Shownotes
2023 WEEK 1 [MATTHEW 1; LUKE 1]
“Be it unto me according to thy word”
January 2 – January 8
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Transcripts
Welcome back you guys.
Speaker:This is week number one of Creative Come Follow Me for the New Testament, and this
Speaker:week we get to jump into the gospels.
Speaker:So as you guys probably know from your previous studies of the New
Speaker:Testament, you can break up the New Testament into about five chunks.
Speaker:The first half of the year we're gonna spend in the gospels.
Speaker:So Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, those are eyewitness accounts of
Speaker:the Savior's life and ministry.
Speaker:In the case of Luke, he's actually collected other eyewitnesses accounts
Speaker:and put them into his book, and we're gonna spend a lot of time there.
Speaker:You can choose when you study the gospels to study them one at a time
Speaker:or to try and study them in harmony, meaning you're gonna take a few
Speaker:chapters that cover the same basic areas and try to blend them together.
Speaker:That's generally what the Come Follow Me manual does.
Speaker:But there are a few departures.
Speaker:I've just found it's a little bit tricky to study that way.
Speaker:My brain likes order and lists.
Speaker:So we will go through things systematically.
Speaker:Meaning I'm gonna teach you Matthew, and then we'll jump into Luke.
Speaker:But my hope is that by setting the stage with Matthew one and then
Speaker:adding what we learned in Luke one, we'll get a fuller picture of
Speaker:this piece of the Savior's history.
Speaker:I really think it's kind of the same way.
Speaker:If you've ever attended a funeral and you've heard a few different people
Speaker:speak about that person's life.
Speaker:And you hear the same kinds of stories and the same personality come out in
Speaker:a whole bunch of different memories.
Speaker:I feel like that's what you get when you study the four gospels.
Speaker:They don't always match up perfectly.
Speaker:In fact, most of the time they don't, but they compliment each other.
Speaker:There are a few times when they conflict with each other, so
Speaker:I'll try and point those out.
Speaker:But, thankfully, in addition to the four gospels, we also have Joseph
Speaker:Smith's translation of these books.
Speaker:So the first thing I would tell you before you even get into your
Speaker:scriptures this week is to take a second and highlight every single
Speaker:footnote that has JST at the beginning.
Speaker:That's what I did before I started this week.
Speaker:It makes a huge difference in catching those changes.
Speaker:So go in the footnotes, highlight every JST, and then what I usually do is I
Speaker:take that same color highlighter and I just highlight that tiny little letter
Speaker:that corresponds to it in the verse.
Speaker:That way I never miss a JST translation cuz they make a world of difference when
Speaker:you're trying to understand the gospels.
Speaker:The last thing I would tell you, and it mirrors what we heard in
Speaker:conference, is that when you think about the book of third Nephi,
Speaker:it's almost like a fifth Gospel.
Speaker:So throughout this first six months when we're deep into the gospels, we will
Speaker:focus a lot on the Book of Mormon as well, especially what we learn in Third Nephi.
Speaker:So you'll kind of wanna keep your whole quad handy.
Speaker:Today we're in Matthew one and Luke one.
Speaker:So we're gonna study that precursor to the Christmas story.
Speaker:We'll get a little bit of a heads up about what came before, and
Speaker:there's a lot of goodness there.
Speaker:So grab your scriptures, grab your notes.
Speaker:Let's get started.
Speaker:The reason I like to compare the gospels to a really great funeral
Speaker:where you hear these different eulogies from different perspectives is that's
Speaker:basically what the gospels are.
Speaker:They're all written after the life of the Savior.
Speaker:They're all written after he's died, been resurrected, and then time has passed.
Speaker:Some scholars think even 70, 80 years of time have passed and
Speaker:so, there's a lot to capture.
Speaker:And you get that same feeling that you get at a great funeral where the
Speaker:people who are writing want to capture what is true and what is memorable,
Speaker:and what is meaningful, what can last.
Speaker:And for Matthew, his audience is specific.
Speaker:He wants to teach the Jews.
Speaker:Matthew was a Jew, so he was the tax collector that Jews
Speaker:hated, but he was a Jew.
Speaker:And once he converted and left his tax collecting days behind him, his
Speaker:whole focus, at least in what he writes for us, is catered to the Jews
Speaker:in converting the Jews of his day.
Speaker:And the best way to do that at least from what it feels like when you study his
Speaker:words is to teach them about how Jesus was the fulfillment of all of the law of
Speaker:Moses and all of the prophets that they've studied and loved their whole life.
Speaker:So he makes a lot of connections to the Old Testament.
Speaker:What I love about that as the beginning of the New Testament
Speaker:is it forms this lovely bridge.
Speaker:I feel like Matthew is almost like every great author because you'll look
Speaker:at the first 16 verses and it gives you the genealogy of Jesus, and it's really
Speaker:tempting to just sorta brush past it because it's a lot of begats, you know?
Speaker:But I think what he's actually trying to do is to stitch things together.
Speaker:So if you ever read a really good sequel to a really good first book, a great
Speaker:author will take, you know, memories and thoughts and character points from
Speaker:the first book and stitch them into the first chapter or two of the second book.
Speaker:So if you've waited a while for the second book of the series to come
Speaker:out, your brain kind of kickstarts, you'll be like, oh yeah, now I
Speaker:remember it's all coming back to me.
Speaker:I think that's what Matthew is trying to do in this first chapter.
Speaker:He's trying to teach the people that Jesus Christ is this bridge between
Speaker:the Law of Moses that they love and the prophets that they study and revere.
Speaker:He is the fulfillment of all of those.
Speaker:So in those 16 verses, I think he's stitching them together.
Speaker:He's showing that the genealogy takes Jesus Christ back to
Speaker:Abraham and even back to Adam.
Speaker:He is the fulfillment of all those promises.
Speaker:So you're gonna see it broken down.
Speaker:This is not a perfect list.
Speaker:In Hebrew times, they didn't necessarily try and write a genealogy that was exactly
Speaker:accurate and included all the generations.
Speaker:In fact you can tell cuz he breaks it into three groups of 14 to take
Speaker:him all the way back to Abraham and that wouldn't have fit based on the
Speaker:number of years we're talking about.
Speaker:You can go in the notes and learn more about that, but I think he's trying
Speaker:to do it in a poetic way to show that there is this unbroken chain between
Speaker:Jesus and King David, who would be the fulfillment of that promise, right?
Speaker:And then from David, all the way back to Abraham, there is this unbroken chain.
Speaker:And so that's what Matthew's goal is to try and get across.
Speaker:He is King of kings.
Speaker:He is the rightful heir to the throne.
Speaker:And that sort of takes you right into the narrative part of Matthew one.
Speaker:So when you look down, you'll see that in 16 that Jacob begat Joseph,
Speaker:the husband of Mary, who was born of Jesus, who was called Christ.
Speaker:If you go into Jesus the Christ, you'll learn a lot more about this.
Speaker:But I really loved how Elder Talmage taught.
Speaker:He basically said that Joseph is the adopted father of Jesus, which means by
Speaker:Mosaic Law an adopted son is absolutely as entitled to birthright as a biological
Speaker:son is so it would work that way.
Speaker:But because of Paul's writings, we know that Jesus Christ is the
Speaker:literal seed of David, which means there must be more to that story.
Speaker:So the way Elder Talmage teaches it is that Mary's line would also be of
Speaker:this priestly, this, you know, Davidic tribe where he would have rights to
Speaker:the throne from Mary and from Joseph.
