3 Nephi 26

(All of my own thoughts are in red type 7/20 orange 7/21 Brown 2022 -23) 

CHAPTER 26

Jesus expounds all things from the beginning to the end—Babes and children utter marvelous things that cannot be written—Those in the Church of Christ have all things in common among them. About A.D. 34.

  1 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had told these things he expounded them unto the multitude; and he did expound all things unto them, both great and small. This is one explanation of how they lasted 200 years. How long did this take?
  2 And he saith: ^aThese scriptures, which ye had not with you, the Father commanded that I should give unto you; for it was wisdom in him that they should be given unto future generations. He knew their record would come to us. Why not just give them directly to the future generations? What responsibility were these people give to hand them down from generation to generation?
  3 And he did expound all things, even from the beginning until the ^atime that he should come in his ^bglory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the ^celements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be ^dwrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away; Wouldn't this be a part of the "restitution of all things"? Won't we need these teaching before we can become Zion too? And if they could know them then, why can't we know them now? What would that change for us? This seems to be the "vision of all things" that one is given when they come into the presence of the Lord. Why is this part of that?
  4 And even unto the ^agreat and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall ^bstand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
  5 If they be good, to the ^aresurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation; being on a parallel, the one on the one hand and the other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the ^bjustice, and the holiness which is in Christ, who was ^cbefore the world began.
  6 And now there cannot be written in this book even a ^ahundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people; He taught them MUCH! Will we be taught MUCH also? 
  7 But behold the ^aplates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people. Hmmm... what are these teachings he's referring to?  The sealed portion?
  8 And these things have I written, which are a ^alesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, ^bfrom the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.
  9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the ^agreater things be made manifest unto them.Ok...so the Book of Mormon contains the "lesser part" as a test to "try our faith" to see if we will live by them. THEN, if we are successful we will get more? So how's that going for us? Have we seen the Book of Mormon as a test of our faith? What is the test? That we'll read it? Understand it? Believe it? Right now, I think the test of our faith is that we will believe the warning about the Secret Combinations getting above us...we are apparently collectively "asleep" to our awful situation. We don't seem to "believe these things"...It could also refer to believing the pure Doctrine of Christ that includes being "born again". Perhaps we are in unbelief about what that really means.
 10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the ^agreater things be ^bwithheld from them, unto their condemnation. It's to our condemnation because we have held back by not having them.
 11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord ^aforbade it, saying: I will ^btry the faith of my people. So now it sounds like the plates of Nephi he referred to above did contain more of what Jesus taught, but Mormon was forbidden to include it. So maybe it's not the sealed plates, because Mormon did write those and sealed them. It sounds like he didn't write these things on the plates and seal them. But Jesus says he'll bring them forth. How will we receive them after we've passed the test of faith?
 12 Therefore I, ^aMormon, do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. And now I, ^bMormon, make an end of my sayings, and proceed to write the things which have been commanded me.
 13 Therefore, I would that ye should behold that the Lord truly did teach the people, for the space of three days; and after that he did ^ashow himself unto them oft, and did break ^bbread oft, and bless it, and give it unto them. Why was the sacrament administered to them so often during those 3 days? Is it saying He came to them often even after the 3 days of teaching?
 14 And it came to pass that he did teach and minister unto the ^achildren of the multitude of whom hath been spoken, and he did ^bloose their ^ctongues, and they did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things, even greater than he had revealed unto the people; and he loosed their tongues that they could utter. Wow! They taught things GREATER than Jesus had taught? Well, this explains maybe some of why this period lasted 200 years. The children had probably an even greater experience than the parents and it would certainly impact at least through their great-grandchildren so that would cover most of the 200 years.
 15 And it came to pass that after he had ascended into heaven—the second time that he showed himself unto them, and had gone unto the Father, after having  ^ahealed all their sick, and their lame, and opened the eyes of their blind and unstopped the ears of the deaf, I wonder if the deaf and blind healing is physical or spiritual or both.. but  notice he healed ALL of them. There was no one who was left with a malady to 'test and try' them for their "mortal learning". I think we believe that we are "supposed" to be sick and lame and ill as a test and a learning experience, and certainly "all things work together for good to them that love God", but is it really His will that we are sick? Is it wrong to think that we can be healed, all of us, every time when we are sick or afflicted? and even had done all manner of cures among them, and raised a man from the ^bdead, and had shown forth his power unto them, and had ascended unto the Father—
 16 Behold, it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea, even ^ababes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things; and the things which they did utter were ^bforbidden that there should not any man write them.  This happened the day after Jesus was with them and while He was not with them? If so...amazing! How old were these "babes"? It sounds like it was before they knew how to talk. Did they remain able to talk after this? 
 17 And it came to pass that the ^adisciples whom Jesus had chosen began from  that time forth to ^cbaptize and to teach as many as did come unto them; and as many as were baptized in the name of Jesus were filled with the Holy Ghost. Is this different than what we experience at baptism?
 18 And many of them saw and heard unspeakable things, which are ^anot lawful to be written. Not your typical "baptism" experience. Why was it not lawful to be written?  Did they see and hear these "unspeakable things" after Jesus was gone? Why did the miracles continue? Because they had such great faith? Even knowledge? 
 19 And they taught, and did ^aminister one to another; and they had all things ^ccommon among them, every man dealing justly, one with another.
 20 And it came to pass that they did do all things even as Jesus had commanded them. How could you not after all the destruction and then the presence and teachings of Christ and all the miracles?
 21 And they who were baptized in the name of Jesus were called the ^achurch of Christ.