Witnesses Testify

How does one become a “special witness”¹ of our risen Lord? Thankfully the Lord gave us an example of what a witness of the Resurrection² goes through and is required to do.

• Nephi desired to know the things his father had seen (Vision of the Tree of Life).³
• He was carried away in a vision, and asked about his desires.⁴
• He was tested to know if he believed the vision of the Lord to Lehi.⁵
• He is granted his own vision according to his desires.⁶
• This is given as a sign to Nephi (signs follow them that believe).⁷
• He is told that he will not only see the tree, but also the ministry of the Lord.⁸
• He is told he will SEE the Lord and His ministry, the word “witness” is used twice.⁹
• Witnesses testify.
• As a witness, he will now be able to testify, and he is required to bear record that it is the Son of God.¹⁰
• The Vision of the Tree¹¹
• The Vision of the Ministry (life, death, post-resurrection visit)¹²
• Nephi receives the vision of all. (1 Nephi 12, 1 Nephi 13, and 1 Nephi 14)
• John will write the remainder of these things, and the end of the world.¹³
• Nephi saw these things, but couldn’t write them.¹⁴
• Others have seen these things too.¹⁵
• Nephi bears record that he saw what he recorded.¹⁶

Nephi became a “special witness” of the Lord. He was commanded to testify of the things he saw and recorded many of them. They were not “too sacred” to cast as pearls before swine. This is the pattern. They bear their own testimony and use others’ testimonies of what they WITNESSED.

Nephi names the other witnesses himself: Isaiah “verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him. And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send their words forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are true. Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word.”¹⁷

Later, Nephi uses the words of others (including the words of an angel) to further describe what HE witnessed.

And behold he cometh, according to the words of the angel, in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem.

And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.

And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel.¹⁸

Nephi saw these things, but is confined to the words of prophets before him. However, Nephi does testify of the things which he witnessed, using his own words throughout his record.

These “special witnesses” should be able to write their own Gospel because they see the Lord’s ministry, and are then commanded to be a “witness.” Witnesses testify.