Speaker:So you can go into the notes and learn a little bit more about that.
Speaker:But I loved that tie in that he is a fulfillment on both sides.
Speaker:Whether Joseph and Mary were related or you know, I don't know how that
Speaker:all shakes out, but you can go in Jesus the Christ and learn more.
Speaker:I also love that he says, who is called Christ?
Speaker:You wanna think of Christ, at least this is how Elder Talmage teaches it, that
Speaker:Christ is more of a title than a name.
Speaker:So that's why he calls his book Jesus the Christ.
Speaker:It's almost like, you know, Elder Nelson the prophet.
Speaker:It's that same idea that he is a fulfillment of a role
Speaker:and Christ is his role.
Speaker:His role is to be the Messiah, the anointed one.
Speaker:And you can go on the footnotes and see more about that, but
Speaker:I, I like the remembrance that Christ is not Jesus' last name.
Speaker:It is his title, and it is a title of dignity and majesty, and we have
Speaker:to give it a little bit of weight.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:When you go into this story, you're gonna see that Mary was espoused to Joseph.
Speaker:So in Jewish tradition, you can go into the notes and learn more, but basically,
Speaker:there were two parts of every engagement.
Speaker:At the beginning usually before the bride even hit puberty, the
Speaker:parents would agree to this union.
Speaker:They would sign contracts.
Speaker:It would be very official and hard to get out of this espousal process.
Speaker:And that's basically where Mary and Joseph are.
Speaker:They've already hit that part of the contract and they're waiting for
Speaker:the day when they will actually be married and the bride will go and join,
Speaker:you know the groom at his parents' house, they're not to that stage yet.
Speaker:They're somewhere in the middle.
Speaker:They're espoused.
Speaker:And in that espousal process, Joseph learns of Mary's state.
Speaker:So in 18 you see that before they came together.
Speaker:So before they lived together, before they were a couple, she was
Speaker:found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Speaker:And then in 19, then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not
Speaker:willing to make a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
Speaker:So at some point, Joseph comes to an awareness of Mary's state.
Speaker:That she is pregnant, and because of the good man that he is, he
Speaker:seeks to end this engagement without any, repercussions towards her.
Speaker:There will still be repercussions.
Speaker:And I think maybe because he knows she will face gossip and she will face
Speaker:all kinds of struggle in her life.
Speaker:He hopes to not add to it, so he seeks to put her away privily.
Speaker:For me, that just teaches me something about Joseph.
Speaker:There must be some profound reason that God the Father chose Joseph to
Speaker:be the Father who would raise Jesus.
Speaker:Who would be Mary's help meat.
Speaker:You know, there's some reason that pair is together and I think even though
Speaker:Joseph isn't the biological father of Jesus Christ, God the Father is,
Speaker:Joseph's personality and character traits, like any adopted dad, you know
Speaker:pour into his son because you see how Joseph cares for Mary and how he treats
Speaker:her and how he seeks her wellbeing.
Speaker:And then you look at all of Jesus' ministry and how often he makes a point
Speaker:to focus on the women and to take care of women and to take care of widows and
Speaker:to take care of those who are, you know, often cast aside and I feel like you,
Speaker:you see echoes of Joseph in Jesus and I just love that piece of his story.
Speaker:So he sought to put her way privily.
Speaker:What I think is interesting about that is that means Mary didn't
Speaker:tell him how she became pregnant.
Speaker:I've started to kinda wonder if maybe there's more to this piece of
Speaker:the story because in every situation that I studied, Mary never told
Speaker:people how she became pregnant.
Speaker:In fact, even Elder Talmage talks that no one knows that.
Speaker:And I just, I, I wonder sometimes if similar to when the savior would perform
Speaker:miracles in his ministry and sometimes ask the people not to speak of it to others,
Speaker:if maybe Mary's situation is similar, that she was asked not to speak of it to
Speaker:others and what weight that might have added to her choice to to go ahead and to
Speaker:let this happen, that she would know that she wasn't gonna be able to explain it
Speaker:to Joseph or to her parents or to others.
Speaker:I don't know if that's the case, or maybe she just had such reverence and
Speaker:awe for it that she couldn't speak it.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:But what I found is throughout this week's study, all the people who came
Speaker:to understand that this was a divine thing, All of that knowledge came
Speaker:through the Holy Ghost with Joseph.
Speaker:You're gonna see it again with Zacharias and Elizabeth.
Speaker:All of them come to an understanding of this miracle because the Holy Ghost
Speaker:teaches them, not because Mary testifies about it or tells them, they just know.
Speaker:And part of me thinks that because this is a miracle that is unprecedented
Speaker:in every way and has never again been matched, it is something that
Speaker:only the Holy Ghost can teach.
Speaker:You know how President Nelson taught us that the mysteries of God are
Speaker:gonna be unfolded and you need to seek the wisdom of Holy Ghost, so that
Speaker:you can know the mysteries of God?
Speaker:I think this may be one them.
Speaker:That there's, that's the only way you can understand it, but I think it teaches
Speaker:us something about this interaction with Mary and Joseph that he needed
Speaker:to come to his own understanding about how this happened and the point of
Speaker:verse 19, he doesn't know that yet.
Speaker:So he needs, he needs divine guidance and that's what comes in 20.
Speaker:So it says in 20 that while he thought on these things, an angel of the Lord comes.
Speaker:I do kinda love that little piece.
Speaker:It reminds me of Joseph Smith.
Speaker:I think Joseph might have a character similar to Joseph Smith in that
Speaker:he is someone who stews on things.
Speaker:He didn't make any rash decisions.
Speaker:He doesn't cut her off.
Speaker:He doesn't, he just wants to think on things.
Speaker:I think like everyone, you know, like when you look, read the Book of Mormon,
Speaker:you see all these descriptions of Mary and that she'll beautiful and fair
Speaker:and chosen above all of other women.
Speaker:I think Joseph sees that in her and he's not willing to just end this.
Speaker:He wants to give it some time, so he thinks on things and as he's thinking
Speaker:on things, that's when the angel comes.
Speaker:I love that cuz that happens to me all the time when I can't find an
Speaker:answer to a prayer or I'm studying something in the scriptures and
Speaker:things haven't clicked into place yet.
Speaker:It's the fact that I'm willing to like stew on things that I feel like invites
Speaker:the spirit to come teach me more.
Speaker:When I close the book on something and think, oh, I've learned everything I need
Speaker:to learn, then the spirit can't get there.
Speaker:But because Joseph is willing to, you know, wrestle with it a little
Speaker:bit, I think the spirit teaches him.
Speaker:So the angel comes and he says, fear not.
Speaker:And I just think there must be a hundred things he's afraid of even knowing
Speaker:that this is a divine manifestation.
Speaker:This is a miracle.
Speaker:That's never happened before.
Speaker:He must have had so many other questions.
Speaker:You know, like, how am I gonna raise this kid?
Speaker:What am I, where do we live?
Speaker:And how do I take care of her?
Speaker:And what about all the gossip that's gonna come?
Speaker:He must have had a thousand questions, but the angel doesn't
Speaker:answer all those questions.
Speaker:He gives him this partial answer that simply says, fear
Speaker:not this miracle is of God.
Speaker:You can go forward.
Speaker:It's that moment of stepping into uncertainty with just enough knowledge to
Speaker:have faith to go forward that I think we see over and over again in the scriptures.
Speaker:Joseph is no exception.
Speaker:At this point in time.
