Being a Disciple of Jesus Christ : Luke 10-14

Luke 10:38-42; Luke 11:1-13; Luke 12:13-40; Luke 13:23-24; Luke 14:16-33

What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ?

Receive Him in your house

Hear His word

Pray earnestly

Seek Him

Take heed and do not covet

Do not doubt

Fear not

Watch for Him

Give to the poor

What is the cost of following the Savior?

Give all we have to the Savior -not just temporal things

Patience

One of the teachings, I need to work on is praying earnestly.  My family is pretty good at having prayer at meals and before going to bed.  I need to work on really communicating with God through my personal prayers.  In Luke 11:15-13 it talks about the parable of the friend at midnight.  I found this interesting.  When the neighbor has consistently asked with a real need, he complies.  How often do we sorta pray and ask for things or blessings?  Do we fervently pray with a righteous desire?  When we don't get what we need or want right away, do we give up?  I think as I work on this my testimony will grow and I will become closer to the Savior.  I will receive blessings that I may not have received because I wasn't patient enough.

The ultimate requirement to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to follow Him in everything.  We must give all we have, including our time.  This does not mean to be unwise in giving away all our money and not supporting our families.  This does not mean to give all of our time to the church to the detriment of our jobs and families.  We can not be selfish with our time and money.  Sometimes the sacrifice hurts.  We are a covenant people and have covenanted to give all we have to the Savior.  We need to support our family members in callings, we need to find acts of service in our community and in our church congregations.  We need to live with in our means so that when the need arises, we can help.  

We must endure to the end.  We can not be a disciple of Christ for just a little bit.  We must follow the Savior completely for our whole life.  I know we get tired and much is required.  There have been times when I just want a break and to quit for a little bit.  We can not fall into that trap.  We must not run faster than we have the ability but we can not quit either.  We need to wisely balance our resources so that we can endure to the end.

The Good Shepherd John 10

In John 10:1-11 there are two parts to the parable that Jesus compares Himself to.  He is compared to the door of the fold and the Good Shepherd.  

  In a fold of sheep, there is only one way for the sheep to enter or exit. So in this parable, Christ is referenced as the door.  Sometimes a hireling will be paid to guard the entrance of the fold of sheep but the sheep will only come to the their own Shepherd.   In 2 Nephi 9:41-42 it helps us understand the parable a little better.  It says that the keeper of the Gate is the Holy One of Israel and there is not servant there.  

The similarities between a Shepherd and the Savior are pretty amazing.  It is perfect in every way.

1.  The Shepherd or porter guards the fold.  The Savior is the door of the fold, by which we can enter. He is the true Shepherd of human souls. 

2.  The Shepherd provides food or pasture of his flock.  The Savior has given us His word.  

3.  The true sheep know their Shepherd's voice.  They will only come to their own Shepherd.  The Savior know his own sheep and calls them.  We take upon us the name of Christ and He knows us.

4.  The true shepherd will do anything for his flock.  He will lay down his life if needed.  The Savior laid down his life for each of us.

In 3 Nephi 15:11-24 and 3 Nephi 16:1-3 it talks about the "other" sheep that are refereed to in John 10:16.  We have the records in the Book of Mormon of when the Savior visited the Americas.  It also talks about other sheep.  We don't know who those are exactly but we know that He has other sheep from the 12 tribes of Israel and that at some point all of us will be gathered together to form one fold and have one shepherd.

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/the-good-shepherd-and-other-sheep-i-have?lang=eng

The Feeding of the Multitudes Matthew 14:14-21 & Matthew 15:32-38

The people followed Jesus to hear him teach and for him to heal their sick.  

I found 5  interesting things about the conditions of the people in the multitude:

1.  It was a large multitude.

2.  They were a shepherd less or scattered multitude

3.  It was a hungry multitude

4.  It was a helpless multitude - could not feed themselves

5.  It was a perishing multitude - must be fed or would perish/faint.

Jesus had compassion on the people because they were hungry and had been with him for 3 days.  He asked what food was available so that the people could be fed.  In Matthew 14, the disciples were able to gather 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.  In Matthew 15, the disciples were able to gather 7 loaves of bread and a few fish.  Jesus took those loaves and bread and the few fish and broke them.

