Jesus the Christ - Chapters 15-16

     I am going to begin by looking at Chapter 16 - "The Chosen Twelve". This chapter gives us insight into the calling of the 12 that served with the Savior in Jerusalem and a greater appreciation for those men who are called as special witnesses right now. One of the first things that we are told is that the Savior spent the night before their calling in solitary prayer and then called his disciples up and from among them he chose his twelve apostles. Though seven of them had received the call to "Come, follow me", until that day they had not been "ordained or set apart to their sacred office". Elder Talmage then introduces us to each member of the quorum and gives us insight into their character - as far as we know. 
     A couple of points - We know that Peter was "impulsive and stern…had many human weaknesses, yet in spite of them all he..overcame…and served his Lord…". Can we be inspired to overcome our frailties and become what the Lord expects of us? We learn of the importance of the connection with Peter, James and John - the events to which they alone were witness and their importance in this dispensation of "the restoration of the Holy Apostleship with all its ancient authority and power of blessing". The apostles were ordinary men called to a calling "at once exalted and specific, comprising as a distinguishing function that of personal and special witness to the divinity of Jesus Christ as the one and only Redeemer and Savior of mankind." I read those words and the warmth of the Spirit affected me the same way it does in General Conference when one of the brethren looks into my eyes and proclaims his calling as as an especial witness of the Savior. It is the same calling today as it was on that day when the Savior called His twelve to serve with Him!
     Chapter 15,  "The Lord of the Sabbath" had a far more personal effect on me than some of the other chapters in my reading thus far. One of the first things in this chapter is the observation that Israelites are distinguish from other peoples, "for the holiness of the Sabbath was made a mark of the covenant between the chosen people and their God"
     Sabbath keeping as a "mark of the covenant" is a sobering thought. In the Bible Dictionary we learn that, "The importance of a sacred day for man to rest from his temporal labors, contemplate the word of the Lord, and assemble for public worship is a major item in a person’s spiritual development. Furthermore, a decay in the national religious life always follows any tendency toward carelessness in the matter of Sabbath observance. (italics added) The existence of a weekly holy day is a most important safeguard; it leaves a constant reminder to the individual of his need for spiritual sustenance and his duty before God, and serves as a witness to the world that there is such a thing as revealed religion." (Bible Dictionary, Sabbath)
     This most important commandment brought the Savior to the attention of the Pharisees, for they criticized the Lord for His inappropriate Sabbath activities! As Brother Talmage gives us a brief history of the Sabbath (I loved the explanation of the more expanded view of the Sabbath - every 7 years the land was rested, the jubilee year where you lived off what had been accumulated in the prior 50 years during seasons of plenty, including redemption from mortgage and bond and debt - cool!) we are reminded  that "The Sabbaths established by the Lord, whether of days of years, or of weeks of years, were to be times of refreshing, relief, blessing, bounty, and worship." Is that the Sabbath that we live? We are also reminded that long before the Savior came, the Sabbath had been reduced to a list of rules - "smothered under the weight of rabbinical injunction".  In contrast, the Savior affirms that He "was the being through whom the Sabbath had been ordained" and that "it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days".
     As I thought about this chapter, I was aware of how easy it is to get caught up in our lists of do's and don'ts for Sabbath observance instead of focusing on our Sabbath being a mark of the covenants that we have made with Him. Sisters, I hope we can all truly see the sabbath as a day of "refreshing, relief, blessing, bounty, and worship" and that we remember our covenants and whose day it truly is.


Janice Rampton