Speaker:He could have changed course, he could have picked any other road, and instead
Speaker:he said, okay, I'm gonna let God prevail.
Speaker:So in this moment he does and he moves forward.
Speaker:I love it because he's basically saying, okay, you're gonna be the
Speaker:author and finisher of my faith.
Speaker:I'm gonna follow this story to its end.
Speaker:So when you look in the verses, there's a few things that jump out.
Speaker:In 21 it says, and she shall bring forth a son.
Speaker:This is the angel speaking to Joseph, and thou shall call his name Jesus.
Speaker:I don't know if this was deliberate or not, but I do kind of love
Speaker:that in this verse, it calls attention to both of their roles.
Speaker:If she's gonna carry this divine son, it will be her son.
Speaker:But you're gonna call his name Jesus, and that means that he will save his people.
Speaker:They both have a critical role to play in the raising of this divine son.
Speaker:And I think it's, I think it's delineated a little bit in that verse.
Speaker:Joseph will need to know who he is and teach his son who he is and who
Speaker:he will become from the beginning of his story and, and I love
Speaker:that injunction that's in there.
Speaker:Then he talks about how.
Speaker:Behold, this is verse 23.
Speaker:Behold a virgin shall be with child, and this is the fulfilling of the
Speaker:prophecy, and shall bring forth the son and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
Speaker:which being interpreted is God with us.
Speaker:Okay, here's what I love about this verse.
Speaker:Sometimes I wonder if this was hard for Mary that her part of this, what she
Speaker:added to this equation, this, you know, it's Mary's child and God, the father's
Speaker:child together, and what she added to the equation, so that, is that allowing
Speaker:God to be with us, meaning he's mortal.
Speaker:He experienced pain and illness and fatigue and hunger and all
Speaker:these weaknesses, all these mortal frailties he inherited from her.
Speaker:And I wonder if that was hard to her.
Speaker:That when she saw him be, when she saw him struggle, she knew that that was
Speaker:something he, he inherited from her . I only, I think I'm sensitive to this
Speaker:because of the situation with Jason where he worries about that with our kids.
Speaker:That they have become accustomed to cancer and to hard things because of
Speaker:the experience that they've had growing up in a house with a dad with cancer.
Speaker:So he worries all the time that they, you know, haven't had the childhood
Speaker:that they could have had, or that he couldn't have been the dad he could
Speaker:have been, you know, he worries.
Speaker:And I wonder if Mary had some of those worries that every time she
Speaker:saw that it was her part of the DNA that brought all this struggle.
Speaker:But what I love is what we learned in the Book of Mormon, that because of his
Speaker:ability to feel and to suffer and even to die, that he all, he inherited from Mary,
Speaker:he is the savior that he needed to be.
Speaker:He's able to sucker at his children, he's able to rush to them and help.
Speaker:He's able to understand every pain and every adversity.
Speaker:Because of what he inherited from Mary.
Speaker:And I just love that piece cuz I think I see that with my own kids with Jason.
Speaker:Although he worries about all the things that they didn't get or what where
Speaker:they're lacking because of our situation.
Speaker:I also see their ability to have compassion is amplified.
Speaker:Their ability to, you know, to think longer term and to trust in God's
Speaker:promises is amplified because of what the family has been through.
Speaker:So I, I think, I wonder sometimes if all of that is in Mary's heart and if maybe
Speaker:that's why she treasured things in her heart, cuz that's a lot to hold and
Speaker:it probably took some time to process.
Speaker:But I love that she has Joseph by her side because we learn that Joseph does.
Speaker:You go at the end of this verse or the end of this chapter, in 24, it
Speaker:says, then Joseph being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had
Speaker:bidden him and took unto him, his wife.
Speaker:He doesn't know all the answers.
Speaker:He has a partial revelation about what's right and what's gonna happen next.
Speaker:And he says, okay, I'm, I'm in.
Speaker:I'm gonna let God prevail.
Speaker:And I think knowing that he is by Mary's side helps us understand how
Speaker:they could raise a son like Jesus.
Speaker:Uh, even though he's divine and has a lot of inherent potential, these
Speaker:two parents who are like YSA aged, you know, teenage aged, um, they set
Speaker:the stage for who he will become, and I just love that piece of the story.
Speaker:If Luke we're gonna stand and give a eulogy at a funeral, I feel like his
Speaker:would be the one that makes you laugh and brings out the heart and then by
Speaker:the end you're in tears cuz Luke's focus is a little bit different.
Speaker:His audience is the Gentiles.
Speaker:In fact, Luke isn't an eyewitness of the Savior's ministry.
Speaker:He is someone who seems to be almost like a journalist.
Speaker:He's someone who went to eyewitnesses like it sounds like
Speaker:he must have talked with Mary.
Speaker:He must have talked with some of the apostles.
Speaker:And he wrote down their accounts and he gives us a preface about his goals at
Speaker:the, in the first few verses of Luke one.
Speaker:But Luke himself is a Gentile who converted to the gospel of
Speaker:Jesus Christ and he'll become Paul's missionary companion.
Speaker:And he has just a softness to his words.
Speaker:He, a lot of people think he's a physician and he puts a lot of emphasis
Speaker:on the savior's compassion, especially for those who are weak or vulnerable or
Speaker:sinners, anyone who is on the margins.
Speaker:Luke puts a bit of a spotlight on how the savior cared for them.
Speaker:So you're gonna love the book of Luke.
Speaker:But here's some differences to Luke one.
Speaker:This is a bigger chapter, so I'm gonna break it into a few chunks.
Speaker:But first off, you get a preface.
Speaker:So where Matthew kicks right into the genealogy, Luke does
Speaker:things a little bit differently.
Speaker:He'll save the genealogy for a couple chapters from now.
Speaker:And in Luke one, he gives us a preface about why he's making this book.
Speaker:So if you look in one in verse one, it says, his whole goal is that there are
Speaker:other accounts out there circulating.
Speaker:So the book of Matthew and the Book of Mark are probably already
Speaker:in existence, and he wants to add his understanding and his witness.
Speaker:And so his hope is that what he'll capture is what is surely believed.
Speaker:But if you look in the footnotes, it says that a better
Speaker:translation of that is fulfilled.
Speaker:He believes Jesus Christ fulfilled all the law and he wants to capture it.
Speaker:So his goals are similar to Matthews.
Speaker:He just has a different audience, so he teaches differently.
Speaker:So he talks about that.
Speaker:He also talks about how he's gonna gather eyewitness accounts.
Speaker:Those who saw him firsthand and knew his heart, he's gonna capture
Speaker:their words and their stories.
Speaker:I love what you see in three as well, because he basically clarifies that
Speaker:this is something he just decided to do.
Speaker:He doesn't, there's no angel that comes and says, Luke, I need you to make an
Speaker:account and gather all these stories.
Speaker:There's no, we have no record of any kind of, , you know, command.
Speaker:What we have is a, a man who sees all these good stories and
Speaker:says, I want to capture them.
Speaker:I feel like it's a fulfillment of what we're invited to do.
Speaker:That we're invited to be anxiously engaged in a good cause.
Speaker:When you see an opportunity, you're supposed to jump at it and do good.
Speaker:And so that's kinda what you see in three is he says, it seemed good to me.
Speaker:It's not that he was commanded.
Speaker:It just seemed good to me.
Speaker:So he decides to write down what is true.
