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LEGION (Mark 5:1-20)
ICEBREAKER
First, Legion. And for this story, I’ll often introduce it with a magic trick. Now, it does require a little bit of an up-front cost if you want to start your lesson this way. But I guarantee, it is effective. And what happens is this, you hand somebody two coins, one is a silver half dollar, and the other is a copper English penny. The two coins clearly look different in both color and size. You hand them the coins and then ask them to put their hands behind their back and place one coin in each hand. After they’ve done this, you ask them to bring both hands back out in front of them with their fists closed. Now. You challenge them by saying that you bet that they won’t be able to give you back the penny. And usually they feel pretty confident that they can and so you ask them to try. And when they open their hand, they’ll discover that they no longer hold a copper penny, but an American quarter instead. The copper English penny has been transformed into a completely different coin. Then they’ll usually quickly check the other hand, and they’ll discover that it’s the half dollar. It's a really powerful effect and the trick doesn’t require any sleight of hand and is fairly simple to do. But it does require a special set of coins to make it work. So if you’re interested, I’ll provide you with a link in the video description below to where you could purchase this trick on Amazon if you like. It’s called the “Scotch and Soda trick” by the way, but don’t ask me why, I don’t know. I’ll also provide you with a link to a video that explains how the trick works and teaches you how to do it.
Performance Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6hgYaQMe6I
Explanation Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1ExAg8XHCY
TRANSFORMATION
The point you could make here though is that the coin changed. It was transformed into something else. The story from the New Testament that we’re going to look at today is about a man whose life was completely transformed by the power of the Savior. We’re going to see him change dramatically by the end of the story. We know him as Legion. But I’m sure that wasn’t his real name. In fact, if I get a chance to meet him in the next life, I’d like to know what his real name was, because I’m certain that he’d want us to call him by that name.
SEARCH
So to help you study and understand the story of Legion, I have a secret phrase activity you could do. And if you decide that you don’t want to do the magic trick to introduce the lesson, you could always just go straight to the handout if you like.
But here are the questions and answers.
· The man had his dwelling amongst the _________. TOMBS
o What an interesting place for him to hang out. Amongst the dead. Because of almost all the people Jesus meets in the New Testament, this man seems to be the most spiritually lifeless person he encounters. This man is so far gone that he has lost all control of his spirit and body. It’s almost as if the real man inside Legion had been destroyed, and the evil spirits within him had complete power.
· He couldn’t be bound. Not even with __________. CHAINS
· Neither could any man _________ him. TAME
o Nobody was able to pacify or help this man or protect him from himself. Anyone in the village who had tried was unsuccessful.
· He would _____ himself with stones. CUT
o The unclean spirits within him would cause him to hurt himself.
· When Jesus meets him, he cries out “________ me not” TORMENT
o It’s interesting that the devils within Legion know exactly who Christ is. I’m sure they have a bright recollection of his divinity and power from the pre-mortal world. These evil spirits did not want to lose their power over this body that they now inhabited.
· The man said his name was Legion, “for we are ________.” MANY
o Ooo. What a scary thing to hear him say. Chills would have gone down my back. There was not just one unclean spirit within him, but many.
· The legion of devils within the man pleaded to be cast into a herd of _________. SWINE
o Now why would they do that? Well, we also know from pre-mortality that those who rebelled against the Father forfeited their chance to gain a body. Those spirits were then cast out of heaven and sent here to earth without bodies. And what are they doing here? They tempt and entice people to do what’s wrong. And yes, in some rare cases they may even be able to take residence inside a body. Although, I would make the point that we don’t really need to be frightened or worried much by this. Evil spirits don’t have the power or the agency to just take over people’s lives. We don’t need to be afraid of things under the bed or walking alone in the dark. That’s not what we’re talking about here. If we had a little more detail about Legion’s past life, we’d probably discover that through poor choices or a fascination with the powers of evil, he had allowed this influence to come into his life, invited it somehow, and had eventually lost control. As long as we don’t go to that kind of extreme, we don’t need to worry about that. The evil spirits that we really need to worry about are the kind that tempt and entice us to get angry, feel hatred, give in to lust, or to be dishonest.
