1 Nephi 11:32

[HoosierGuy]

1 Nephi 11:32

28 And I beheld that he went forth ministering unto the people, in power and great glory; and the multitudes were gathered together to hear him; and I beheld that they cast him out from among them.

29 And I also beheld twelve others following him. And it came to pass that they were carried away in the Spirit from before my face, and I saw them not.

30 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the heavens open again, and I saw angels descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them.

31 And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men. And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.

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32 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record.

QUOTES FOR DISCUSSION

What a bitter irony this was! He to whom all judgment has been committed (John <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://www.lds.net/forums/ /><st1:time Hour=5:28</st1:time>)…would be judged and condemned by a wicked people.
Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary, 1:83<O:p</O:p

[Hemidakota]

Looking at verse 31, healed by the power of the Lamb of God. Nephi now sees Jesus as the great Physician, surrounded by multitudes who were afflicted with all manner of diseases. "And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God."

According to the Scriptures, God has in all ages manifested his power by means of miraculous healing. David sings:

"Bless the Lord, O my soul;

and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits:

"Who forgiveth all thy iniquities;

who healeth all thy diseases;

"Who redeemeth thy life from destruction,

who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and mercies."(Ps. 103:1-4)

Here, the forgiveness of sins, the healing of infirmities, and the redemption of life itself from destruction are said to be the "benefits" which God confers upon his children.

Our Lord began his ministry on earth by preaching and healing (Mark 1:21-3:11). And when, on one occasion, some officers (scribes) charged him with blasphemy, because he said to one afflicted with palsy, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee," he refuted the charge by asking them "whether it is easier to say to the sick person, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed and walk." When no one answered, he continued, "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of palsy), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed and go thy way into thy house." (Mark 2:6-11) The power to heal the sick was the evidence of the authority to forgive sins. The apostles were endowed with the same power. (Mark 3:14, 15) And so were the Seventy. (Luke 10:1-9, 17)

Furthermore, power to heal is one of the spiritual gifts promised to those who believe. (I Cor. 12:28-31; Acts 5:12-15)

The Biblical miracles have been the subject of controversy among students of theology. Nature study, in the opinion of many, has seemed to justify the conclusion that the so-called laws of nature are absolutely unchangeable, and that a miracle in defiance of any such law is an impossibility.

The obvious reply to this view is that no one knows all the laws of nature, and that a miracle may be as much in accordance with some law of nature as the most common occurrence. In other words, healing by faith, or by the power of the priesthood, may be as scientifically possible as cure by any of the remedies known to materia medica. Leibnitz, for one, is an exponent of this view.

The laws of nature are unchangeable. That is to say, as far as we know, a given cause always has the same effect. If it were not so, rational beings would have no incentive to effort, since effects could not be calculated from cause. You might sow, but there would be no reason to expect a harvest. You might build, but would your building stand the next day? Possibly. Possibly not, if there is no link between cause and effect. The world would then be chaos.

But, if God sees fit, in any particular case, to deviate from the uniformity which we call natural law, he certainly has the power to do so, whether with or without any human instrumentality, and then we have a miracle. "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places." (Ps. 135:6) "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." (Ps. 115:3) That is the only rational explanation of the miracles, ever offered.

The devils and the unclean spirits were cast out. Attention is called to the fact that the Jewish people, at the time of the beginning of our era, suffered oppression under a foreign government. Nature added calamities to the trying situation. An earthquake is mentioned, in which 30,000 people perished. Hostile Arabs made incursions from time to time. Scarcity of food and diseases went hand in hand. The whole country, and particularly Galilee, had an unusual number of sick persons. Many were epileptics; others suffered from mental disorders. Even educated persons at that time regarded epilepsy and insanity as "possession." The sufferer, it was thought, had a demon, an unclean spirit, and sometimes several such spirits in his body, besides his own. The disciples of our Lord, who wrote the New Testament, believed in the terrible reality of "possession." And so did our Lord, himself.

Let us consider one instance. It happened in the synagogue at Capernaum. A pitiable sufferer, who had "a spirit of an unclean demon" (literal translation), had managed to enter the house of worship with the multitude. The very presence of Jesus seemed to be a torment to the spirit, for he cried with a loud voice, and demanded not to be destroyed. Jesus, rebuked him and commanded him to leave the sufferer. Immediately the latter fell into a paroxysm which must have been fearful to witness, but as soon as it was over, the patient arose, unharmed and cured. Whereupon the people were amazed and said to each other, "What a word is this! For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out." Here was no sorcery, no incantations, no herbs with magic power. Here was, clearly, divine authority. And the fame of him went out ... round about. (Mark 1:23-27; Luke 4:33-37) There can be no doubt that both our Lord and the people generally regarded this as a reality.

In all probability, popular opinion went too far at times, in attributing all cases of certain maladies to the direct interference of the devil and his servants. But it is equally probable that the so-called scientific view of our day also goes too far, in branding all explanations that accept the reality of spiritual evil forces in connection with diseases, as superstition. That is not scientific. With the Scriptures before us we cannot reject the belief in spirits, good and bad, as a delusion. Furthermore, in the experience of some of our missionaries, cases of "possession" are not entirely unknown in our own age. (D. and C. Commentary, Sec. 76, notes; see also "History of the Scandinavian Mission," Andrew Jenson, pp. 30, 50, 82)

Reference: Commentary on the Book of Mormon v1 (J. Sjodahl)

[Hemidakota]

QUOTES FOR DISCUSSION

What a bitter irony this was! He to whom all judgment has been committed (John <st1:time hour=" border=" 0="" alt="">5:28</st1:time>)…would be judged and condemned by a wicked people.

Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary, 1:83<o></o>

Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary volume 1, wrote this:

What a bitter irony this was! He to whom all judgment has been committed (John 5:28), the "keeper of the gate" (2 Nephi 9:41), would be judged and condemned by a wicked people devoid of the spirit of wise judgment. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that our Lord "descended in suffering below that which man can suffer; or, in other words, suffered greater suffering, and was exposed to more powerful contradictions than any man can be" (Lectures on Faith 5:2). What greater contradiction could there be than for the sinless Son of Man, he who came to save the world from judgment, to be judged guilty by man's meager and myopic standards?

[rameumptom]

This portion of Nephi's vision varies from Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life, but fits in perfectly with Lehi's first vision in 1 Ne 1. It may be that the Lord provided Nephi a double-dose of vision, combining Lehi's two visions in one for him.

The concept of Christ coming down, followed by his apostles (cf Ascension of Isaiah 11) suggests that Lehi, Nephi and Isaiah had similar theophanies/visions.