31d - Preparations For The Resurrected Jesus Christ's Visit To The Descendants of Lehi

Painting by Harry Anderson Harry Anderson

Matthew 4: 18 ¶ And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

Painting: Harry Anderson

Luke 6: 13 ¶ And when it was day, he called unto him
his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

14 Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,

15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphæus, and Simon called Zelotes,
16 And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

Now you have read that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ progressed perfectly into the time of His ministry. He was baptized by an authorized person, John the Baptist. He then perfectly passed the test of fasting in the wilderness for forty days. While there He did not succumb to Satan's temptations. He then afterwards proceeded by His divine power of discernment to choose those who would serve as His disciples. He also called them, apostles.

You will have noticed that the last apostle listed in the scripture above was Judas Iscariot and that Luke, the author of the Gospel according to St. Luke, noted that he, Judas, was the traitor.

I want to assure you that our Savior made each of these choices of those who would be serving at His side, by the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation. Such has has been the case with all of his prophets and others who sought to do His will throughout the centuries before and afterwards too, even down to our time and on to His Second Coming and beyond. In many of my past blog posts the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation has been emphasized.

Well then, do you think that Jesus erred in choosing Judas as one of His special witnesses? I hope you agree with me that He did not err. He fully realized what Judas would do. He also knew by the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation that it was necessary that He be betrayed so that He could be crucified and then resurrected. He also knew that He would suffer for the sins of all men, including yours and mine, and most likely knew it would be in the Garden of Gethsemane. (which is depicted in the painting by Harry Anderson in the painting on the right. The depiction of Jesus's crucification is the picture on the left by the same artist.)

Which by the way, we learn from the Latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, happened to be the same location where Father Abraham, at the command of God, was prepared to offer up his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to God. As you may recall, at the last moment, God stopped Abraham from doing what He had commanded him to do. A ram had caught itself in a nearby thicket and instead of sacrificing his son, Isaac, Abraham sacrificed the ram at God's command. God praised Abraham for being willing to do that which God would eventually do Himself, that is; allow His only begotten divine Son, Jesus Christ, to be sacrificed (crucified) after having suffered for the sins of all mankind, including yours and mine.