Speaker:So I feel like before you flip the page, this is another spot where you
Speaker:really wanna pay attention to the JST because what Joseph Smith adds to this
Speaker:very first little tiny part of page one is he focuses on the testimony of Luke
Speaker:being a witness that even though Luke is not a firsthand account, he didn't
Speaker:see these things with his own eyes.
Speaker:He is someone who fiercely believes in the testimony of others, and Joseph
Speaker:Smith points out that that is enough.
Speaker:I love that because of what we read in the Doctrine and
Speaker:Covenants about spiritual gifts.
Speaker:He talks about how one of the gifts of the spirit is to believe on the
Speaker:testimony of others, and Luke is kind of a perfect example of that.
Speaker:He is his testimony that is of others' testimonies is absolutely
Speaker:valid and used and needed.
Speaker:And I think that's important for us cuz there's a lot of
Speaker:experiences that I have not had.
Speaker:You haven't seen Angels.
Speaker:I haven't had a lot of the things I've heard other people experience, but I
Speaker:can believe on their words and testify of what they have seen and what they
Speaker:know and that's just as powerful.
Speaker:And Luke is a good example of that spiritual gift.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So when you flip the page and you get into the gospel of Luke, some
Speaker:of the things you're gonna see is his goal is that we might know.
Speaker:So if you look in three and four he wants us to have a perfect understanding.
Speaker:He's saying he's coming from a whole, perfect meaning like complete a complete
Speaker:understanding of the character of Christ, and he wants to pass that on to us.
Speaker:In fact, he wants us to have certainty.
Speaker:That's what you see in four, that thou mightest know the
Speaker:certainty of those things.
Speaker:That's his goal, so he's gonna teach it differently.
Speaker:You're gonna understand the compassion and character of Christ differently
Speaker:because of what Luke adds to the story.
Speaker:When you go a little bit further in, you'll see he teaches us the
Speaker:story of Zacharias and Elizabeth.
Speaker:And we just covered this in the Christmas lesson cuz I , I couldn't resist.
Speaker:But I'm hoping to draw attention to some other things as well.
Speaker:So a few things that caught my eye this time.
Speaker:Cause remember, the scriptures never close.
Speaker:Like every time you think you know the story, you go back and you study again
Speaker:and there's a bunch more to learn.
Speaker:So let me show you some of the things I learned this time when I studied
Speaker:the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth.
Speaker:First off, I love the way it's described that they are both righteous.
Speaker:So if you look in six, remember Zacharias is a priest and his wife is barren,
Speaker:and they're both older and it says, and they were both righteous before
Speaker:God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Speaker:This is important for two big reasons.
Speaker:First because oftentimes barrenness was seen as a sign of God's disfavor for you.
Speaker:So the fact that Luke makes it clear right up front that these were two
Speaker:good people who just simply didn't have all the blessings that they wanted.
Speaker:They wanted a child and they hadn't had one yet.
Speaker:And your heart kind of breaks for them, kind of the same way it did
Speaker:for Abraham and Sarah and Hannah and so many others in the scriptures.
Speaker:But what I thought of this time as I was studying it is I wonder if that
Speaker:adversity that they were facing, the lack of blessing where they wanted
Speaker:a son, and it was this righteous desire and they hoped and prayed for
Speaker:it, is actually what allowed them to be righteous walking before God.
Speaker:I, I only ask or say that because I found that in my life, , you know, when you are.
Speaker:When you are desperately seeking an answer to a prayer or a blessing that has
Speaker:somehow been withheld, you stay really close to the Lord cuz you pray for it
Speaker:often and you hope and you anticipate and you study when it's happened for
Speaker:others, and you lean on that hope.
Speaker:And I, I wonder sometimes if this withholding of a blessing is
Speaker:actually what created their faith.
Speaker:Um, and there's, there's a kindness in that from the Lord.
Speaker:You go a little bit further and you learn that this is a
Speaker:specific time in Zechariah's life.
Speaker:So he is of the tribe of Levi.
Speaker:We know that they're related to Mary somehow.
Speaker:So again, there's a possibility that Mary has like one parent that's of the
Speaker:tribe of Judah that gives her the Davidic descent and one that is related it to
Speaker:Levi, which is really cool cuz Elder Talmage talks about this as being like he
Speaker:is the king of kings and also the great high priest cuz you know he's got Levi and
Speaker:Judah, which I thought was pretty cool.
Speaker:Anyways, you go on the verses, you'll see that they're related, but he is a
Speaker:priest, so he's of the tribe of Levi.
Speaker:He's a high priest, and at this point in time, his lot is drawn so that
Speaker:he can go into the temple like we talked about, and offer this prayer.
Speaker:This is a very rare circumstance.
Speaker:The tribe of Levi is huge at this point in time.
Speaker:So each like order of the tribe of Levi only gets two times a year where they
Speaker:get to go in and most of the orders have hundreds of priests so that he gets chosen
Speaker:for this one, it's pretty remarkable.
Speaker:And he gets to go in and he gets to say a prayer at the altar of incense.
Speaker:So that's that altar that's right in front of the curtain that separates
Speaker:the Holy of Holies and the holy place.
Speaker:He's in the holy place with the menorah here and the table of shoe bread, and
Speaker:he's right in front of the altar of incense and he's in this sacred spot
Speaker:that he only gets to go in maybe once in a lifetime and in this once in a
Speaker:lifetime opportunity, an angel appears.
Speaker:And he has an answer to a prayer that Zechariah hasn't even
Speaker:vocalized, and I love that piece.
Speaker:In fact, I think it's powerful because of what we see in the Book of Mormon.
Speaker:Do you remember when Jesus comes to the Americas and he speaks to the people and
Speaker:he can perceive in their heart, in fact, he uses that word over and over again.
Speaker:He says, I perceive in your hearts that you feel you know X, Y, Z.
Speaker:And he talks about what they're feeling.
Speaker:Zechariah hasn't voiced his prayer, but because he's lived a lifetime of
Speaker:diligence and goodness, the Lord knows it and he answers it through this angel.
Speaker:The angel is Gabriel and Gabriel answers a prayer that Zechariah
Speaker:hasn't even uttered and I.
Speaker:I just love that.
Speaker:I think it, it teaches me something about prayer, that there is something
Speaker:powerful in diligently asking God all throughout my lifetime for the blessings
Speaker:that I seek, and at some point in time when the time is right and the will of
Speaker:God is right, the answer will come even if I haven't asked for it that day.
Speaker:So I love, I loved what I read about Zechariah there.
Speaker:Some other things you're gonna see is that fear falls on him.
Speaker:I actually really love this word choice.
Speaker:I hadn't thought of this before this week, but when I was studying
Speaker:it, I'm like, I wonder why they used the word fell upon him.
Speaker:But the more I thought about it, the more I thought actually that fits.
Speaker:Cuz fear is something that adds weight.
Speaker:We say this literally with Peter when he's walking on the
Speaker:water, that fear falls upon him.
Speaker:He sees the waves and the crashing and he fears, and that fear holds him down.
Speaker:It actually adds weight and he starts to sink.
Speaker:We see this in so many circumstances in our own lives.
Speaker:When we give into fear, we feel weight and heaviness and
Speaker:faith is the opposite, right?
Speaker:Faith elevates and lifts, and in this moment he's, he feels
Speaker:fear, so he, it falls upon him.
Speaker:And then you see the promise.
Speaker:So the angel who probably sees that he is in fear, wants to lift, he wants
Speaker:to take that weight off his shoulders.
Speaker:So it tells him, let me tell you why I'm here.
Speaker:Like I'm here to answer the prayer that you and your wife
Speaker:have been offering for decades.
