that all other considerations ‘were contained in that gift.’ In light of these experiences—ancient or modern, Old World or New—perhaps all disciples of Christ, all members of his true Church, should pray for the influence and guidance of the Holy Ghost as that heavenly gift ‘which they most desire.’” (Christ And The New Covenant, p. 278)

Ed J. Pinegar
“Why would the Nephites desire the Holy Ghost so fervently? Elder Parley P. Pratt answered this question when he described the extraordinary characteristics of this remarkable power: The gift of the Holy Ghost . . . quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands, and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them by the gift of wisdom to their lawful use. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation, and social feeling. It develops and invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual
man. It strengthens, invigorates, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.’ (Key to Theology, 1978, pp. 101-2)” (Especially for Missionaries, vol. 4, p. 2-3))

10 And when they had thus prayed they went down unto the water’s edge, and the multitude followed them.
11 And it came to pass that Nephi went down ainto the water and was bbaptized.
12 And he came up out of the water and began to baptize. And he baptized all those whom Jesus had chosen.
13 And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come aup out of the water, the bHoly Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
14 And behold, they were aencircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record; and angels did come down out of heaven and did minister unto them.
15 And it came to pass that while the angels were ministering unto the disciples, behold, Jesus came and stood in the midst and ministered unto them

Why was it necessary for Nephi and the twelve to be baptized again?

After the crucifixion of the Savior there came a new order of things. The law of Moses came to an end, and with it, sacrifice of animals ceased, and the fulness of the gospel was ushered in. Therefore in this new order it became necessary for all those who had been previously baptized to be baptized again. Therefore in the new order, Jesus commanded Nephi to be baptized and also the other brethren of the twelve. Following this all of the people were baptized. The conferring of the gift of the Holy Ghost would naturally follow, except in the case of those who had been previously baptized and confirmed. Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:96-97. We have a similar condition in this dispensation. The Prophet
Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were baptized by command of the Angel John the Baptist. Several others were baptized before the organization of the Church. However, on the day the church was organized, all who had been previously baptized were baptized again, not for the remission of sins, but for entrance into the Church. In each case the reason was the same. IBID, 3:205-206.)

When Jesus appears among them, he instructs them to kneel and pray . He then went a little way off from them to pray alone. He prayed to the Father in behalf of the people that all who were worthy might receive the Holy Ghost.

How does this prayer compare to the great intercessory prayer Christ gave before His Crucifixion?

We get a clarification in these verses that we do not get in the New Testament.

(Jeffrey R. Holland: “That is, of course, a variation on the great intercessory prayer
Christ offered for his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion in the Old World, praying that his followers might be unified with the Father and the Son, as well as with each other, and be taken from the adverse temptations and evil influences of the world. (Jn 17) From the Savior's language, we see clearly it is the Holy Ghost that provides such unity.” (Christ and the New Covenant, p. 280))

3 Nephi 19
32 And tongue cannot speak the words which he prayed, neither can be awritten by man the words which he prayed.
33 And the multitude did hear and do bear record; and their ahearts were open and they did understand in their hearts the words which he prayed.
34 Nevertheless, so great and marvelous were the words which he prayed that they cannot be written, neither can they be auttered by man.
35 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: aSo great bfaith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great cmiracles, because of their dunbelief.
36 Verily I say unto you, there are none of them that have seen so great things as ye have seen; neither have they heard so great things as ye have heard.

(“This greater ability of the Nephites to receive the gospel is shown also in the fact that in the New Testament there are about forty parables which Jesus used because so many of the Jews were slow to perceive spiritual things, whereas in 3 Nephi Jesus used no parables among the Nephites because he was able to give them the gospel in direct and plainly spoken words.” (Book of Mormon Symposium Series, 3 Ne 9-30, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 29)

The greater our faith, the greater the spiritual outpourings. Let us strive for that level of faith in the latter days that we might be blessed as the Nephites of old.