"It is intersting to note the background of the martyrdom of John the baptist and the what implications it has during the last 24 hours of the Savior's life (which will see several weeks from now.), and what the Savior does and teaches shortly after his cousins death.
King Herod actually seems to really like John. We
know that he invites him to his court on several ocassions to hear his
teachings but most importantly the teachings and miracles of Christ. However,
things are going to get a little complicated. You see, good ole Herod (Antipas)
has a brother (Phillip the Tetrarch) that is married to Herodias (who is very
money and power hungry.) She sees that King Herod's kingdom is greater than her
husband's and she wants to improve her position. She is going to sleep her way
to the top, so to speak as she has an affair with Herod. John knows of their
affair and teaches Herod that he needs to cease his adulterous behavior and
repent. We don't know what his exact response is, but we know that Herodias is
furious. She asks for the head of John on a platter. Herod is not eager to kill
him it seems, and just retains him in prison. So Herodias pulls out the big
guns with her daughter who dances for Herod on his birthday and gets him to
offer whatever she wants. She asks for John's head and reluctantly, Herod does
the awful deed.
Right about now, you are thinking, why the trash is
this guy telling me all this stuff I already know? Well if you already knew
that, and most of it you should, have you ever thought about King Herod's wife?
What's her story during all of this? She was King Aretas of Arabia's daughter.
Well King Aretas finds out, especially after Herod and Herodias get married,
and let just say he isn't a happy camper because his daughter has been
disgraced. He sends out a massive army, he obliterates Herod's kingdom and
takes the majority of the spoils, and as he goes to kill Herod and his family,
he is persuaded by the Emperor of Arabia to spare his life. (maybe he feared
that too much would upset the Romans and then they would awake a sleeping
Giant. I am not sure.) But you see, Herodias is preserved and not happy she has
no kingdom to speak of, so she starts whining. King Agrippa (Herod's nephew)
takes over what is left of the kingdom because he realizes Herod isn't very
capable of restoroing it and Herodias whines even more and pushes Herod to
reaclaim the kingdom and build it back up! King Agrippa sees his advances and
kills them both. (According to the Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia,
most of what is contained in this 2nd paragraph transpires "shortly"
after the death of Christ. Interesting huh? (also see B.D. p. 701)
But on a positive note, the connection is rarely made, that after John
is beheaded and Christ learns of the martyrdom, vs. 13 - "he goes by ship
into a desert place apart"- He wanted to be alone, as he mourned for the
loss of John. But the people heard of where He was and they follow Him. Christ
has compassion upon them and he administers to them. Finally, wanting to learn
more of Him the sit down to be taught and have not food to eat and are
hungered. And yep, you guessed it. Christ feeds these 5,000 people with the 5
loaves and fishes. A great prinicple should be learned here, one of the
greatest cures for self pity, sadness, or depression is to do what you can to
serve others. Christ is the perfect example of this, even in a most difficult
circumstance."
Group Discussion this week:
Discussion Topic
Material
- Review Matthew 18:21–22. What
question did Peter ask the Savior about forgiving? How did the Savior
respond?
·
Peter asked the Savior how many times
he should forgive someone who repeatedly sins against him. The savior responded by telling him not just
seven times like Peter had mentioned, but seventy times seven times.
·
Whenever someone offends you or makes
a mistake you should always forgive like Christ forgives us.
- Review the parable the Savior told in Matthew
18:23–35. Then answer the following questions: [Note the difference
between 10,000 talents and 100 pence or denarii. 10,000 talents is an
incredibly large sum of money, equal to millions of work days; it is an
impossible sum to pay back. See footnote a in v. 28 to find the worth of 100 pence. 10,000 talents is
about 480,000 times as much as 100 pence.]
o
How
much did the servant owe the king?
o
This particular servant owed the king 10,000 talents.
o
What
was the proposed punishment? What was the servant’s desperate plea? What was
the king’s response?
o
He commanded that the servant be sold, including his wife and
children and all of his possessions so that the payment could be made.
o
The servant’s desperate plea was that the king have patience
with him and he would pay it.
o
The king had compassion on him, and forgave him the debt and let
him go.
o
What
was the amount owed to the servant by a fellow servant?
o
One hundred pence.
o
What
was the fellow servant’s plea? What was the servant’s response?
o
His plea was identical to the one the first man had made in
front of the king. He pleaded for
patience.
o
The servant would not have compassion, and he cast his fellow
servant into prison until he could pay the debt.
o
How
did the king change his mind when he found out what happened?
o
The king was upset because he had had compassion on him, but
then the man had been wicked and not had the same compassion on his
fellowman. He gave him to the tormentors
until he could pay his debt.
o
What
do the principles found in Doctrine and Covenants 64:9–11 add to Matthew 18:22?
o
The principle found in Matthew to me is basically there is no
statute of limitation about forgiveness.
We need to forgive unconditionally.
Whatever way we forgive others is the same way that we ourselves will be
forgiven.
o
The scripture in D&C goes along with this because it
mentions how we are required to forgive all men. The Lord can decide who should be forgiven,
but for us our forgiveness should be innumerable. We just need to let him be the judge,
otherwise we are the one stuck with the greater sin that the original
sinner.
o
How
does Matthew 6:14–15 relate to Matthew 18:35?
o
The principle found in Matthew 18:35 to me is basically that the
same thing will happen to us that happened to the first servant. If we do not forgive our fellowmen truly,
then we will not be forgiven by the Lord for our own sins and trespasses.
o
The scripture in Matthew 6: 14-15 relates to that because it
also says that if we forgive others, we will be forgiven by our Heavenly
Father. However, if we do not, then we
cannot ourselves be forgiven by our Father in heaven.
