Parables Taught by Jesus Christ

Luke 16:1-12
The parable of the unjust steward:
I really struggled understanding what this parable was meaning. The conclusion I have come to, and what I feel the Savior is trying to teach here is that it is important to keep your word. It is important to be prepared and be honest in all thy doings because you don't know what is going to happen, you don't know when the end is coming and you need to be prepared for when you stand at that judgement bar. This steward got lucky and was able to cover up his tracks right before his master inquired of him but that is not going to be the case for us all the time. Do not procrastinate.

Luke 16:19-31
The parable of the rich man and Lazerus:
The principles found in this parable are to listen to the words of the prophets on earth. Also to share your wealth and serve the sick and afflicted.

Luke 17:11-19
The ten lepers:
The story of the ten lepers is pretty well known. Ten lepers came to Jesus begging for mercy. Christ shewed them to the priest to be healed and all were cleansed but only one of them turned back and gave the glory to God, and he was a Samaritan. The principles we can learn from this is Heavenly Father accepts all men and you don't have to have authority to be a Samaritan and to be accepted by the Lord. I think what is bigger is that it is a reminder to give thanks to Heavenly Father for the many blessings he gives us. How often are we given these incredible blessings and we don't even give thanks? We just continue on our way as if we deserve it.

Luke 18:1-8
The parable of the unjust judge:
The principle of this parable is to pray always and not to faint. The unjust judge was not a God-fearing man and because of that did very wicked things and did many people wrong.

Luke 18:9-14
The parable of the Pharisee and the publican:
This parable was not addressed specifically to the Pharisee's or publicans but rather just used their classes because they are so opposite. This parable teaches to all men that they cannot rely on their self-righteousness over God. You need to humble yourselves and stop comparing to others and stop judging.

Becoming as Little Children

Matthew 18:1-14
D&C 78:17-18

These scriptures talk about the importance of becoming as a little child to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. We are like little children ourselves if we take upon the name of Christ. In D&C 78:17-18 we are enlightened by the words in those versus that say "17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; 18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours." Heavenly Father is telling us that we don't need to worry. If we are doing what we are suppose to be doing He will make up the rest. I especially like the part that says "and ye cannot bear all things now" our Father in Heaven is aware of our circumstances and is aware of what we are capable of doing. 

Mosiah 3:19

So how do we become little children?

In this verse it teaches us that we must become:

• submissive
• 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. 

 

John the Baptist

Matthew 11:1-19
Luke 7:18-35
      John the Baptist sent two disciples to Christ and asked him two questions:
1. Art thou he that should come?
2. Or look we for another?
Upon asking these questions our Savior cured them of their infirmities and did perform many miracles then told them to go on their way and tell John the Baptist of the things they did see and hear.
If I had been with those two men I can't help to think of the things I would go and tell John the Baptist.
If I had been there and witnessed Christ heal the sick and cast out devils and cure my own infirmities there is no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't go and tell John that He is the Christ, the one that the world has been looking for. I would tell him that we do not need to look any further and I would tell John the Baptist that if he doesn't or can't believe that for himself then to go to Jesus and find out for himself.
  It seems confusing why John would send his disciples to Jesus and ask those certain questions because we know that just a few months prior to this when John baptized Jesus the heavens opened and John saw and heard that Jesus is the Christ. He heard Heavenly Father's voice testify that Jesus is His son. So why was John curious? Did John struggle believing Jesus' true identity?
    No.
   John had many disciples that believed that John was the Messiah. He had been working so hard to persuade his followers that he was not the one and that they should follow Christ so John the Baptist sent them to Christ to help them find out for themselves. (Funny because I said I would tell John the Baptist do the same thing). I don't think it is any different now than it was for those men then. If we have infirmities we shouldn't go to everyone around us, we would go to the Savior himself to find out the truth.
    Jesus said there is no greater prophet than John the Baptist. I believe John to be the greatest prophet of the Lord and Savior because of the many things he did on this earth to prepare the way for Jesus. It says all over the New Testament that he was sent to prepare the way. John the Baptist also had the privilege and glory to baptize the Savior and I am sure he felt it should be the other way around. That the Savior should be baptizing him. I also think what made John stand out is his loyalty to Christ. Christ prophesied himself that there is no greater prophet than John the Baptist (Luke 7:28). Like I mentioned before John had many disciples that believed he was the Messiah and John did not allow them to follow him. He did all that he could to help his men believe that Christ is the Messiah.
     In John 3:30 it says "He must increase, but I must decrease." This is John the Baptist speaking of the savior. This is another testament that John understood the divinity of Jesus Christ and his mission here on earth. John knew that he needed to do all that he could to make the people that believed him to be the Messiah to realize the truth that Jesus is the Messiah. I think that statement can run deeper than that though. The thoughts I had while reading that and pondering how we could apply that attitude in our own lives is obviously not to have to convince others that we are the Savior but to think of it in the sense that we are spirits in a body that has the tendencies to do evil or in other words we are constantly fighting the natural man. I believe that if we were all to take this attitude upon us and to stop thinking so much about what we want or what we think is the best for us and to increase God in our lives. The Spirit cannot reside in unholy temples so if we have unresolved sins we will have some trouble increasing God in our lives. I know that as we "increase" God in our lives we will be so much happier.

The Premortal and Mortal Savior

John 1:1-14 and John 17:1-5


Five truths from the Saviors premortal life found in John chapter 1 are

1. In John 1:3 it says "All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made." This means to me that there is absolutely nothing in this world that didn't come from God.
2. In John 1:4 it says "In him was life; and the life was the light of men." To me this means that light comes from our Savior. The light of Christ is in men and I believe that we all have the light of Christ in each of us.
3. John 1:5 says "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." 
4. John 1:9-10 says "9....the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 10. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." At the beginning of verse 9 light is capitalized because it is referring to Jesus Christ. The footnotes in my LDS standard works (which contains The King James version of the Holy Bible, The Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price. It also contains a Topical Guide and a Bible Dictionary) refers you to the topical guide to look up intelligence, Jesus Christ, Light of the world, and light of Christ. 
5. John 1:13-14 talks about how Christ did not come into this world from flesh or from man but from God. 

Five Truths from Jesus Christ's Mortal life - John 17:1-5

1. In John 17:1 it talks about how the Savior is praying to Heavenly Father and says "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son. that thy Son also may glorify thee." This shows that Christ spent his time on earth not glorifying himself but to glorify our Father in Heaven.
2. In verse 2 we learn that the Savior wants to and will give eternal life to "as many as thou hast given him"
3. Verse 3 talks about how we may know our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ as the only true God and that Heavenly Father sent his Son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins.
4. in verse 4 Christ has finished the work that He was sent to earth to do.
5. in verse 5 Christ asks Heavenly Father to glorify Him with the same glory as Christ had "before the world was."