A Witness of His Resurrection

When the eleven apostles met after Christ’s resurrection to find a replacement for Judas, they stipulated that the new apostle needed to be “a witness with us of his resurrection” (Acts 1:22).  They wanted someone who could declare without equivocation that Christ had indeed risen.  They chose a man named Matthias who, given this stipulation, must have been one who saw the Savior in person after His resurrection like the other apostles.  Paul, another apostle who later was chosen, also saw the Lord directly in vision and could witness that He yet lived to the people.  In a similar manner, it is interesting to me that several of those who wrote and bore testimony in the Book of Mormon also saw the Savior—both before and after His mortal ministry.  Having personally seen the Lord, their testimony comes to us with great power and is just one of the ways that makes the book indeed “another testament of Jesus Christ”.

                The first two writers of the Book of Mormon both testified that they literally saw the Savior.  Early in the text we read of Nephi’s incredible vision of the Savior’s ministry: “And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.  And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!…  And I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men….  And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world….  And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world” (1 Nephi 11:20-33).  Nephi later would testify simply, “I have seen him” (2 Nephi 11:2).  His brother Jacob, who would take the record after Nephi, likewise saw the Savior.  When Lehi spoke to Jacob he said, “Thou hast beheld in thy youth his glory; wherefore, thou art blessed even as they unto whom he shall minister in the flesh” (2 Nephi 2:4).  This seems to be an allusion to a personal vision of the Savior by Jacob, for he was blessed just as those would see Him in the flesh.  Nephi confirmed that Jacob had indeed seen the Lord: “And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him” (2 Nephi 11:3).  Nephi and Jacob also quoted the prophet Isaiah extensively, and he too saw the Lord.  As Isaiah said, “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up” (2 Nephi 16:1).  Nephi confirmed that Isaiah had indeed seen Jesus Christ: “I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer” (2 Nephi 11:2).  Knowing that these three whose writings fill up the first 135 pages of the book underscores the power of their witness. 

                The other two main writers of the Book of Mormon likewise saw the Savior.  Mormon told us, “I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus” (Mormon 1:15).  He was “visited of the Lord,” which suggests that he too saw the Savior and was ministered to by him.  His son Moroni bore witness of his own visit of the Lord in even clearer language: “Then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things” (Ether 12:39).  Moroni and Mormon both knew the Savior Jesus Christ—not only had the Spirit born witness to them, but they had also seen Him personally.  Their testimonies that they left us about Christ’s mission were not mere wishes of two who hoped for some better world in Christ, but they were, like the ancient apostles, a sure “witness… his resurrection.”