- In what way is the debt the unmerciful servant owed the
king similar to the debt each of us owes the Savior? What are the
implications of this parable for how we are required to forgive? How does
your view of these things change if the person you should forgive is not
sorry and not trying to repair the damage he or she has caused?
·
The debt the unmerciful servant owed the king can be compared to
us in many ways. We owe the savior way
more than whatever 10,000 talents or 1000 pence is worth, but the comparison is
great because it sets it up in a way that is understandable to me. We owe the savior enough that he could banish
us forever, but instead he shows us mercy and he not only allows us patience,
but the wiping away of our debt and a fresh start through repentance. It also can be compared to it because we owe
the savior so much, just like the servant owed the king, and in comparison the
amount his fellow servant owed him was not much. Forgiving our fellowmen their trespasses is
not a big thing to do in comparison.
·
This parable reminds us that in order to be forgiven, we must
show forgiven to others. We must be
patient and kind and listen to our fellowmen’s pleads. We are required to not only forgive
partially, but fully and “forget” like the king did. Even if we cannot forget actual situations,
in our hearts we need to be able to forget and let go of the negative and
judgmental feelings we may have for someone.
·
My view of that changes in the sense that when someone has done
damage and they are asking for forgiveness, or showing any responsibility for
their actions, or at least trying to make recompense, it is very easy to
forgive them and want to even help them get through their trial. On the other hand, it is a lot harder to
forgive someone who is obstinate and not seeking forgiveness. In those situations, I feel like in our
hearts we need to forgive them still and not judge them, because it is not our
place. We need to remember that it is
the Lord’s place to judge, ours is only to show compassion to our
fellowmen. Everything will receive its
place in due time, and since we are not all knowing, we don’t have the ability
to judge others. We cannot fully
understand their situations and circumstances like the savior can, but if we
forgive them and try to, it will help us as a person and maybe them also.
·
It will take time for us to pay him back, its almost like we can
never repay him. I think it chooses hypocrisy. We can’t expect to be forgiven
if we are not going to even forgive others ourselves. It makes it harder
knowing the ones you forgive don’t take it seriously but these scriptures
remind me that if I forgive someone a million times even if they are not sorry
then in the end I also will be forgiven of my sins.
Student Choice Assignment:
Unit
One Topic Choices (Choose One) Choice 1: Matthew 14:14–21; 15:32–38. The Feeding of the
Multitudes
1.
The Savior provided two similar miracles. As a summary of what took place,
complete the following chart:
|
|
Matthew
14:14-21
|
Matthew
15:32-38
|
|
How many people
were present?
|
About
5,000 men women and children
|
4,000
men, beside women and children”
|
|
What did they
need?
|
Healing
Victuals
(provisions)
|
Food so
that they could travel home and not faint on the way
|
|
What were they able
to offer in an effort to meet that need?
|
5 loaves
and 2 fishes
|
7 loaves
of bread and a few little fishes
|
|
What words or
phrases describe the Savior's feeling toward the multitudes in their time of
need?
|
“moved
with compassion toward them”
“they need not
depart”
|
“I have
compassion on the multitude because they continue with me now three days and
have nothing to eat, and I will not send them away fasting.”
|
|
What words or
phrases describe what the Savior was able to provide for the multitudes?
|
“healed
their sick”
“twelve baskets
full”
|
“gave
thanks and brake them and gave them”
“seven baskets
full”
|
2. Explain:
·
In
each story, the available food was insufficient to feed the multitude, yet with
the help of the Lord the insufficiency was overcome. Read Romans 3:23 (“For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God”) and explain in writing another way human effort is
insufficient in receiving the glory of God.
o We cannot attain his glory through human
effort because we have all sinned, so the only way to ever attain his glory is
through his sacrifice, and that is not us doing it on our own. Without him and his sacrifice, since we all
sin, there is no way that we could attain the perfection that would even allow
us to be able to see the Lord or be in his presence.
·
According
to Ether 12:27, how does the Lord help us overcome this insufficiency? (And if men come unto me I will show
unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and
my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if
they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things
become strong unto them.)
o Basically through him
all things are possible, and that is the basis behind the power of the
atonement. We are able to overcome our
own insufficiencies if we can admit that we need him, and are nothing without
him. That humility is what enables us to
feel Godly Sorrow, and truly use the atonement, which will slowly perfect us
into the person that God intends us each to be.
Those weaknesses will become things that are strengths to us if we are
careful to always learn from our mistakes.
Unit
Two
Topic
Choices (Choose One) Choice
2: Matthew 17:14–21. The Savior Healed a Young Man
- Review Matthew
17:14–21, and list three things the Savior said were needed for the
disciples to heal the man.
- If
ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed (Faith)
- Prayer
- Fasting
- Read each of
the following references. Next to the reference, write what it teaches
about what is needed for miracles to happen.
- 3
Nephi 18:20: This scripture has a lot of requirements for miracles to
happen. First, we must ask for
them. Second we must have
righteous desires in the miracle.
Third, we must believe that the miracle can happen and have faith
in in.
- Doctrine
and Covenants 50:29: If we are pure and clean, which means we would have
been using the power of the atonement, and we ask in the name of Jesus,
then miracles can happen. Not only
people who hold the priesthood.
- Doctrine
and Covenants 42:48: If we have faith that he can heal us, and then he
will heal us if we are not meant to die from it. There is no certain time
that will happen, but if we believe in him and his timing, then we will
find peace and we will feel comfort and he will heal us in time.