Speaker:And it's gonna be joyous.
Speaker:Not just because you're gonna have a son, but because he will become
Speaker:John the Baptist, who will be this forerunner to Jesus Christ.
Speaker:He is a son that has a great work to do.
Speaker:So the rest of the verses talk about that great work that will happen.
Speaker:You can go on the notes and learn all about it, but he is basically
Speaker:a fulfillment of prophecy.
Speaker:That he is a, he's gonna fulfill all those Abrahamic promises.
Speaker:This must have been staggering to Zechariah because you guys,
Speaker:there hasn't been a prophet in the land for over 400 years.
Speaker:So to know that all of a sudden today a new prophet will
Speaker:come and he will be of you.
Speaker:He will be your son.
Speaker:So he's a miracle in lots of different ways, and it must have
Speaker:just blown Zechariah's mind because his response is not so great.
Speaker:So he responds to the Lord and he, or to the angel Gabriel, and says
Speaker:basically like, how will this be?
Speaker:So in 18, he says, whereby shall I know this?
Speaker:When you go into the footnotes on this, it takes you way back to Abraham.
Speaker:And when he is promised that, that he'll get to the promised land
Speaker:and he'll be able to inherit it.
Speaker:And he says like, how will I know this?
Speaker:And the Lord gives him understanding.
Speaker:And in this situation you don't get that.
Speaker:Zechariah doesn't get a second chance.
Speaker:He's basically either asking for a sign or asking for a second witness so that
Speaker:he can, he know for sure this is real.
Speaker:I guess the more I studied it, the more I started to wonder that
Speaker:maybe what Zechariah is fearing here is not so much whether this
Speaker:is real and can actually happen.
Speaker:I wonder if he worries that he can be the father that this great prophet will need
Speaker:because he's old and doesn't know how long he'll be alive, or he doesn't know
Speaker:how long his wife will be alive and maybe he's worried that he, he isn't sufficient
Speaker:to be the father of this great man.
Speaker:I don't know, but whatever his fear was based on Gabriel comes back pretty strong.
Speaker:So Gabriel basically says to him in 19, and the angel answering
Speaker:said unto him, I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God.
Speaker:I was sent here to tell you these glad tidings.
Speaker:That's his response.
Speaker:And because of his lack of faith in that moment, there is this period.
Speaker:Consequence, and we talked about this a little bit before in the Old
Speaker:Testament, but he essentially has nine months of time to think about
Speaker:his choices where he can't speak.
Speaker:The Lord didn't take that blessing away.
Speaker:The the baby will still be born of his wife.
Speaker:The miracle will still happen, but he has this season to.
Speaker:Think on his choices.
Speaker:It's the same way I picture Peter's boat ride back to the shore.
Speaker:Y you know, like the, when he got back in the boat and he's
Speaker:all wet and he's frustrated that his faith was not sufficient.
Speaker:That boat ride back was time to think, but the Lord didn't get to the shore and
Speaker:say to Peter, I gave you your chance.
Speaker:You're out.
Speaker:What the Lord always does with all of his disciples who have moments of weakness,
Speaker:where fear falls on them, as he says.
Speaker:Your faith could have been better.
Speaker:Let's do better tomorrow.
Speaker:That's discipleship you guys.
Speaker:He continually invites us to just try it again and so Zacharias
Speaker:gets a chance to try it again.
Speaker:I love this uh, with Elder Holland cause I was reading his book recently and
Speaker:he talked about how this moment where Gabriel says, I am Gabriel, he said as
Speaker:an apostle God, he wishes he could say this sometimes that people who question.
Speaker:whether there could have been a first vision or question whether the Book
Speaker:of Mormon could be real, he wishes he could stand and say like, I am Gabriel.
Speaker:Do you know whose church this is?
Speaker:Do you know who Joseph Smith was?
Speaker:Like he wishes he had that.
Speaker:You can read the quote in the notes, but I, there is a wait to
Speaker:Gabriel's answer where he's like, oh, you, you didn't understand and
Speaker:so you're gonna need some time.
Speaker:So, you know when you picture that that narrative of God is the author
Speaker:and finisher of our finisher of our faith, I feel like had Zacharias.
Speaker:, okay.
Speaker:The same way Mary does be it unto me, according to that
Speaker:word, let God prevail then.
Speaker:Then a certain path would've opened up for him.
Speaker:But because he feared in this moment a different path opens up.
Speaker:It's a nine month delay of sorts, but the GPS is just rerouting Zacharias.
Speaker:He's gonna get to the same place where he's gonna be the
Speaker:father of John the Baptist, and he will, because of this nine.
Speaker:He will be a better one.
Speaker:He will be a stronger father for John the Baptist, cuz he will come to know
Speaker:God in that nine months of silence.
Speaker:And I think there's power in that to remember all, for all of us to remember
Speaker:that even if we fear in that pivotal moment when the Lord needed us to
Speaker:step up, he will open up a new route.
Speaker:He will reroute us back to where we need to be.
Speaker:It might be longer and it might be harder, but we will be rerouted.
Speaker:And I love that you learned that from Zechariah.
Speaker:When Gabriel comes to Mary six months later, things are very
Speaker:different in Mary's circumstances.
Speaker:She is not in a temple, not in a holy place.
Speaker:She's not a high priest.
Speaker:She doesn't have all of that scholarship and learning behind her.
Speaker:She is in a different spot.
Speaker:She is a young girl from Nazareth who has this incredible encounter,
Speaker:and I just love the way it plays.
Speaker:She basically, the angel comes to her.
Speaker:We don't know the circumstances.
Speaker:I like to picture her outside.
Speaker:Maybe that's just me projecting . But you know, the same way, we have a lot of cool
Speaker:stories about people who are out in nature and they experience something profound.
Speaker:That's kind of how I picture Mary's circumstances.
Speaker:Um, and she learns from the angel who she is.
Speaker:I love that she learns this first before she learns that she will
Speaker:be the mother of the son of God.
Speaker:She learns that she is seen by God and that she is favored.
Speaker:So if you look in the.
Speaker:. He comes to her, the virgin's name is Mary in 27, and then in 28 the angel says, hail
Speaker:thou art highly favored, and the Lord is with the blessed out thou among women.
Speaker:I picture Mary as someone who.
Speaker:Has a lot of spiritual gifts.
Speaker:Uh, we don't know this about her.
Speaker:We don't have a lot of verses about Mary in general, but we know she
Speaker:has chosen to be the mother of the son of God, and that would make her
Speaker:a pretty elect spirit generally.
Speaker:And I wonder if she, you know, she is a Hebrew girl,
Speaker:which means she would grow up.
Speaker:All of her life learning that there would be a Messiah who would come, and
Speaker:they even knew that he would come from their tribe, from the tribe of Judah.
Speaker:So she would've gone and learned from her parents, her mom and her
Speaker:grandma, that somebody was gonna have this child at some point in time.
Speaker:And I wonder if every girl, in fact, I read a book from Camille Frank Olson
Speaker:that talked about that every Jewish girl, especially of this tribe, would
Speaker:probably have grown up hoping that they could play a part in that miracle.
Speaker:And I wonder if Mary's there in that situation because when the angel comes,
Speaker:I don't see her as afraid as much as I see her eager . Let me explain why.
Speaker:So when you go on the verses, you'll see that the, he says that she is blessed
Speaker:among women, blessed art thou among women.
Speaker:What I love about this piece of Gabriel's prophecy towards
Speaker:her is he basically says to.