· The swine in the story _____ violently down a steep place into the sea. RAN
o And I know, poor little piggies. Doesn’t seem fair. But this detail contains an interesting principle to me. Maybe the swine could even teach us a bit of a lesson. Even the pigs could tell that something wasn’t quite right. And so what did they do? They ran. They tried to get away from it. We too should run from evil. Sadly, in the story, it doesn’t turn out well for them, but they tried. They tried to get away. And if we ever feel that evil is starting to take control, I pray that we will run. But that we’ll run to those that can help us, to our families, friends, church leaders, and most importantly, Christ. We don’t have to allow that evil to destroy us.
· After Jesus had healed him, the people of the city found the man, sitting and in his ______ mind. RIGHT
o This is the coolest aspect of the story to me. I love that line. He was in his right mind. That’s what it means to be in your right mind. In a state where evil is no longer controlling you. Jesus helped this man to get there.
And so now that we understand the essence of the story. What is the secret message?
No one is beyond hope.
And you could ask your students how they feel this story of Legion could apply to us. Do they know of anyone who they might be tempted to conclude was beyond hope of being spiritually healed? How does this story relate?
To me, the story of Legion is compelling because it’s about someone who seemed to everyone around him to be beyond hope. This man was untamable. He’s a good representation of the kind of person that we feel has no possibility of ever changing. Someone who has lost all sense of control. Perhaps Legion is a good physical representation of addiction. Those times when we feel another force inside us is controlling us. There’s still that part of us that desires to change, that recognizes the harmful effect that that “unclean spirit” is having on us, but we just don’t seem to have the power anymore to get rid of it. Things like substance abuse, gambling, or pornography. Or we feel that there are other impulses inside us that we just can’t seem to get under control. Our temper perhaps, dishonesty, greed, or selfishness. And just like Legion or the pigs, we recognize that those “unclean spirits” within us are causing us to hurt ourselves or are leading us to self-destruction. Legion here, was somebody who we might all conclude was beyond hope. And do we ever feel that way? Do we ever feel that we are too far gone from the path of righteousness to ever expect healing or change? Or, is there someone that we love out there who we fear are beyond hope of saving. The message of the story of Legion can help us.
TRUTH
Christ can solve even the most serious of problems. Nobody is beyond hope or his ability to help or change them.
MOVIE
To illustrate this truth. I might consider showing the following church produced inspirational message. It’s called “The Hope of God’s Light”. It’s a moving story about a modern-day Legion, in a sense. A young man who felt so lost, so out of control, so hopeless, that he almost came to the point of self-destruction. But something changes him and rescues him. His life is transformed by the power of God. So as you watch this video, look for the things that helped to change him. What made the difference? And there are many. These are the kinds of things that can help us as well or those that we love to be healed, to be tamed, and to bring us back into our “right mind”. I encourage you to watch the video now for yourselves. It’s powerful and strikingly filmed.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
How has Jesus brought peace to you in your most serious of problems?
What is the most dramatic transformation you’ve seen Jesus work in someone’s life?
And I have personally witnessed this transformative power of Christ many times over in my life. One particular example that comes to mind was a neighbor boy my age who was always in trouble as a youth. Drugs, immorality, crime. If there was anyone in my neighborhood that you would never expect to change or have any hope of becoming a follower of Christ, it would be him. I can’t tell the feelings I had then, when years later after we had moved from that neighborhood, I had served my mission, and had just graduated from college. I came home that summer and started attending a singles ward near where I had grown up. And at a fast and testimony meeting, I had to do a double take as I saw THAT young man walking up to the pulpit. I was like, “No, it couldn’t be. But it is.” And I can’t express to you the wonder and joy that I felt as I heard him bear fervent and faithful testimony to the transformative power of Christ in his life.
CONCLUSION
The truth of the matter, then, my friends, is that people can change. The gospel of Jesus Christ and his Church can transform people. It can put them back in “their right mind”. Anyone. Nobody is beyond hope. People that you would never expect to become people of faith do! Drunks, addicts, criminals, resolute atheists, outcasts, and the despairing, all have the ability to be changed. And there are countless stories out there that attest to that fact. Legion is just one of them. I pray that this story can provide hope for you and for those that you love.
