Day 11 | I, John, Bear Record
November 10, 2015 - WEEK TWO
Anton Raphael Mengs, St. John, the Baptist, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
DAILY READING
John 1:15-28; 3:22-36
JST-John 1:15–28
D&C 93:6-19
CONSIDER AS YOU READ
- How does John’s declaration that “He must increase, but I must decrease” apply to your life?
- Like John, do you feel you can be a witness until your dying day? What assures that?
- Can you imagine Joseph Smith’s and Oliver Cowdery’s wonder and admiration as they were given the Aaronic Priesthood by this same person who baptized the Savior?
SUPPLEMENTAL READING
It is now a full year since John the Baptist began his public ministry; since he cried repentance in the wilderness of Judea; since he reprehended the Jewish multitudes, calling them a generation of vipers; since he immersed repentant souls in the Holy River, promising them a remission of their sins and the future receipt of the Holy Ghost under the hands of Him whose forerunner the Baptist was. It is a full year since the Lord’s forerunner first bore public witness that the mighty Messiah would soon walk among them, and that he would baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
It is now at least six months…since the son of Zacharias baptized the Son of God. And it is five or six months since the appointed Elias bore fervent witness that Jesus was the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. And during all this time the promised forerunner has continued to prepare the way for the Promised Messiah….
We can be sure that wherever he met people, and as long as he had breath, his burning witness of one greater than he was given freely, boldly, and with prophetic zeal. … [T]his stern and impassioned prophet from Hebron and the Judean deserts, speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost—which gift he possessed from his mother’s womb—is opening his mouth to bear one of the most eloquent and powerful testimonies to find place in Holy Writ…. “He must increase, but I must decrease. He who cometh from above is above all” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem to Calvary, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1979, 1:482-486).
ADDITIONAL MEDIA
O Come, O
Come, Emmanuel
Piano Guys
FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES
“Jesus Is
Baptized,”
A Story from
The Friend
QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES
- Why was Jesus baptized?
- How do you think John felt when Jesus asked to be baptized by him?