Greater Love Hath No Man Than This

I believe that we can consider Teancum in the Book of Mormon as a type of Christ. There are two stories in which Teancum risked his life to try to save the lives of all the Nephites by ending the war. In the first we read, “And it came to pass that when the night had come, Teancum and his servant stole forth and went out by night, and went into the camp of Amalickiah; and behold, sleep had overpowered them because of their much fatigue, which was caused by the labors and heat of the day. And it came to pass that Teancum stole privily into the tent of the king, and put a javelin to his heart; and he did cause the death of the king immediately that he did not awake his servants. And he returned again privily to his own camp, and behold, his men were asleep, and he awoke them and told them all the things that he had done” (Alma 51:33-35). We might see this a type of what the Savior did in Gethsemane—while others slept (Peter, James, and John), the Savior went in the night to seek to put an end to suffering. Teancum took a servant with him to help him that night; the Savior was sent an angel to comfort Him: “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43). Teancum made a significant step forward in ending the war by removing he who had started it, and the Savior worked to overcome sin in a battle continued from the war in heaven. But, both still had more to do after that night.

               Much later, Teancum went again into the night to try to put an end to the war. We read, “And he went forth with a cord, from place to place, insomuch that he did find the king; and he did cast a javelin at him, which did pierce him near the heart. But behold, the king did awaken his servants before he died, insomuch that they did pursue Teancum, and slew him” (Alma 62:36). This time, as he gave his life to safe the lives of the Nephites, he succeeded in ending the war. After that the Lamanites scattered and it was all over, in large part thanks to Teancum since Ammoron would have likely continued the war as long as possible. After Gethsemane, the Savior went to Calgary where He suffered even further and then did indeed complete His work to overcome sin and death: “It is finished,” He declared of His mission to vanquish our greatest enemies (John 19:30). Teancum and the Savior both gave their lives to save the lives of others. Mormon wrote this as a eulogy for Teancum’s life: “He had been a man who had fought valiantly for his country, yea, a true friend to liberty; and he had suffered very many exceedingly sore afflictions” (Alma 62:37). Moroni also wrote about the Nephite leaders who had “suffered exceedingly great sufferings; yea, even hunger, thirst, and fatigue, and all manner of afflictions of every kind” (Alma 60:3). Surely that applied to Teancum as well, and the description reminds us of what the angel said to King Benjamin about the Savior: “And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death” (Mosiah 3:7). Of course, the Savior’s suffering was infinitely more than Teancum’s, but surely the Nephite general’s sacrifices stand in similitude of what Jesus did for us all. The Savior told His disciples shortly before He died: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). That’s what Teancum did to bring liberty to his people, and his life points us to the Savior who paid the ultimate price so that we too can be set free.