Speaker:Before he mentions the savior at all, or that she will be the mother of the
Speaker:son of God, that she herself is valued and seen by God that he is with her.
Speaker:At this point in time, he has always been with her.
Speaker:And then you can see how, so if you look a little further, it says that
Speaker:she's troubled cuz she doesn't know that the, another word for that or another
Speaker:translation of that is, startled.
Speaker:She's startled.
Speaker:So remember, she's not in a holy place.
Speaker:She doesn't, and there's really no precedent for people in the
Speaker:Bible for angels coming to women.
Speaker:In fact, only two times in the history of the Bible doesn't angel speak to women.
Speaker:So there's no precedent for this, as opposed to Zacharias.
Speaker:There's a lot of precedent for his situation.
Speaker:Her's is unique and so she's startled to buy it and he says, fear not Mary
Speaker:for thou has found favor with God.
Speaker:I love this cuz basically what we understand about Mary,
Speaker:she's pretty young, right?
Speaker:She would be, most scholars that I read said somewhere between
Speaker:like 15 and 17, somewhere in that range, possibly even younger.
Speaker:So she hasn't had a lot of time to be a devoted disciple of God.
Speaker:You know, she's young the same way Joseph Smith was young and
Speaker:the Stripling warriors were young.
Speaker:But what I think this says about Mary is.
Speaker:. She is someone who was favored by God before she ever even got here.
Speaker:She is someone who's proven herself in the premortal world because
Speaker:she hasn't had enough time to, to establish herself in this one.
Speaker:So there must be more to her story.
Speaker:There's another quote from Elder Talmage in Jesus, the Christ about Mary and
Speaker:how she must have been an elect spirit in order to be chosen for this role.
Speaker:She like the way we talk about Eve in the Premortal world.
Speaker:Mary is someone who.
Speaker:remarkable.
Speaker:And so I think you see a little bit that I think this is what I feel like
Speaker:my job is as a parent is basically to open up the view of my kids so that
Speaker:they don't just see themselves in this limited mortal space, that they see
Speaker:that they are a person who existed long before they were born into this world,
Speaker:and who will continue long after it.
Speaker:They are bigger than what this mortal body and mortal experience feels like.
Speaker:And I feel like that's what Gabriel is trying to say to Mary,
Speaker:you are so much bigger than just this little girl from Nazareth.
Speaker:You have such a great work to do.
Speaker:So he goes on and he shows her how.
Speaker:And her response to this is how , kinda like we talked about last time, I really
Speaker:think this is a logistical question.
Speaker:She's not doubting that it can happen.
Speaker:She believes prophecy.
Speaker:She believes that these scriptural promises can be fulfilled.
Speaker:She just isn't an how, cuz she's a virgin and she's espoused but not married and she
Speaker:doesn't see how that's gonna be possible.
Speaker:And so the angel answers her.
Speaker:It can seem unfair that Zacharias gets nine months.
Speaker:You know, quiet when he asks.
Speaker:Basically the same kind of question.
Speaker:But Mary's I feel like is a little bit different.
Speaker:I also think Mary's situation is different.
Speaker:You know, we learn from the doctrine and covenants that, you know,
Speaker:great responsibility comes when you've been given great blessings.
Speaker:And Mary's situation and Zechariah's situation are pretty different.
Speaker:They're what the Lord expects them to understand and to.
Speaker:would be different.
Speaker:Uh, so the, the angel's a little more patient with Mary and teaches her and
Speaker:explains that she will have this son, that he will be the son of God, that he
Speaker:will be Mary's biological son, and God the father's biological son, and that
Speaker:there will be no mortal man involved.
Speaker:And that's critical for our doctrine cuz it's not taught
Speaker:that way in every other doctrine.
Speaker:So it's critical to understand and teach your kids this week that we
Speaker:believe that Jesus Christ is the literal son of Mary and God the Father.
Speaker:And you can go in the notes and see a lot of prophetic quotes about it,
Speaker:but this is unprecedented, right?
Speaker:It's never happened before.
Speaker:And Mary who's facing a miracle that is bigger than any miracle that anyone has
Speaker:ever known says, okay, and I, I just.
Speaker:Find that remarkable.
Speaker:I really think that Mary is the product of home centered learning.
Speaker:She didn't get to go study in, you know, the, the schools she, she would've been
Speaker:taught at home about prophecy and about scripture, and she believes the same way.
Speaker:The stippling warriors in a similar spot who were facing ridiculous uncertainty
Speaker:in a battlefield, say, I don't doubt it.
Speaker:My mother knew it.
Speaker:And so they go forward and that's what Mary does, be it
Speaker:unto me according to thy word.
Speaker:I don't see this as a passive.
Speaker:Okay, let it all come.
Speaker:I read this as eager.
Speaker:I see her as someone who probably always felt like she was something special or
Speaker:that she had something to do for the Lord, but in her circumstances couldn't
Speaker:figure out how she could be that person.
Speaker:And now, Lights are going off.
Speaker:I, this is how I feel about Mary.
Speaker:I don't think she's just this quiet, passive person.
Speaker:I think she is someone who knows who she is and wants to, wants to plumb the
Speaker:depths of what the Lord sees in her.
Speaker:I see her as like this eager person who wants to fulfill.
Speaker:So when she says, be it unto me, it's like, okay, let's go.
Speaker:She is a strong woman in my mind, even at this young.
Speaker:. And so she's excited and the first thing she wants to do is go, because
Speaker:basically what the Angel Gabriel teaches her is that almost as a witness of,
Speaker:I know it's crazy to believe that God can do impossible things, but let me
Speaker:tell you about your relative Elizabeth.
Speaker:And so he teaches her about Elizabeth and this other birth, this happened when
Speaker:Elizabeth is so old and well past the time when anyone would've expected it.
Speaker:And so of course, the first thing Mary wants to do as soon as
Speaker:she learns about her role is to say, I want to go see my cousin.
Speaker:So that's what happens next.
Speaker:this journey to go see Elizabeth is a long one.
Speaker:It would've taken five days to get there, roughly.
Speaker:This is a a hundred mile journey.
Speaker:That's how excited she is.
Speaker:And again, I wonder if sometimes it's because she couldn't
Speaker:explain this to anyone else.
Speaker:She couldn't tell anyone else what had happened, but I wonder if she hopes
Speaker:that Elizabeth will know, or maybe she just wants to rejoice with someone else.
Speaker:Understands miracles the way Mary does.
Speaker:All of a sudden.
Speaker:So she goes, and what is powerful about the interchange between
Speaker:them is there are so few words.
Speaker:Mary, when she approaches Elizabeth, in fact, she doesn't
Speaker:even say she sees her yet.
Speaker:She just calls out to her and the babe leaps in Elizabeth's womb and
Speaker:she is filled with the Holy Ghost.
Speaker:Sometimes we just focus on that babe leaping.
Speaker:You know that John the Baptist in his baby form is leaping because of the presence.
Speaker:The mother of the son of God that is at this point carrying Jesus, but
Speaker:probably not showing in any way yet.
Speaker:And so there is this rejoicing that happens, but for me, the more powerful
Speaker:part happens at the end of 41 when it says Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.
Speaker:Because somehow in that moment of being filled with the Holy Ghost, she
Speaker:knows she can wrap her head around a miracle that has never been done before.
Speaker:Because when Mary comes, she recognizes her and.
Speaker:Basically, you are the mother of the son of God.
Speaker:You're the mother of my savior, and why are you coming to me
Speaker:You know, like I should be coming to you.
