Showing Himself To The World

I’ve always struggled to understand the seeming contradiction of Ether 12:7-8 in which we read, “For it was by faith that Christ showed himself unto our fathers, after he had risen from the dead; and he showed not himself unto them until after they had faith in him; wherefore, it must needs be that some had faith in him, for he showed himself not unto the world.  But because of the faith of men he has shown himself unto the world, and glorified the name of the Father.”  In verse 7 we read that he “showed himself not unto the world,” but then in the next breath we read that “he has shown himself unto the world.”  What did Moroni mean by this to say that he didn’t show himself unto the world but then that he did show himself unto the world? 

                I thought of one way that we might be able to understand this.  In verse 7 Moroni was clearly talking about the Savior’s visit to the Americas after His resurrection.  Christ showed Himself unto those who had faith in Him because the wicked part of the people had already been destroyed.  But Christ did not show Himself “unto the world” as a resurrected being.  For example, in Jerusalem He visited select people who had faith in Him, but He did not show Himself to the Jews at large.  He wasn’t about to go visit the Jewish leaders who had condemned Him and didn’t believe in Him; He only visited the believers.  On the other hand, during His mortal ministry He did show Himself unto the world in general, and I wonder if verse 8 is actually talking about the mortal ministry.  Moroni said that He “has shown himself unto the world, and glorified the name of the Father.”  That sentence to me seems to suggest an ordering: He first showed Himself to the world and then He glorified the name of the Father.  Several scriptures suggest that this final phrase refers to the Savior’s completion of the atonement.  For example, He told the Nephites when He was reviewing their records, “Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead” (3 Nephi 23:9).  Christ clearly was talking about events related to His death and resurrection, and “the day” referenced suggests that the time that the name of the Father was indeed a specific event.  He also told the Nephites when He first spoke to them, “I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me me hath the Father glorified my name,” showing that it was an event that had already taken place (3 Nephi 9:15).  The Savior glorified the Father when He finished His mortal work, and so if that is what Moroni was referring to, then when He “showed Himself to the world” (v8) would have been before that during His mortal ministry.  Christ indeed did Himself unto the world during His life on earth; both the wicked and the righteous were able to see Him—it wasn’t only to those who had faith in Him.  It was also during His mortal ministry that He “prepared a way that thereby others might be partakers of the heavenly gift,” more evidence that suggests that verse 8 may have indeed been referring to the mortal ministry of the Savior (v8).  Because of the “faith of men” in the first place in the premortal existence as Alma 13 outlined, He came to the earth as a mortal and showed Himself unto the world as the first verse says.  But only those who exercised faith were privileged to actually see the Resurrected Lord. 

                Assuming my interpretation has some merit, perhaps there is a message for us.  The world at large knows the details of the mortal Jesus who came to earth and did certain things.  But as disciples we want to come to know the Resurrected Savior and be visited by Him.  That visitation can come through the manifestations of the Holy Ghost, but those will only be given if we have faith in Him.  If we want to get past the world’s understanding of who He was, we must have faith so He can reveal Himself to us.