pgs. 428 and 429...the third time they...did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof...

THIRD NEPHI
THE BOOK OF NEPHI
THE SON OF NEPHI, WHO WAS THE SON OF HELAMAN

Jesus Christ did show himself unto the people of Nephi, as the multitude were gathered together in the land Bountiful, and did minister unto them; and on this wise did he show himself unto them. Comprising chapters 11 to 26 inclusive.

CHAPTER 11

The Father testifies of his Beloved Son—Christ appears and proclaims his atonement—The people feel the wound marks in his hands and feet and side—They cry Hosanna—He sets forth the mode and manner of baptism—The spirit of contention is of the devil—Christ’s doctrine is that men should believe and be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. [A.D. 34]

  1 And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude ^agathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land ^bBountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the ^cgreat and marvelous change which had taken place.

  2 And they were also conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the ^asign had been given concerning his death.

  3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a ^avoice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a ^bsmall voice it did ^cpierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

  4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they ^aunderstood it not.

  5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did ^aopen their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

  6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

  7 Behold my ^aBeloved Son, ^bin whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

  8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they ^asaw a Man ^bdescending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

  9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

  10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

  11 And behold, I am the ^alight and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter ^bcup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in ^ctaking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the ^dwill of the Father in all things from the beginning.

  12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude ^afell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been ^bprophesied among them that Christ should ^cshow himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.

  13 And it came to pass that the ^aLord spake unto them saying:

  14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may ^athrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may ^bfeel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the ^cGod of Israel, and the God of the whole ^dearth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

  15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and ^adid feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

  16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:

  17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did ^aworship him.

  18 And it came to pass that he spake unto ^aNephi (for Nephi was among the multitude) and he commanded him that he should come forth.

  19 And Nephi arose and went forth, and ^abowed himself before the Lord and did ^bkiss his feet.

  20 And the Lord commanded him that he should ^aarise. And he arose and stood before him.

  21 And the Lord said unto him: I give unto you ^apower that ye shall ^bbaptize this people when I am again ascended into heaven.

  22 And again the Lord called ^aothers, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be ^bno disputations among you.

  23 Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your ^awords, and ^bdesireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them—Behold, ye shall go down and ^cstand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.

  24 And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying:

  25 Having ^aauthority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the ^bFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

  26 And then shall ye ^aimmerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water.

  27 And after this manner shall ye ^abaptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are ^bone; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.

  28 And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no ^adisputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.

  29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of ^acontention is not of me, but is of the ^bdevil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

  30 Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things ^ashould be done away.

This reading is so hard to comment on because there are SO MANY AMAZING parts!  It isn't fair to have to pick just one but since I am on vacation with my family I promised my husband and kids I would try to do this relatively quickly.  I have decided to focus my comments on the three times Heavenly Father spoke to the multitude.  I have thought with wonder so many times about why they didn't hear Him the first two times he spoke.  (Remember these are the people who survived the destruction so they must have been living righteously.) It is so telling that the third time when they did hear him they "did open their ears" and "did open their eyes" and did "look steadfastly towards heaven from whence the sound came."  I'm sure this is symbolic because I assume their ears and eyes were physically open to begin with.  So the challenge to all of us is to learn how to open our ears and eyes in a way that we can hear and see spiritual things not just physical. And also to discern the difference!