PEOPLE WITH “ISSUES” (Mark 5:24-34)
ICEBREAKER
For an icebreaker to this story, if you’re teaching youth in particular, you could play the classic elementary school game that I know as “Heads Up, Seven Up”. But instead of calling it that, I would call the game “Who touched me?” And here’s how it works. Typically, you select seven students to be the choosers who then come up and stand at the front of the classroom. The rest of the class closes their eyes and puts their heads down and stick their thumbs up in the air. Now if you don’t have a large class, you can have fewer choosers, but you at least need to have two for this to work. Then those choosers go around the room and they touch the thumb of one person, who then puts their thumb down. The choosers then return to the front of the classroom, and everyone opens their eyes. Those people who had their thumbs touched have to guess which person they think it was that touched them. If they get it right, they get to switch places with that person and now they become a chooser. And you can play this game for as long as you feel you have time for.
TRANSITION
Then to transition to the scriptures, you could say, “Today we’ll take a look at a time where Jesus asked that very question, “Who touched me?” Because in this story, there was someone in a crowd of people who had an amazing thing happen to them when they reached out in faith to touch the Savior.
SEARCH
To help your students study and understand the story on a deeper level, you could have them do this “Correct What’s Wrong” activity. It’s a summary of the story found in Mark 5:24-34 but with a few errors in it. Their assignment is to go through and cross out all the incorrect details and write in the correct information above instead. So here’s the summary and I’ll walk you through it now so that you’ll be familiar with the answers.
As Jesus and his apostles passed through a certain city, the streets were almost empty.
That’s incorrect, the streets were full of people. Many people were following and crowding around him.
There was a woman in that city who had suffered with an issue of headaches for nearly five years.
No, she had suffered with an issue of blood for nearly twelve years.
The woman had spent half of all her money searching for a cure and had only managed to alleviate some of the pain.
No, she had spent ALL her money searching for a cure and had actually grown worse.
But when she heard that Jesus was coming through her city, she thought that if she could only touch his arm that she would be healed.
She thought that if she could only touch his garment or clothing then she would be healed.
As Jesus passed by, she reached out and just brushed her hand against his arm.
She reached out and touched his clothing.
She felt her pain slowly begin to diminish and hours later she would be completely healed.
No, she felt that she was immediately healed right then.
Jesus didn’t realize that he had healed someone but looked around him and asked, “Is there anyone here who needs to be healed.”
Jesus did realize that he had healed someone, that “virtue had gone out of him”, and he looked around and asked, “Who touched me?”
As he looked around, the woman came to him and fell down at his feet with joy and confidence and told him what she had done.
That’s mostly correct. But she came with fear and trembling to tell him what she had done.
Jesus said to her, “Daughter, my power hath made thee whole; go in joy, and be whole of thy plague.”
Jesus actually said, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
And that’s the correct version of the story. And now that we know it. Some discussion questions to consider.
In how many different ways was this woman suffering? Which of the following apply?
Emotionally
Physically
Financially
Socially
Spiritually
Well let’s see. Physically for certain. She’s got the pain and discomfort of this illness to deal with constantly. But what else? She’s got a financial problem now too, doesn’t she. She’s poor. She had spent ALL that she had in trying to be healed and had suffered many things of many physicians. And I wonder what that sentence entails. Strange remedies and treatments? Perhaps quack doctors who were just trying to make a quick buck. Or genuine good-willed physicians whose treatments just couldn’t help her. I know of people like that. Who have tried everything they could think of and spent loads of money trying to figure out a solution to some hard to diagnose medical problem. It’s absolutely frustrating. And how long has she suffered with this malady? Twelve years! This is a long-term problem. What would that do to a person’s psyche? I’m sure she’s suffering emotionally and mentally here as well. Discouragement, despair, frustration. And add to that this disturbing revelation. This condition of hers would have also made her ceremonially unclean. This was a religious problem now too! The law of Moses was very strict in its rules of cleanliness and purification and even specifically gives instruction on what to do if a woman had an issue of blood. I won’t read through the entire explanation here, but you can see this rule in Leviticus 15:19-30.
