You might think it was Mary or Joseph, then maybe the magi, the shepherds, and the little drummer boy. But you'd be wrong. If the Book of Mormon is right, that is.
The first person to see Jesus was the brother of Jared (aka Mahonri Moriancumer). And he saw him more than 2200 years before Jesus was born. (The brother of Jared lived during the time of the Tower of Babel.)
It's a long silly story and I don't have time to repeat it here, but here are a few highlights.
The brother of Jared saw "the finger of the Lord" when Jesus was making some magic lights out of 16 stones that the brother of Jared had formed by melting some rocks.
And it came to pass that the brother of Jared ... did molten out of a rock sixteen small stones; and they were white and clear, even as transparent glass. ...O Lord, ... behold these things which I have molten out of the rock. ...
... touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness. ...
Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. ...
And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger. And the veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord. Ether 3:1-6
Okay, he didn't get to see all of Jesus, but he saw his finger. And that was spooky enough -- for both of them apparently.
I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me. ...And the Lord said unto him ... Sawest thou more than this? Ether 3:8-9
Finally, after a bit more discussion, Jesus shows his whole body to the brother of Jared, and reveals that he is not only the Son of God but also the Father.
Behold, the Lord showed himself unto him,and said ... I show myself unto you. ...Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. Ether 3:13-14
So what's-his-name got to see not only the finger of Jesus but the whole enchilada, Father and Son.
I'll bet it looked a lot like this.
4 comments:
Love the picture!
You know, when I was younger, I was dating a hyper-religious girl, and we would often chat in a religious chatroom when she was away at school. Whenever a Mormon person would come in, they would be inquisitioned away as being non-Christians. At the time, I found it hard to justify how Christians could add books to the OT, but not even allow the possibility of doing the same with the BoM.
Now, after reading more than a few passages... She was right.
I love the set-up . . . and the photo is a great punchline. Well done.
CV Rick
I'd love to see Jared's dumbstruck expression when he comes face to face with Jesus's middle finger.
He would probably say something among the lings of: "Wow, Holy Fuck."
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