In this series of articles, we’re exploring the role of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon. This series will address only a very small percentage of the mentions of Christ. In Chapter 11 of 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, a teenager named Nephi wanted to understand the vision his father, the prophet, had seen. He went to God in prayer, as we can all do, to receive his own testimony of the vision, even though he believed his father.
Nephi reveals that he was “caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain,” a common way of describing visions in the Bible. The Spirit praised him for believing his father, the prophet, and for believing in Jesus Christ, who had not yet been born. He was told that after he was shown his father’s vision, he would then see a vision of Jesus Christ and he was to testify of Jesus from then on.
Condescension of Christ
When the vision of the Lord Jesus Christ began, he saw Mary in Nazareth. An angel came to Nephi and asked him if he understood the term “the condescension of God.” He said he knew God loved his children, but he didn’t know everything.
A Mormon leader (Mormon is a nickname for people who belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) explained the term this way:
Here was Jesus—a member of the Godhead, the Firstborn of the Father, the Creator, Jehovah of the Old Testament—now leaving His divine and holy station; divesting Himself of all that glory and majesty and entering the body of a tiny infant; helpless, completely dependent on His mother and earthly father. That He should not come to the finest of earthly palaces and be … showered with jewels but should come to a lowly stable is astonishing. Little wonder that the angel should say to Nephi, ‘Behold the condescension of God!’” (Jesus Christ, Key to the Plan of Salvation [1991], 16).
Nephi saw that she was carried away by the Spirit for a time and then held a baby in her arms. The angel explained that this was Jesus Christ as an infant. The angel helped him make the connection between this scene and the tree his father had seen. The tree represented the love of God, and for God to send His only begotten Son to earth was proof of His great love for us.
Nephi watched as the now grown Jesus Christ began His ministry among the people. He saw John the Baptist baptizing Jesus and Jesus beginning to preach the gospel. Nephi saw that many bowed down and worshipped Jesus, but others cast Him away. He witnessed the twelve apostles. He also saw the many miracles and ministrations of the Savior.
Now Nephi witnessed the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ at the hands of those He had come to save. This was followed by the many attacks on the apostles.
Reaction of the World to Christ
Again, the angel tied this to Nephi’s father’s vision. In that vision there had been a great and spacious building where the popular and sophisticated gathered to mock those who worshipped God. It represented the pride of the world and the angel prophesied that it would fall in time.
In the next chapter, we learn that Nephi saw that Christ would not come only to the people of the Holy Land. He is the God of all people and a short time after His death and resurrection, He would also appear to Nephi’s descendants on the American continent, although Nephi did not yet know that was where he would someday live. Jesus would come to them for just a few days, to preach the gospel, perform miracles, and organize His church. This message helps the world to know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world—all the world that accepts Him.
Nephi’s understanding of the doctrine of Christ is made clear in the Atonement-centered words he chose as he taught his family. Jesus would be “the Lamb of God,” who would “take away the sins of the world” (1 Ne. 10:10). The term lamb puts the Savior’s ministry in the contexts of His atoning sacrifice and the law of Moses, with which Lehi’s family was familiar. Christ would take away our sins as a sacrificial offering in our behalf. Between 1 Nephi 10:10 [1 Ne. 10:10; 1 Ne. 14:27] and 14:27, Nephi uses the term lamb 57 times with reference to Jesus” (Kent P. Jackson, One Family’s Testimony of Christ, Ensign, February 2000).
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