19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.
And then it goes on to explain that anything she touched would have also been considered unclean as well.
27 And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
So this woman would have been suffering socially as well. She probably would have been treated almost like a leper. Nobody would want to touch or be too close to her. She more than likely would have been a social outcast because of this disease. So she’s alone, hurting, poor, distressed, and desperate for help. I can see evidence that she is suffering in each of those ways.
And that may help us to understand why she’s not super eager to go right up to the Savior and ask him to heal her.
But there was one thing that this woman did have in abundance. There was an area in which she was not lacking at all in. And lucky for her it was the most critical thing she could possess. This woman had faith in Christ, and she believed that Christ could heal her.
But, why do you think she decided to seek healing from the Savior in the way that she did?
By discretely trying to touch his clothing as he passed by in the crowd? What do you think was going through her mind as she plans this?
I believe it was the result of worrying that her touch would make him unclean. She was worried that her type of problem excluded her from the healing and peace of Christ. And so you can kind of guess her thought process here. “How can I ask this man to heal me, if he can’t touch me or I him. But she gets an idea. Maybe if I could just touch his clothes, and . . . and just barely, just the hem. That would be ok, wouldn’t it? Nobody needs to know even. Not even him. I’ll just slip away unnoticed. And so she formulates her plan. She positions herself near to where she knows he’ll be passing by, and as he does, with the crowds swarming around him, she reaches out and just lightly touches the hem of his robe. And immediately she’s healed. She feels it. It worked! She is made whole. What joy! What relief! BUT . . .
How do you imagine she felt when she saw Jesus stop, and heard him ask, “Who touched me?”
Because, you see, Jesus could sense that his healing power had taken effect on someone and so he stops and asks his question. And the apostles are incredulous. There’s a giant crowd surrounding him. And they say, “Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?” Meaning, what do you mean who touched you, everybody’s touching you, you’re in the middle of a giant crowd. And Jesus is like, “No, you don’t understand. Somebody “touched” me with faith. He sensed a touch that had drawn upon his virtue and his power. He could feel it.
But now put yourself in her shoes. Can you imagine how she must have been feeling at that moment? She sees him looking around and trying to find who it was. And she thinks, “Oh no, he knows.” Jesus has felt her unclean touch and now he’s searching the crowd intently for the culprit. “I thought I could just do this quietly and anonymously, but I was wrong.” And we are actually told how she feels. The scriptures say, “But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.”
So, she thinks she’s done something wrong. And, to her credit, not only was she a woman of great faith, but great humility and honesty as well. She comes to confess what she’s done, and to apologize. But then, how sweet the Savior’s words must have been for her when he assures her, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague”.
See, the reason he wanted to find out who it was that had touched him, was not because he was upset about it, but because he wanted to make sure that that person knew something about their healing. Perhaps he was concerned that whoever had touched him might go throughout the rest of their life thinking that the power that had saved them was in his clothing. But that was not the case. Jesus did not have a magic robe, or priesthood filled clothing. The power that healed this woman did not lie in the threads of the hem of his garment. And so he finds her, and he says, “Thy faith” emphasis on those two words, “Thy faith hath made thee whole, go in peace.” The power by which you were healed, was your faith, and the power of my Father’s will, but not my clothes. I just wanted you to know that. Be whole. Be at peace.
TRUTH
So, a truth that I would want to stop and highlight here would be: When other sources fail, the Savior has the power to make me whole or bring me peace, according to my faith and his divine purposes.
This woman’s story stands as a testament to that principle.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Are there any “issues” that you have? Are there any areas of your life where you feel you are lacking or incomplete? Have you tried everything else under the sun to try and find a solution and nothing has worked?
Possible areas? Your health. Your desire to do what’s right. Your ability to do what’s right. Your finances. Your relationships. Do you feel that you’re lacking in happiness, money, intelligence, fulfillment, love, or spirituality?
Have you tried reaching out to Christ in faith yet?
What does that look like for us? How does one “reach out to Christ” in our day?
You may want to discuss that as a class.
