Scriptural Highlights

• Jesus heals the daughter of a Gentile and feeds more than 4,000 people.
• Peter is promised the keys of the kingdom.
• Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James, and John.

A study of this lesson should strengthen our testimonies that Jesus is the Christ and that the priesthood keys bestowed on the Mount of Transfiguration have been restored.

Lost Sheep Among the Heathen

A Day of Deeping Opposition

1. Matthew 15:21: "Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon."
2. John 7:1: "After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him."
3. This was a time that Jesus and his disciples needed to leave Galilee and Judah because of the increasing opposition as Jesus has begun to declare himself.
4. He goes to Tyre and Sidon:
• Ancient cities of abominations.
• Canaanite cities.
• Heathen and pagan cities.
• It was not the practice of the Lord to seek out the Gentiles, but there were probably many Jews in those cities.

Ministering Among the Heathen

1. READ MATTHEW 15:22-28. Healing of the Canaanite woman's daughter.
• Mark 7:26: "The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter."
• WHAT IMPRESSES YOU ABOUT THIS STORY?
• The disciples saw in our Lord's acts a reaffirmation of his compassion for all men, not for the house of Israel only.
• HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS?
• The faith and love of this woman was great. She persisted even though the Master seemed to ignore her.
• WHY WAS THE LORD SO RELUCTANT TO ADMINISTER TO THIS WOMAN, NOT OF ISRAEL?
• Bruce R. McConkie: "...the house of Israel is composed of the spirits from preexistence who there developed a talent for spirituality, and who are therefore entitled to the blessings of heaven in this life on a preferential basis. All men, in due course, either in his life or in the spirit world, will be offered the blessings of salvation. But there is an eternal system of priorities; there is a law of election, a doctrine of foreordination; and Israel is entitled to the blessing of the holy word ahead of their Gentile fellows. During his lifetime Jesus took the gospel and its blessings, with isolated exceptions, to his kinsmen in Israel; after his resurrection he will sent his apostolic witnesses to all men, irrespective of creed or race or ancestry. The Lord Jehovah--Jesus in the flesh--is simply conforming to the eternal law of gospel priorities that he and his Father ordained from before the foundations of the world, and such a limited exception to the eternal provision of the eternal law as may properly be made is about to be shown forth." (Mortal Messiah, 3:11-12)
• WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS WOMAN?
• Those that do not have the gospel fulness may nevertheless have great faith.
• We should not lose faith when blessings are not granted as quickly as we wish.

Miracles in Decapolis

1. Jesus traveled to Decapolis (a region to the southeast of Galilee).
2. READ MATTHEW 15:30-31. Healings performed.
3. There was a second feeding of a multitude, this time about 4000 ( see v32-38)
• V32-33: "Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
       "And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?"
• As we observe the Lord's closest disciples, isn't it interesting after all the miracles they have witnessed (including the feeding of the 5,000) that they would wonder were such were such a meal would come from?
• The miracle of feeding the 4,000 was different from the earlier feeding of the 5,000.
• The first feeding: "he was laying the foundation for his incomparable sermon on the Bread of Life".
• The second feeding: "he is prefiguring the future presentation of the living bread to the Gentile nations". (see DNTC, 1:375)
4. After this Jesus returns to Galilee.

The Leaven Of The Pharisees And Sadducees

1. READ MATTHEW 16:1-4. Pharisees & Sadducees seek a sign.
• These men were wily. Their reasoning:
• If he didn't give a sign, then his other miracles must have been of Satan.
• If he gave a sign, they could also attribute it to Satan since his teachings did not conform with the rabbinical interpretation of the law handed down from Moses.
• Indeed, this was a trap. There were probably many that were led to believe what the Pharisees and Sadducees were trying to accomplish.
• The Lord's response: It is a wicked and adulturous generation that seeketh after a sign.
• Bruce R. McConkie: "Actually, sign-seeking -- a favorite pastime and enterprise of evilly disposed persons -- is an evidence of supreme and gross wickedness on their part." (Mormon Doctrine, p714)
• Joseph Smith: "When I was preaching in Philadelphia, a Quaker called out for a sign. I told him to be still. After the sermon, he again asked for a sign. I told the congregation the man was an adulterer; that a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and that the Lord had said to me in a revelation, that any man who wanted a sign was an adulterous person. `It is true,' cried one, `for I caught him in the very act, which the man afterwards confessed when he was baptized." (TPJS, p278.)
• To the pure in heart, what more do they need than the teachings of the Lord which reach into the soul.
2. READ MATTHEW 16:5-12. Beware the leaven of the Pharisees & Sadducees.
• We see that the Master often uses the analogy of bread.
• He recently had spoken of the bread of life.
• He said that the kingdom of heaven is like leaven.
• Now he speaks of the leaven of evil men.
• This is the evil leaven that can spoil the loaf.
• DO WE SEE THE LEAVEN OF EVIL MEN TODAY?
• The philosophies of men spoken almost daily.
• These philosophies (leaven of evil men) are affecting the operation of our government and nation which is based on Heavenly principle. Consider this modern philosophies:
  - School prayer - we have no right to force our views on others.
  - Abortion - the women's right.
  - Justice - protection of a guilty man's rights.
  - Judgement - it is wrong to call evil evil.
  - The degradation of moral values as seen in the media.
  - Etc,etc,etc.