Speaker:And it's just how would she know that Mary hasn't said it.
Speaker:I don't know if she learned it in prayer before Mary got there,
Speaker:but you know, I really think it's because she's full of the Holy Ghost.
Speaker:Because some kind of teaching, some kind of doctrine simply
Speaker:can't be taught in any other way.
Speaker:But when you are full of the Holy Ghost, Understanding and light can
Speaker:pour in, and so Elizabeth understands and they just rejoice together.
Speaker:In fact, I love hearing them talk back and forth.
Speaker:Remember, they are so different.
Speaker:Mary's probably 16, 17, I don't know how old Elizabeth is, but
Speaker:she's gotta be, at least in her sixties, probably maybe even older.
Speaker:So they have very few things in common, and because of their love of
Speaker:prophecy and scripture and fulfillment and miracles, they find a way.
Speaker:Unite.
Speaker:Their hearts knit together in this moment, and they rejoice.
Speaker:And so there is happiness.
Speaker:Vic.
Speaker:Luke 46.
Speaker:This is where the Magnific hot begins.
Speaker:You know Mary's song of Praise, it sounds a lot like Hannah's Song
Speaker:of Praise when she finds she's gonna have this chosen son, and
Speaker:there's a lot of similarities to it.
Speaker:But what I love about it is this, this.
Speaker:I don't know this jubilance to it.
Speaker:Mary is not she.
Speaker:She has had a few days, at least, at least in the course of this journey, to think
Speaker:about the ramifications of her choice to let this happen , and she's not afraid.
Speaker:For me.
Speaker:I think if I was in this situation after five days of.
Speaker:Travel.
Speaker:I would be thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong and
Speaker:how I'm not good enough for this.
Speaker:And you know, but that's not Mary.
Speaker:Her character is one of like, okay, let's do this.
Speaker:And so she's excited and she prophesized and teaches
Speaker:Elizabeth, and so they rejoice.
Speaker:She talks about the great things that have done unto her.
Speaker:We don't know how this happened.
Speaker:We don't know how the conception happened.
Speaker:There is no record of it.
Speaker:And I think that's, There's reverence to that event and Mary keeps that in her
Speaker:heart, but she does rejoice about the great things that have been done unto her.
Speaker:In fact, you go on the verses and she starts to sound like prophets.
Speaker:She says that he has showed strength in his arm.
Speaker:He'd scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart.
Speaker:He put down the mighty, and he exalted them of low degree like she is a living
Speaker:witness like she is a living witness studied these words in scripture all
Speaker:her life or heard them at least now she is evidence of it cuz she is someone
Speaker:of low degree and was brought up.
Speaker:She's been exalted and you almost start to feel like you're
Speaker:reading this sermon on the mount.
Speaker:You know it's got those same echoes.
Speaker:And again, I think Mary is the teacher of Jesus.
Speaker:She would be the one who would teach him all of his young years.
Speaker:And so when you get Mary's testimony and Joseph's testimony,
Speaker:The divine nature of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:You start to see how he becomes the savior that Luke will write
Speaker:about, this compassionate savior who loves the meek and loves the
Speaker:poor, and seeks after the sinner.
Speaker:And the, you know, like you can see how his, how Mary and Joseph's
Speaker:testimonies combined to create something beautiful in this sun that they raised.
Speaker:So you hear her promises about that.
Speaker:I also love that she ties in the Abrahamic covenant.
Speaker:Mary must be a scholar of scripture even at her young age, or at least she
Speaker:was taught it well, cuz she understands that he is this fulfillment of prophecy.
Speaker:That all those promises that Abraham received, that his covenant people,
Speaker:that God remembers, his covenant people, Mary's miracle is the fulfillment of that.
Speaker:And she rejoices in.
Speaker:, the verses teach that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for the last
Speaker:three months of her pregnancy.
Speaker:In fact, most of the scholars I read said you shouldn't really take
Speaker:the verses in chronological order.
Speaker:It says that Mary left to go back home and it makes it seem like she
Speaker:left right before the birth of John.
Speaker:But most scholars I read think that's not likely, and that Elizabeth was probably a
Speaker:bit of a mothering mentor for Mary, so she could see this process play out in front
Speaker:of her and get some help along the way.
Speaker:But I loved thinking.
Speaker:What those three months must have been like.
Speaker:You know, can you imagine like they're together in house, the mother who will
Speaker:be the son of God who is 16, and the one who will be the forerunners mother,
Speaker:who is probably in her sixties or seventies, and they are bonding together.
Speaker:And I thought if we were women in the first century, what would you do?
Speaker:And it's the same thing we do now.
Speaker:Like if you get me together with my sisters or my mom,
Speaker:What would, what would we do?
Speaker:We would study, we would pray, we would rejoice, we'd sing, we'd
Speaker:craft, we'd, you know, like I think that's what women have always done.
Speaker:And so I loved.
Speaker:Visualizing this, like they know that they're a fulfillment of prophecy.
Speaker:So I bet they studied like crazy.
Speaker:I bet they prayed together.
Speaker:I bet they created beautiful things for their babies.
Speaker:Maybe even things that were similar, you know, like they are bonded.
Speaker:And I just loved envisioning those three months and thinking about how
Speaker:I could treat my own relationships, both with my relief society
Speaker:sisters and my actual sisters.
Speaker:in more of this kind of way.
Speaker:How could we, how could we bond like Mary and Elizabeth must have done?
Speaker:I also think it must have had an impact on Zacharias because how do you live
Speaker:in a house for three months with Mary and Elizabeth who have this miracle
Speaker:happening and not have it rub off on you?
Speaker:In addition to that, he doesn't have his voice for those nine months, so he
Speaker:listened a lot and I think you can see.
Speaker:How that plays out for him.
Speaker:I think Zacharias is a remarkable man.
Speaker:I, he had a moment where he wasn't as strong as he could have been
Speaker:in that holy place in the temple.
Speaker:But everything after the, we learn about Zacharias is he's doing great.
Speaker:So I feel like we can't define him by that one moment in the temple.
Speaker:You have to let the rest of his story play out.
Speaker:Same way, you know, if, if God is the author and finisher of my faith,
Speaker:there are sometimes when I don't follow the course exactly like I
Speaker:could have, but things get rewritten.
Speaker:So was Zechariah when his son is born, there is this opportunity to declare.
Speaker:So Elizabeth is pretty clear.
Speaker:She says to the people, no, his name needs to be John.
Speaker:This is eight days after his birth and when they come to circumcise
Speaker:the baby and to give him a name.
Speaker:And they have choices right at this point in time, he, he could
Speaker:choose any number of names.
Speaker:He could choose to name this child after himself, but I think the last
Speaker:nine months of quiet and maybe even the last eight days, cuz for me, if I
Speaker:were Zacharias and even Elizabeth, I would've assumed that as soon as the
Speaker:baby John was born, That I would have my voice back , you know, that that would
Speaker:be the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Speaker:So I wonder if those eight days between John's birth and the circumcision day
Speaker:were a little scary, you know, if they wondered how they were supposed to show.
Speaker:That they really believed and this day is their chance to do it.
Speaker:So basically in this moment, Zechariah says to the people,
Speaker:his name shall be John.
Speaker:He has to write it on the board cuz he can't speak at this point, but as soon as
Speaker:he does, he makes that place a holy place.
Speaker:Elder Worthen or President Worthen, the BYU President talked about about
Speaker:this, it's, it's a talk that's had a big impact on me over the last few years.
