Milk Before Meat

Today I read Mark 4, which contain the parable of the sower, the candle under the bushel, and the calming of the sea. We have already covered all of these during our reading of Mathew but I was struck by something in today's reading that I don't recall seeing in Matthew. In verse 34 Mark says that Jesus spake only in parable to the multitude. Now we know that this was done so that He would not be imparting too much knowledge at once to people who are not ready for it. It is the same reason we don't have people who are baptized go through the temple the very next week, they are not ready for it. We all must learn line upon line, precept upon precept and as we prove ourselves to God that we are willing to live according to what light and knowledge we have, then He gives us more. When Elder Bednar was here back in September of last year he said that the reward of living the commandments is more commandments. And he's right, of course.

But the rest of verse 34 is what caught my attention, it says "and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples". I thought this was very interesting. To the multitude, Jesus was giving them a way out if they were not ready to receive His doctrine, but to those who had already made the decision to follow Him, to them Jesus explained all His parable. And that makes sense, it was just interesting to me. But I liken it to a person who has recently been baptized verses someone who is just asking a random question about the Latter-day Saint faith. You would probably give a very similar answer to both individuals, but to the recently baptized member, you would probably go further and give a more complete answer, because they have the Gift of the Holy Ghost which will help them understand the things they are taught. And of course it is not as if we have anything to hide from the person inquiring about Latter-day Saint beliefs, but such people are generally asking for only intellectual pursuits and not in earnest.

But to me it is like teaching a child, you start simple and work your way towards the complex, you don't try and teach a 4 year old all about the intricacies of the Atonement and how it is retroactive and will apply towards all those who had lived before Jesus did. They don't need to know that. A 4 year old only needs to know that Jesus died for us and made it so they can be with their families forever. Likewise a person who is newly baptized needs milk before meat.

I remember a young woman that I taught on my mission and helped get baptized who eventually went on to serve a mission of her own. She did not know very much, if anything, about the Bible before she got baptized. After her baptism, as she read the Book of Mormon, she would write down questions she had and we would spend literally hours going over her questions after the church meetings in the gym while my companion setup appointments with members or sat in on our discussions. But I remember one time while she was reading in I think 1 Nephi she came across a passage about Moses and she asked me who Moses was. I was floored that she did not know who Moses was, however, this is not uncommon among the Chinese people who I served among.

There was another instance where I was tracting with my companion and a very nice lady let us in the door. We were using the old discussion format at the time which starts out talking about God and then moves on to Jesus Christ. Well about halfway through the 2nd principle of the 1st discussion, she interrupted us and apologized for interrupting but we kept saying a name that she was unfamiliar with. She then asked us who Jesus Christ was. So we stopped and said, "You know, Jesus Christ, like in the Bible." She then replied with, "And then there's that too, you've mentioned it several times, what's the Bible?" She had never heard of either. We were trying to build off of common ground, but there was no common ground to build off of. Such a person was not ready for what we had to teach. We tried for a few minutes longer but she quickly lost interest so we left her with a few pamphlets and went on our way.

Heavenly Father loves His children very much and does not want them held accountable to more than they are ready to bear. We read in Doctrine and Covenants earlier this year that when much is given, much is required. That is why Jesus taught in parables after all. It is important that in our zealousness for the Gospel, we are not trying to move faster than those we are trying to teach are prepared for. If we try, we will only be hindering their progression. A child must walk before he/she can run. This is another tender mercy of the Lord and I for one am grateful for it. Until tomorrow.