The Multitude Gave Way

After Jesus healed all of the sick and afflicted among the Nephites as recorded in 3 Nephi 17, the people did come forth and bow down before Him and worship Him. He then “commanded that their little children should be brought.” The account continues, “So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.” As I read this account yesterday I was struck by this phrase: “the multitude gave way.” In other words, they backed away from Jesus so that the children could come to Him (v11-12). They stepped aside so that the children be close to Him. This struck a chord for me because of the symbolism I found: the adults gave up their opportunity with the Savior so that their children could be with Him. As a parent with many little ones, I am sometimes frustrated that I don’t have more time to do those things that I desire in order to be closer to the Lord: there are more scriptures I want to study, more books I want to read, more trips to the temple that I would like to make, and more opportunities that I want to take to ponder and pray and think on the things of God. But with my responsibilities as a parent, I must for now give up many of those so I can care for and teach and be with my children. The message of this passage for me is that as I “give way” in my life for them, I should make sure that my small sacrifices are used to help them draw nearer to Him. There are many things that I might need to give up now to properly care for and nurture my children, but that should be a small price to pay if I can indeed help them be blessed by Him.

                As the story continues, we read of this transcendent experience those children received: “And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.” Jesus then said to them, “Behold your little ones.” They did look and behold a most incredible sight: “They saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them” (v21-24). Surely at that point these parents and adults had no regrets about the small sacrifice they had made to let their children get the front row seat with the Savior. In fact, their experience was perhaps even more marvelous and powerful as they watched what was happening to their children than if they had kept their position close to the Savior. They saw those angels descend and encircle their children and got to see the Savior pray for them. Mormon recorded these words while describing this scene with the Savior surrounded by the children: “And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father” (3 Nephi 17:17). Yes, we will have to give up some things as parents to properly care for our children and lead them to the Savior. But the message of this story is that these sacrifices for parents will be repaid many times over as we see our children come to Him. And surely in that process we will find that same joy which will fill our souls as we see the Savior bless the lives of our little ones.