Denying the Power Thereof

When the Savior spoke to the boy Joseph in what we now call the Sacred Grove, He said of the religious leaders of the day: “They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”  This appears to have been somewhat of a paraphrase of Isaiah 29:13: “Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.”  But it also hearkens back to the words of Paul, who said to Timothy that those in the last days would have “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:5).  The Lord who inspired both of these prophets thought their words valuable enough to quote them in His visit with the Prophet Joseph.  I’ve thought about this phrase of having a form of godliness but denying the power and perhaps one interpretation is those who profess faith in God but refuse to accept the miracles of the Lord.  Nephi seems to have been speaking about these people when he wrote of those who “deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;  Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work” (2 Nephi 28:5-6). 

                It’s fitting that the Lord spoke to Joseph about those who professed faith but denied God’s power, for this is what the Savior lived during His whole ministry.  Again and again the Jewish leaders of the day refused to believe in the power that He had and could not accept the miracles.  For example, when the man born blind was miraculously healed and then defended Jesus for the miracle, the leaders “reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples.  We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is” (John 9:28-29).  They could not accept that Christ was performing miracles.  When Lazarus was raised from the dead and the evidence of Jesus’s power was simply overwhelming—everyone knew that Lazarus had been dead and was now alive—so intent were they on denying the miracles that Christ was performing that “the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus” (John 12:10-11).  They opted rather to kill and hide the evidence than to accept that these miracles from the Savior were from God.  His whole life He was rejected by those who had a form of godliness but denied the power thereof until He was finally slain by them.  How glad He must have been to call the Prophet Joseph and gather the Saints who would both profess His name and believe in His power!