Again the risen Redeemer spake: Arise, said he, and come forth unto me that you may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
Now they who heard him from the first to the last went forth and assured themselves that it was he of whom the prophets had spoken. Then with shouts of praise they cried: Hosanna! blessed be the name of the Most High God. And they fell down at his feet and worshiped him.
Jesus next called Nephi to him, then eleven others, and gave them authority to baptize the people, at the same time strictly charging them as to the manner in which they performed this ordinance, that all disputes on this point might cease among the believers. The names of the Twelve whom he chose were: Nephi, his brother Timothy, whom he had beforetime raised from the dead, also his son Jonas, and Mathoni, Mathonihah, Kumen, Kumenonhi, Jeremiah, Shemnon, Jonas, Zedekiah and Isaiah. These Twelve are to sit in the great day of judgment as the judges of the seed of Lehi, and be themselves judged by the Twelve Apostles whom Jesus had called from among the Jews.
After Jesus had chosen the Twelve, he commenced to teach the people the principles of the fullness of the gospel. Step by step he led them over the same precious ground of universal truth as he had his followers in the temple at Jerusalem, by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and on the hillsides of Judea and Samaria. Sometimes, through the difference of the inspired translation of the Book of Mormon from the worldly-wise one of the Bible, a slight difference is noticeable in the wording of the instructions, but as a rule these differences are trivial, the advantage being with the Nephites, whose greater faith drew from the Savior deeper truths than Judah had received, or caused him to display greater manifestations of his omnipotence and boundless love. From the believers he would turn to the Twelve, and give them special instructions as his ministers, then again he would shed forth his words of mercy, truth and divine wisdom upon the multitude; and by and by again address the disciples. So he continued day by day until all was revealed, either to the multitude or to the Twelve, that was necessary for the eternal salvation of the obedient.
Some have wondered why Jesus should have given so many of the same teachings to the Nephites as he did to the Jews. The reason is that those teachings were perfect and could not be improved. They were universal, that is, they were adapted to the wants of all peoples, whether of Israel or of the Gentiles, whether of Judah or Joseph. They were a portion of the everlasting gospel and had to be preached to all the world as a witness, to those who dwelt in America as well as those of Asia, Africa and Europe. Thus we find in the teachings given to the Nephites what we term the first principles of the gospel—faith, repentance and baptism; we also find those divine lessons of love, truth, humility and duty that glorified the Savior's "Sermon on the Mount." These we shall not reproduce but will draw attention to other teachings of the Savior not recorded by the Four Evangelists; that is they are not to be found in their writings as at present contained in the New Testament.
CHAPTER XLIV.
THE FULFILLMENT OF THE MOSAIC LAW—"OTHER SHEEP HAVE I"—THE TEN TRIBES—THE EVENTS OF THE LATTER DAYS.
(III. NEPHI CHAP. 15 AND 16.)
WHEN JESUS had reached a certain point in his teachings wherein he told the people that old things had passed away and that all things had become new he perceived that some of his hearers were wondering what were his intentions regarding the law of Moses. Therefore he next instructed them on this point. He said: