Jesus' Second Intercessory Prayer

One of the podcasters (Jared  Halverson) compared Jesus' prayer in 3 Nephi 19, to the account of the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26.  In both cases Jesus went a little way off and prayed (Matthew 26:39, 3 Nephi 19:19).  In both cases three times he comes back to check on his followers, then returned to praying. Brother Halverson compares the sleeping apostles in Matthew, to the receptive and attentive disciples of 3 Nephi 19.  

As I read 3 Nephi 19 it reminded me more the the "great intercessory prayer" recorded in John 17. In John 17 the Gospel writer records a prayer that Jesus gives right before going to the Garden.  It is often called the "Great Intercessory Prayer."  They have a lot of phrases and ideas in common.  Here is a list of some.

Jesus prays for those God has given him (3 Nephi 19:20, John 17:6)

Jesus prays for the ones who will believe on their word (3 Nephi 19:23, John 17:20)

Jesus prays for oneness among his disciples (3 Nephi, 19:23, John 17:22)

Jesus prays they may be purified/perfect (3 Nephi 19:29, John 17:23)

The heart-warming thing about comparing these two prayers is that when Jesus prayed in Jerusalem, his disciples didn't really understand.  He gave and showed the Jerusalem saints all that he could, but they were not ready to receive aa fullness. When he came to the Americas, the people who were at the temple at Bountiful were spiritually ready to receive him.  They didn't fall asleep, as the apostles did in Jerusalem. They instead prayed and were purified and shone like Jesus.  As a result, instead of being filled with sorrow, Jesus "did smile upon them" (v. 30).  It was a great experience for both the people at the temple, and for Jesus himself.

Sermon at the Temple

 In this week's chapters, Jesus teaches the people of Bountiful a version of the Sermon on the Mount.  Two of the podcasters I listened to talked about how this sermon can be seen as a temple ordinance.  In modern temple ordinances the participant beholds the creation of the world, the fall, and then progresses through the Telestial and Terrestrial to the Celestial glory where they are admitted into the presence of the Lord. I believe they have convinced me that that is what is happening here. 

The destructions that occur at the time of Jesus' death represent a kind of anti-creation.  Earth is returning to the unordered state it was in in the beginning of the creation. It is becoming "tohu va-vohu" without shape and void (Gen 1:2)  Cities are burned, buried, or drown.  Smooth ground is broken up, and darkness hangs over everything.  Then after the destruction, they hear the voice of the Lord through the darkness, just as in Gen 1:3.  

The time before the destructions represent the Telestial existence.  People, lead by the Gadianton Robbers, were breaking all of the 10 commandments; lying, murdering, steeling, etc. Even government had broken down (3 Nephi 7) and people willfully rebelled against God.  The destructions purify the people of the more wicked elements, and what we have left are the terrestrial people. They were spared because "ye were more righteous than they" (3 Nephi 9:13) but they still have a way to go, since Jesus completes the verse, "will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?"

How are they to do it?  What do they need to do to repent?  The answer comes in the Sermon at the Temple, 3 Nephi 12-15.  They are given the Beatitudes, and then a section of  "Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time... but I say unto you..." and other sayings that are intended to move them from the Terrestrial to a Celestial frame of thought. 

After the sermon, Jesus is about to let them go home and rest, but they beg him to stay, so he goes around healing people. He also gives the 12 Disciples the Melchizedek priesthood.  All of these have modern temple analogs. 

It is not the most obvious correlation, and might be a bit of a stretch, but if we think of the temple ceremony as a symbolic progression from the Telestial to the Celestial, I think we can make an interesting case. Thanks to Jack Welsh and Bryce Dunford for talking about this idea on their podcasts this week.