Then He prayed.

The disciples ate and then fed the 5,000 + women and children in Matthew 14 and the 4,000 + women and children in Matthew 15.

The Savior was able to provide food for the people but He also provided a miracle.  The people wanted a sign that He was the Christ and not just the son of Joseph and Mary.  The miracle was not seen by the multitude or by the disciples (John 6:26)

In each story, the available food was insufficient to feed the multitude, yet with the help of the Lord the insufficiency was overcome.  In Romans 3:23 it says "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."  We need the Savior and the atonement to make up the insufficiency that we have in overcoming our sins.  Christ makes up the difference.

In Ether 12:27 is says "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."  The Lord helps us overcome our inefficiencies by grace and by allowing each of us to have weaknesses that make us humble and allow us to see where we need to improve.   When we actually overcome a weakness we do become stronger.  The process of overcoming the weakness helps to strengthen us.  The Lord loves us enough to allow trials and experiences to make us stronger.  

John the Baptist: Matthew 11:1-19 and Luke 7:18-35

While John the Baptist was in prison, he heard  of the works that the Savior was doing.  John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" (Matt 11:3)

The Savior told the disciples to return to John.  "Go shew John again those things which ye do hear and see" (Matt 11:4)

What did the disciples of John see and hear?  They saw the blind receive their sight. They saw the lame walk.  Lepers were cleansed and the deaf could hear.  The dead were raised up and the poor were taught. (Matt 11:5)

John the Baptist did not doubt that Jesus was the Lord.  The disciples that were following John the Baptist, were reluctant to detach themselves from John and follow the Savior.  

John the Baptist knew who the Savior was.  John was the Savior's prophet.  

In Matthew 11:11 it says that there was no greater prophet than John the Baptist.  Why was John considered the greatest prophet born of a woman?  

1.  He was entrusted with a divine mission of preparing the way before the face of the Lord.  

2.  He was entrusted with the important mission that only he could do, to baptize the Son of Man

3.  John, at the time, was the only legal administrator in the affairs of the kingdom there was then on the earth, and holding the keys of power.  The Jews had to obey his instructions according to their own law.  (Smith, Teachings, pp 275-76)

In John 3:30 it says "He must increase, but I must decrease".  I think John is saying that the Savior's ministry must increase but John's would decrease.  John's mission was coming to an end.  He had accomplished his great work.  He had prepared the way for the Savior and he had baptized the Savior.

Miracles Are Evidence of Faith and God's Power

Jesus performed many miracles during His ministry.  Some evidence of faith was shown by those who benefited by the miracle.

Matthew 8:1-4

 The Leper asked Jesus to cleanse him.  The leper showed faith.

Mark 2:1-12

 A man crippled with palsy could not reach Jesus because of the crowds of people.  He had his friends lower him on his bed through the ceiling.  He was healed because of his faith.

Matthew 8:23-27

The disciples woke Jesus to calm the tempest.  Although, the disciples doubted their own abilities they did not doubt Jesus' ability to calm the sea.

Matthew 8:14-15

Peter's mother-in-law was sick with fever.  Jesus healed her.  She had faith.

Matthew 9:27-31

Two blind men asked Jesus to heal them.  They showed faith by asking to be healed.

Matthew 8:28-34

Jesus cast devils out of two men.  He cast the devils into a herd of pigs who then ran into the water.

Matthew 9:20-22
Mark 5:25-34

A woman with an issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus' clothing.  She had enough faith to know that she would be healed.


You have to have faith to recognize that the miracle are true and the power is real.  The knowledge of God's power makes it easier for me to ask and have faith that God will help me and my family through difficulties.
I know that God has the power to heal the sick and afflicted.  My faith in the Savior and in God's power grows as I study about His miracles and as I see miracles in my life.