JOHN THE BAPTIST

“Joseph Smith taught that the Aaronic Priesthood continued without interruption from Aaron to Zacharias: ‘The Levitical Priesthood is forever hereditary, fixed on the head of Aaron and his sons forever and was in active operation down to Zacharias the father of John. Zacharias would have had no child had not God given him a son. He sent his angel to declare unto Zacharias that his wife Elisabeth should bear him a son, whose name was to be called John. The keys of the Aaronic Priesthood were committed unto him’ (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 319).

Had Zacharias not had a son, he would have had no one upon whom to confer the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood. John later had the privilege of conferring those keys on Joseph Smith (D&C 13).

Up to and during the meridian of time, the priesthood was perpetuated by lineage, from father to son. Today conferral of priesthood is determined by personal worthiness rather than lineage.

(Luke 1:6-7) Zacharias and Elisabeth were righteous and kept the commandments and the ordinances. They were old and childless. How hard it must have been for Elisabeth to be the daughter of an Aaronic priest, knowing the premium placed on lineage and yet having no child herself.

(Taken from Verse by Verse, The Four Gospels, page 34, Ogden and Skinner. The next quote is from page 40, of the same book).

Next we look to another miracle birth:

THE SAVIOR

…A note about the Holy Ghost’s role in preparing Mary for the divine Conception. Elder Melvin J. Ballard wrote: ‘And the Holy Ghost came upon her…and she came into the presence of the highest.’ No man or woman can live in mortality and survive the presence of the Highest except by the sustaining power of the Holy Ghost. So it came upon her to prepare her for admittance into the divine presence and the power of the Highest, who is the Father, was present and overshadowed her and the holy Child that was born of her was called the Son of God.

Men who deny this, or who think that it degrades our Father, have no true conception of the sacredness of the most marvelous power with which God has endowed mortal men, the power of creation. Even though that power may be abused and may become a mere harp of pleasure to the wicked, nevertheless it is the most sacred and holy and divine function with which God has endowed man. Made holy, it is retained by the Father of us all and in his exercise of that great and marvelous creative power and function; he did not debase himself, degrade himself, nor debauch his daughter. Thus Christ became the literal Son of a divine Father and no one else was worthy to be his father’ (Sermons and Missionary Services, 167).”

TWO THOUGHTS FROM NOTED AUTHORS

This is from the book, Verse by Verse, The Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, by BYU Professors, Dr. D. Kelly Ogden and Dr. Andrew C. Skinner. The first is from page 27:

“The witness of the Spirit is more powerful and indelible than seeing a messenger from heaven, a truth poignantly illustrated by President Wilford Woodruff:

One of the Apostles said to me years ago, ‘Brother Woodruff, I have prayed for a long time for the Lord to send me the administration of an angel. I have had a great desire for this, but I have never had my prayers answered.’ I said to him that if he were to pray a thousand years to the God of Israel for that gift, it would not be granted, unless the Lord had a motive in sending an angel to him. I told him that the Lord never did nor ever will send an angel to anybody merely to gratify the desire of the individual to see an angel. If the Lord sends an angel to anyone, He sends him to perform a work that can be performed only by the administration of an angel.

Now, I have always said and I want to say it to you, that the Holy Ghost is what every Saint of God needs. It is far more important that a man should have that gift than he should have the ministration of an angel.”

Then from page 36 of the same book:

“The final journey from Jerusalem to the Red Sea was not without the usual friction and even open conflict, between Nephi and his elder brothers. Laman and Lemuel again vented their anger on Nephi to the point of physical violence.

Why didn’t Laman and Lemuel just get up one morning and make the hike back to Jerusalem? Why their incessant efforts to kill Lehi and Nephi and then go back to Jerusalem? Isaiah 53:8 may give us insight by describing why Jesus was crucified: “because he had done no violence (or evil), neither was any deceit in his mouth.”

Few things can stir up anger in the unrighteous as much as confronting the truth. Laman and Lemuel knew that their father and brother were telling the truth and they were angry because of it. They were jealous and envious and proud.

Some of the Jewish leaders had the same problem with Jesus. Nobody welcomed them into the city by throwing down palm fronds in their path. Nobody was being healed by them. There were no great crowds flocking around them to hang on their every word.

Something had to be done about this righteous person who always spoke the truth. They had him crucified. The two oldest sons of Lehi had in their hearts to do likewise: slay their father and brother. (Again, few things can stir up anger in the unrighteous as much as confronting the truth).