36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.37 Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen. (D&C 6:36-37)
The context of this section is the Lord speaking to Oliver
Cowdery, who had wondered about and already received a divine manifestation of
the truth of Joseph Smith’s testimony.
In section 6 the Lord gives instructions about how peace coming to our
hearts is a witness of the truth and such like. The section ends with the verses above.
I wondered why the Lord says, “behold the wounds which pierced my side,
and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet” when the Lord didn’t
appear to Oliver at that time.
What was the purpose behind those words?
I
realized that it was a reference to the story of doubting Thomas in the New
Testament, who would not believe that the other apostles had seen the
resurrected Lord unless Christ appeared to him. The reference to Thomas was to show Oliver the necessity of
believing Joseph’s testimony and beholding with an eye of faith the evidences
that had been presented earlier in the section.
I also
like that it says “look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” It is a nice formula for choking off
paralyzing doubts and fears by determinedly choosing instead to think about the
Lord and what He would do. The
times that I have remembered to do this, I have been very blessed.
2 comments:
Awesome,I have read this a few times and I did not "see" that connection. I have often wondered about Thomas, and his record was so short, and sad and humbling at the same time. Now we can see that his testimony was for a purpose, maybe for the weakest of saints, maybe for a learning experience not only for Oliver Cowdery, but us as well.
Amen Sister
Isn't it great when something finally clicks and you suddenly see connections that you didn't see before? That's one of the things that keeps me going on this blog.
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