Speaker:We are always invited to stand in holy places, but we are also invited to
Speaker:make the places in which we stand holy.
Speaker:And I feel like that's what Zacharias did.
Speaker:He took this spot where he could have chosen a bunch of
Speaker:different options and instead he said, no, his name will be John.
Speaker:And when he writes that phrase, his mouth is opened cuz now the Lord.
Speaker:Knows his heart.
Speaker:Now that he's proven his faith in this moment, he probably
Speaker:sells all the same fears.
Speaker:He's still an older man who's trying to raise a prophet that
Speaker:hasn't been done for four centuries.
Speaker:He has no one to turn to for advice on how to raise a prophet,
Speaker:but he's like, okay, bring it on.
Speaker:I'm gonna, I'm gonna do my best.
Speaker:And so he names him John, and his voice is open and he praises God for me.
Speaker:When I picture this moment with Zechariah where he can finally speak, I almost
Speaker:picture it like, , you know, the Jaredites when they were in barges for a year
Speaker:and then they get to the shore and they go out on the beach and they all just
Speaker:kneel down and pray, and all they wanna do is praise God for the promised land.
Speaker:I always picture myself in that moment, like I would've been so relieved to
Speaker:be off the boat that I can't imagine I would've knelt down and pray.
Speaker:But I think when you're in this, he's basically in a barge of silence
Speaker:for nine months and he's had a lot of time to think about what,
Speaker:how he will act in this moment.
Speaker:And so he praises.
Speaker:, that's what he does for all the rest of the verses.
Speaker:He praises God and he gives his son this beautiful blessing.
Speaker:It's almost like a baby blessing cuz that's basically what he offers, is
Speaker:he, he talks about who John will be.
Speaker:It's, it's like a combination of a baby blessing and a patriarch blessing in one.
Speaker:In fact, if you look in the doctrine covenants, you learn that this same day
Speaker:John is actually ordained by an angel.
Speaker:So it's, it's not in the New Testament, but at some point an,
Speaker:an angel comes and sets him apart for this great work that he.
Speaker:And I just love the way Zechariah phrases it.
Speaker:I feel like you feel his heart.
Speaker:He is someone who has come full circle and is fully in the camp of this.
Speaker:Let's do this.
Speaker:I'm I'm on board because the way he speaks.
Speaker:So he says that his son will prepare people for the face of the Lord.
Speaker:That he will give knowledge to people, that he will help them, this is around
Speaker:77, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of.
Speaker:John's whole big job is to prepare the way for the savior and to
Speaker:baptize so the remission of sins piece is critical for him.
Speaker:He will help people get a fresh start so they're ready to be disciples of
Speaker:Christ and that he will be a light, that he will be a light to those who
Speaker:are in shadow in the shadow of death, that he will guide people to peace.
Speaker:I think he's sp speaking about John, but he is also speaking about
Speaker:what the Savior himself will do and that he will be this gift to the.
Speaker:And the weight of that knowledge As a parent, I mean, I mean, we
Speaker:all know our kids are of a chosen generation and they were sent here at
Speaker:this time to do a specific work and what I read and studied this week.
Speaker:Kind of brought some gravity to that statement.
Speaker:For me, I am like Zacharias and Elizabeth and Mary and Joseph, they
Speaker:were all sent to do the work of raising this next generation to do the
Speaker:work that they were supposed to do.
Speaker:And that's the same weight that's on us, that we are the parents of
Speaker:a chosen generation and we need to step up and prepare and be
Speaker:humble enough to say, I don't know what I'm doing, but I know you do
Speaker:And that's the message I got from all four of.
Speaker:Miraculous parents.
Speaker:I hope you get it to you.
Speaker:Welcome back everybody.
Speaker:This is the creative side of week one, and I've got three object
Speaker:lessons for you to work with with your kids to help them understand this
Speaker:doctrine just a little bit better.
Speaker:So I'm gonna give you a quick preview here, and then for those of you in the
Speaker:chorus, I'll take you through each one and walk through how to pull it off.
Speaker:But your first one is simple.
Speaker:Just to begin this book, this year of study in the New Testament
Speaker:by understanding how the New Testament is even organized.
Speaker:But it sounds kind of boring to approach it like normally.
Speaker:So I thought it would be fun if we make some games.
Speaker:So on the printables this week, you're gonna find labels that are
Speaker:all the books of the New Testament that you can put on styrofoam cups.
Speaker:And then I'll teach you many games that you can play to help your kids
Speaker:learn the books of the New Testament.
Speaker:Learn the different categories and understand how to apply them.
Speaker:So that's your first one.
Speaker:The second one is all about goals, because if you haven't scratched off your
Speaker:sticker for this week, it's goals week on the chart, which means once a quarter.
Speaker:I'm hoping to give you a chance to check in with your kids about
Speaker:how they're doing on their goals.
Speaker:I really love how this week we learn from John about how he waxed strong.
Speaker:Same way the savior had to grow in wisdom and knowledge We, our
Speaker:kids have to do that same process.
Speaker:They have to grow a little bit of a time.
Speaker:And the way the church helps us do that is through the children and youth program.
Speaker:So my hope here is that I can give you the tools and just the reminder to check in
Speaker:with your kids and set up some structures.
Speaker:So I'll walk you through how to pull that off in the object lessons.
Speaker:Third one is a little more adventurous.
Speaker:this one involves fire because I just, I have found that my kids
Speaker:really love fire object lessons.
Speaker:So we've incorporated a lot of those into the last three years, and I
Speaker:wanted to kick this year off, right?
Speaker:So we're gonna talk about magnifying the Lord, and we'll do it by starting
Speaker:a fire with the magnifying glass.
Speaker:And I'll explain why in just a minute.
Speaker:But you're just gonna need a good solid magnifying glass.
Speaker:And then, The printable that you can burn through, uh, just a piece
Speaker:of card stock and some tape and scissors, and you'll be good to go.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:That's your supplies list.
Speaker:Let's get into the details.
Speaker:Thanks for joining me for week one.
Speaker:You guys, it's gonna be a really good year, can't you tell?
Speaker:Okay, so I hope you enjoy your week of study.
Speaker:If you wanna pop in with me on Instagram, that's I do a live Mondays at 10:00
Speaker:AM Mountain Time, that's where you can come on and catch some of the insights.
Speaker:I didn't remember to put the videos or answer questions or just chat
Speaker:with you about the object lessons.
Speaker:You can see all of that on the Instagram live at 10.
Speaker:If you can't catch it live, then you can always see it in my feed.
Speaker:It'll stay there for about a week, and so you can catch it anytime there.
Speaker:In addition, those of you who are in the course, if you want to add your
Speaker:questions to the discussion boards, that's a really quick way to get my attention.
Speaker:So I'll try and answer those as quickly as I can.
Speaker:Um, also if you want to, you can find me in podcast form.
Speaker:So I know some of you are new to the course this year, and if you're
Speaker:not familiar, Public podcast that just has all the creative insights.
Speaker:You can find that on YouTube too.
Speaker:And then there is a private podcast that's for the subscribers that has
Speaker:all the insights, all the creative, and the links out to all the notes.
Speaker:So if that's an easier way for you to consume the content, just come reach
Speaker:out to me via email or on the discussion boards that I will send you your
Speaker:private link and get you all hooked up.
Speaker:But otherwise, enjoy this first week of deep study in the gospels and
Speaker:get yourself ready for week two, cuz I promise you're gonna love it.
