Behold, Your Little Ones

Jesus had taught His gospel and ordained Church leaders over a period of many days.  He healed their sick, restored sight to the blind, lifted up the lame to walk again.  On one such occasion, He looked around the multitude who had gathered to hear Him and noticed that all were in tears.  He said: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.

 

And . . . he commanded that their little children should be brought.  So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him . . .

 

And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him. And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father; And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak. . . And . . . when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.

 

And . . .  Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise. And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full. And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. And when he had done this he wept again;

 

And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.  And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.

 

 

And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children. (3 Nephi 17: 6, 11-12, 15-25)

 

I think of my own "little ones" - children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren - whenever I read this astonishing story.  Can you imagine being a witness to such a wonder as this?  Who among us would not pray for such blessings for our own children?

 

Text copyright January 2014, Gebara Education

Pictures from www.lds.org