The Keys Of The Kingdom

1. The Lord gathers his disciples together for a testimony meeting and announces the subject.
• Matthew 16:13: "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?"
• Jesus was the first to bear testimony when he asked "Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?"
• Son of Man is a term synonymous with Son of God.
• READ MATTHEW 16:14-17. Simon bears witness of the divinity of Jesus.
• FROM WHAT SOURCE DID PETER'S TESTIMONY COME?
• From the Father through the Holy Ghost.
• Earlier the Pharisees and Sadducees had sought a sign of who Jesus was. Now the apostles are having a testimony meeting regarding the true identity of the Master.
• Matthew 16:18: "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
• WHAT IS THE ROCK UPON WHICH THE LORD BUILDS HIS CHURCH?
• Revelation (see TPJS, p274).
• WHY MUST THE LORD'S CHURCH BE BUILT ON REVELATION?
• Consider the evolving history of Christianity church.
• The doctrines of the Church do not come from a council of men.
• It was not the doctrine of a man, a pope or president of a church.
• The church is built upon revelations from God to his prophet.
2. READ MATTHEW 16:19. The keys of the kingdom promised to the 12.
• WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS' PROMISE TO PETER?
• Peter and the Twelve will one day carry on the Lord's work, and he will empower them to do so.
• Many years ago President Spencer W. Kimball and Elder Boyd K. Packer visited the small church in Copenhagen, Denmark, where Thorvaldsen's famed statues of the Christus and of the Twelve Apostles stand. Speaking of this experience, Elder Packer said: "I stood with President Kimball . . . before the statue of Peter. In his hand, depicted in marble, is a set of heavy keys. President Kimball pointed to them and explained what they symbolized. Then, in an act I shall never forget, he turned to [Stake] President Bentine and with unaccustomed sterness pointed his finger and said with firm, impressive words, 'I want you to tell every Lutheran in Denmark that they do not hold the keys! I hold the keys! We hold the real keys and we use them every day'."
• President Joseph F. Smith: "The Priesthood in general is the authority given to man to act for God.... The power of directing these labors constitutes the keys of the Priesthood. In their fulness, the keys are held by only one person at a time, the prophet and president of the Church. He may delegate any portion of this power to another, in which case that person holds the keys of that particular labor." (Gospel Doctrine, p136)
3. Losing One's Life to Save It.
• READ MATTHEW 16:24-27. We gain life by helping others.
• What an interesting concept: we gain life and happiness when we help someone else do the same. Without losing our life in helping others towards eternal life, we lose eternal life.
• Was not the Savior the perfect example.
• Verse 27 states that every man will be rewarded according to his works.
• I guess faith and belief is just not enough. Ah, but what is faith without works.

The Transfiguration

1. READ MATTHEW 17:1-13. The transfiguration of Jesus.
• WHAT DOES TRANSFIGURATION MEAN?
• "It is a temporary change in a person's appearance and nature, from a lower to a higher state, brought about by the power of God. A mortal must be transfigured to behold God's power." (1995 Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual)
• Given this definition, it would appear that Peter, James, and John might also have to be transfigured to behold this experience.
• WHAT DID MOSES AND ELIAS (Elijah, see Mortal Messiah 1:281) DO WHEN THEY APPEARED ON THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION?
• Joseph Smith: "The Priesthood is everlasting. The Savior, Moses, and Elias, gave the keys to Peter, James and John, on the mount when they were transfigured before him." (TPJS, p158)
• McConkie: "There may have been other messengers besides Moses and Elijah who also came to the Mount of Transfiguration, as for instance a translated person from Enoch's day, who also gave keys and authorities to the chosen heads of the dispensation of the meridian of time. We know so little--for want of spiritual preparation on our part--of what transpired on the holy mount." (Mortal Messiah, 3:68)
• President Joseph Fielding Smith suggests that Peter, James, and John received their endowments from Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:165.)
• Elder David B. Haight makes this comment regarding this experience: "Perhaps Jesus felt not only a sense of the heavenly calm which that solitary opportunity for communion with His Father would bring, but even more, a sense that He would be supported in the coming hour by ministrations not of this earth.... He went up to prepare for His coming death. He took His three apostles with Him in the belief that they, after having seen his glory,...might be fortified." (Ensign, May 1977)
• This, then was an important event in the Lord's ministry:
• Testimony was born of the Savior by the Father.
• Vital keys were transmitted to the future heads of the Lord's church.
• The Lord was probably comforted in having this experience and being able to share it with His closest friends.
• It was an experience that moved the Lord a step closer to the fulfillment of His mission.

Summary

The Lord has revealed more of himself during the events reviewed in this lesson. Important priesthood keys have been promised and transmitted to the future leaders of his church. Peter bore his witness of the Master which he had received by revelation. Like Peter, we can know through the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and that his servants, the prophet, hold the same keys given anciently to Peter, James, and John.

Next Week

Lesson 14: Matthew 18; Luke 10

Additional Reading: Mark 9:33-50, Mosiah 3:17-21; 4:16-19, 26