Joseph Smith Biography

Without Disclosing My True Identity

there was no mention of anything about the priesthood or the holy order of God that had
plagued his mind.
Oliver marveled at what Christ said about the Law of Moses and the proper way
expected of people to “offer for a sacrifice unto me.”^100 He was perplexed that Christ would
only require the people to “offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.”
Oliver wondered how one would be “baptized with fire” and then “with the Holy Ghost,
even as the Lamanites...and [know] it not.”^101 How could one be properly baptized and not
know that they had been, i.e., put underwater? The confusion continued as he read about
how Nephi was given the “power that ye shall baptize this people when I am again
ascended into heaven.” Christ gave Nephi and others this same power simply by “saying
unto them”^102 that he was giving them the power and authority.
Christ told the people that he had fulfilled the tradition of the Jews that was
incorporated into their Law of Moses, which had introduced the laying on of hands to
receive authority. In other words, the Law of Moses and the traditions of the Jews that
came from that law became dead in Christ. The Law and their traditions no longer held
any value or importance.
In actuality, Christ did not fulfill anything of any great importance. Jewish beliefs
and traditions had evolved over thousands of years before Christ lived upon the earth in his
mortality. By the time of Christ, Jewish religion was saturated with myth and legend.
However, the words of some of their ancient prophets had survived. Christ fulfilled the
prophesies of the Jewish prophets when possible, sometimes purposefully. For example,
Zechariah wrote of a Messiah and prophesied about his mortal life. Christ knew the
prophecies of Zechariah and made it a point to fulfill them as the Jews believed them. Jesus
set up the specified events to fulfill one of Zechariah’s prophecies:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold,

thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding

upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.^103

And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage,

unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them,

Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass

tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any

man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and

straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled

which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion,

Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a

colt the foal of an ass.^104

Christ attempted to teach the Jews at their level according to their knowledge and
understanding. Just as he had commanded Joseph, Jesus did not teach the real truth in public
and often taught in parables that the Jews could not understand. The apostles wondered why
he taught them things in private that he did not teach in public, to which Jesus responded:

Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,

but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he

shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken