Mosiah 14 Abinadi recites
Isaiah 53
Of all the chapters which
Isaiah wrote, none of them deal more completely and exclusively with the First
Coming of Jesus Christ than Isaiah 53. So many times, Isaiah speaks of events
in Christ’s first and second comings in juxtaposition, making differentiation
difficult without the benefit of a retrospective viewpoint. But in this
chapter, there is little need for differentiation—except for verses 10 &12,
it is all about the First Coming of Christ. Abinadi uses this chapter as the
quintessential prophecy of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten. This is what the
Law of Moses was pointing to all along. He is going to prove to Noah and the
priests that indeed the prophets have all spoken of this Messiah, Have they not said that God himself should come down among
the children of men…that he should bring to pass the resurrection of the dead,
and that he, himself, should be oppressed and afflicted? (Mosiah
13:34-5). Isaiah 53 is going to be the example which Abinadi chooses to prove
his point.
Bruce R. McConkie
“As
our New Testament now stands, we find Matthew (Matt. 8:17), Philip (Acts
8:27-35), Paul (Rom. 4:25), and Peter (1 Pet. 2:24-25) all quoting,
paraphrasing, enlarging upon, and applying to the Lord Jesus various of the verses
in this great 53rd chapter of Isaiah. How many sermons have been preached, how
many lessons have been taught, how many testimonies have been borne-both in
ancient Israel and in the meridian of time-using the utterances of this chapter
as the text, we can scarcely imagine.” (The Promised Messiah, p. 235)
Mosiah 14:1 Who hath believed our report?
From the viewpoint of
Isaiah, the events of Christ’s ministry must have seemed unbelievable. Isaiah
had known Jehovah as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as the co-creator of
the Universe, and as the lawgiver to Moses. He is then shown the ministry of
Jesus of Nazareth. That God himself should come down in the flesh only to be despised and rejected…stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted…wounded…bruised…and oppressed until he had poured out his soul unto death must have been an
incredibly unbelievable tragedy to Isaiah. He must have said to himself, “I
wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it with my own eyes!” This seems to be
the tone and message of incredulity found in the phrase, Who hath believed our report? Would anyone believe
that the God of the Universe could be treated like this?
Mosiah 14:2-12 The
fulfillment of the words of Isaiah
The content of this chapter
so closely approximates the Savior’s life that it is useful to review each
element of the prophecy and its
fulfillment as in the following table:
(2) he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a
root out of dry ground |
(Lu 2:40) the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with
wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. |
(3) He is despised and rejected of men |
(Mark 6:2) Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother
of James…And they were offended at him |
(3) a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief |
(Lu 19:41-42) And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept
over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day,
the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from
thine eyes. |
(4-5) he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…he was
wounded for our transgressions |
(Lu 22:44) And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his
sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. |
(5) he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. |
(Jn 19:1-3) Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head,
and they put on him a purple robe, And said, hail, King of the Jews! And they
smote him with their hands. |
(6) All we like sheep, have gone astray |
(Matt 26:31) All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for
it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be
scattered abroad. (Mark 14:46,50) And they laid their hands on him, and took him…And they
all forsook him, and fled. |
(7) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened
not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth. |
(Lu 23:8-10) Herod…questioned with him in many words; but he answered
him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused
him. (Matt 27:13-14) Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many
things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word;
insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. |
(8) who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out
of the land of the living |
(Matt 27:24-26) Pilate…washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our
children. |
(9) he made his grave with the wicked |
(Matt 27:38) Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on
the right hand, and another on the left. |
(9) and with the rich in his death |
(Matt 27:57-58) a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph…went to Pilate,
and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. |
(10) Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him
to grief |
(Matt 27:46) Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? |
(10) when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he
shall see his seed |
(Mosiah 15:11-12) those who…believed that the Lord would redeem his
people…are his seed…For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are
they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now,
are they not his seed? |
(11) He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be
satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he
shall bear their iniquities. |
(DC 19:16-17) For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all,
that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent
they must suffer even as I ; |
(12) Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong |
(Matt 26:64) Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the
right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. |
Mosiah 14:2 he hath no form nor comeliness
Medieval art portrays the
Savior as a feeble, sickly appearing waif. Great artists have tried to emulate
his meekness with pathetic representations. In spite of Isaiah’s words, this
image has been inaccurate and unfortunate.
Joseph Fielding Smith
“In
appearance he was like men; and so it is expressed here by the prophet that he
had no form or comeliness, that is, he was not so distinctive, so different
from others that people would recognize him as the son of God. He appeared as a
mortal man.” (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p. 23)
Victor L. Brown
”It
is particularly important that young men holding his priesthood become
intimately acquainted with him in order to know and to understand him. Unfortunately,
artists and others have pictured him as effeminate, soft, and sad. If we
analyze his life at all, we see a person who was masculine, strong, vigorous,
interested in all that was going on about him, surely loving and kind, but at
the same time one who could exhibit righteous anger. If this were not true, how
could he have caused rough fishermen to follow him with just one sentence: ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’?
(Matt. 4:19.) He spent his youth and young adulthood as a carpenter, a trade
requiring strength and skill. Would he have dared drive the money changers from
the temple had he not been a man of great strength and courage?” (Conference
Reports, Oct. 1970, p. 124)
Mosiah 14:3 despised and rejected of men
James E. Talmage
“Isaiah
was permitted to read the scroll of futurity as to many distinguishing
conditions to attend the Messiah's lowly life and atoning death. In Him the
prophet saw One who would be despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief, One to be wounded and bruised for the transgressions of
the race, on whom would be laid the iniquity of us all -- a patient and willing
Sacrifice, silent under affliction, as a lamb brought to the slaughter. The
Lord's dying with sinners, and His burial in the tomb of the wealthy were
likewise declared with prophetic certainty.” (Jesus the Christ, p. 47)
Charles W. Penrose
“We
expect that he will come again, not the next time as the babe of Bethlehem, not
the next time to be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief, but as the Lord of life and glory, as the King of Israel
to sit upon the throne of his father David, to rule from the rivers to the ends
of the earth; not to be brought unto the subjection of men, but to have all
things made subject to him; not to bear his cross up the side of Calvary, but
to come as a monarch, as a ruler of men, as the rightful Lord and King of this
earth upon which we live.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 22, p. 83)
Mosiah 14:5 he was wounded for our transgressions
Ezra Taft Benson
“Because
He was God-even the Son of God-He could carry the weight and burden of other
men's sins on Himself. Isaiah prophesied our Savior's willingness to do this in
these words: ‘Surely he has borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for
our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed.’ (Isaiah 53:4-5.)
“That
holy, unselfish act of voluntarily taking on Himself the sins of all other men
is called the Atonement. How one could bear the sins for all is beyond the
comprehension of mortal man. But this I know: He did take on Himself the sins
of all and did so out of His infinite love for each of us.” (Teachings of
Ezra Taft Benson, p.14-15)
Mosiah 14:10 yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him
“Obviously
God was not pleased with the way men treated Jesus, but he was pleased with his
son’s ‘offering for sin’. The Atonement met
the strictest demands of God’s innate justice and made forgiveness and mercy
possible on certain terms.
“Elder
Melvin J. Ballard explained why it pleased God not to interfere: ‘In that
hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying
struggles until even He could not endure it any longer; and, like the mother
who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as
not to look upon the last struggles, so He bowed his head, and hid in some part
of his universe, his great heart almost breaking for the love that He had for
his Son. Oh, in that moment when He might have saved his Son, I thank him and
praise him that He did not fail us, for He had not only the love of his Son in
mind, but He also had love for us. I rejoice that he did not interfere, and
that his love for us made it possible for him to endure to look upon the
sufferings of his Son and give him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer.
Without him, without his sacrifice, we would have remained and we would never
have come glorified into his presence. And so this is what it cost, in part,
for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of his Son unto men.” (Bryant S.
Hinckley, Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin Joseph Ballard, pp.
154-55. as taken from the 1981 Old Testament Manual, p. 198)
Mosiah 14:10 he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand
Bruce R. McConkie
“If this prophecy was meant to be fulfilled during
his mortal sojourn on earth, we would list it as having failed. He did not
prolong his days; a voluntary death overtook him in the prime of life. Nor did
the pleasure of the Lord find full fruition while he dwelt in a state where
death lies in wait for the weary pilgrim. It is only in the resurrection that
the pleasure of the Lord is perfected, for it is only when ‘spirit and element’ are ‘inseparably
connected’ that either God or man can ‘receive
a fulness of joy.’ (D&C 93:33.) Thus, having made his soul an
offering for sin; having seen his seed-all the righteous dead from the days of
Adam to that moment-as they assembled to greet and worship him in the paradise
of their Lord; and having thereafter risen in glorious immortality to live and
reign forever, our Messiah truly fulfilled the prophetic utterance, for then
his days were prolonged forever and the pleasure in his hand was infinite.” (Promised
Messiah, p. 362 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon
compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 221)
Mosiah
14:11 He shall see the travail of his soul, and
shall be satisfied
In
this phrase, God the Father sees the travail of his son, and the requirements
of justice are satisfied. At times, God the Father represents justice while the
Son represents mercy. This scripture is a good example; Elohim, or justice, is
satisfied with the merciful sacrifice of the Only-Begotten. In the Jewish
tradition, Elohim and Jehovah are the same individual so the differential use
of these names highlights their attributes of justice and mercy respectively,
“In midrashic language: If you do My will I am [Jehovah], the Merciful one, but
if not I will be Elohim, the dispenser of stern justice.” (The Torah: A Modern Commentary, ed. by W. Gunther Plaut, p. 541). Abinadi expands
on this theme in his explanation to the priests, telling them that Jehovah had ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being
filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and
justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity
and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of
justice (Mosiah 15:9).