MUSIC
And now might be a good time to either sing or watch a performance of the hymn “Where Can I Turn for Peace”. The message of this hymn perfectly matches the story of the woman with the issue of blood and can help sink the truth of it deeper into our hearts. I found a beautiful performance of the hymn online and I’ll provide you with a link to it in the video description below. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJvZFUZ-c0I) But the questions I would have my students ponder as they listened it would be:
What’s your favorite line or thought from this hymn and why?
OR
Ponder a time that you could share with the class when you felt Christ brought you peace and wholeness in a time of need.
And you may even share one of your own personal experiences first. For me, I remember a time when I was a new seminary teacher, and things weren’t going very well for me with my classes. I felt inadequate in my ability to teach them. I felt I was lacking as a teacher as I compared myself to other teachers and I felt very discouraged. But when I reached out to Christ in prayer and faith, and an acknowledgement that I couldn’t do it on my own. All other sources ceased to make me whole. I can testify to you that he brought me peace in that situation. And I believe that He’s helped me, over time, to fill in those places where I have lacked.
Fearing and trembling
Now before we leave this story, there is one additional principle I’d like to point out here. And it’s in the way the woman reacts when Christ calls out to find out who touched him. And she runs to him “fearing and trembling” because she feels she’s done something wrong.
Do we ever experience similar kinds of feelings when it comes to our actions? Do we ever make decisions that cause us to fear and tremble at the thought that we may have done something wrong in the eyes of the God. I’m not talking about sin here, or giving in to temptation, or moral weaknesses in this case. But I know of individuals whose faith and devotion to doing the right thing is so strong that it may sometimes cause them to worry and fret or fear and tremble that what they’ve done would disappoint their Savior.
For example, when I was a bishop, I would sometimes call people in to offer them a calling. And I used to think that every calling a bishop issued was a divine revelation from God that was meant to be. But I don’t think that anymore. And don’t get me wrong in this, there were many times when I do feel that the Lord had inspired me to call someone to a specific position. But, on the other hand, sometimes there were just positions that needed to be filled, and individuals that did not have callings. And we would reach out as a bishopric to see if we could make a good match. The approach was, “There’s a need here. Are you able and willing to fill it?” But, there were times when we just didn’t have enough information as a bishopric about that person’s situation and we would discover that it wasn’t a good fit, that there was a legitimate reason not to accept. But I can think of a number of times where I watched faithful members of my ward struggle with that. And they’d say, “I’ve been told never to turn down a calling,” but I’m just not sure how I could make this work. Their work schedule, or their family situation just didn’t mesh with the demands of the calling. And I would try to reassure them that it was ok and that we understood and that we would consider a different calling more in line with their circumstances. But sometimes, you could just tell that they felt badly about it, guilty. Now imagine, what if the Savior had come to visit our ward that next week, and stood up at the pulpit and said, “I hear that somebody turned down a calling from the Bishop recently. Who was it?” Can you imagine how they would feel? They perhaps would run forward, fearing and trembling and confess, “It was me. I’m so sorry. I knew I should have accepted it.” And how would they feel as Jesus said. “No, no. The reason I wanted to call on you was to assure you that you’ve done nothing wrong. You don’t need to feel guilty about it. Great is your faith. Go in peace.”
My father tells the story of a woman who came up to him after one of his classes because she was worried that she had decided to read the New Testament instead of the Book of Mormon at that time. And she said, “I know that we’re supposed to read the Book of Mormon every day, but I’ve read it many times and I would really like to focus my full attention and study on the New Testament for a change. I’ve never read it before. And she was asking my Dad if he felt that that was ok. Was she sinning in this? Now how do you imagine she would have felt if the Savior had walked into the classroom that day, and said, “I’ve heard that there is someone in here who has decided not to study the Book of Mormon, who is that?” She would certainly have run up to him, fearing and trembling, and confessing: “It’s me, It’s me. I know I shouldn’t have done it. I’m so sorry.” And I truly imagine that Jesus would look at her and say, “Daughter, it’s ok. This is a good desire. I’m ok with you studying my life and teachings in the New Testament. You’re doing nothing wrong. I just wanted you to know that. Go in peace.” Sometimes it’s important for us to remember the gracious and loving nature of our Savior when it comes to worries of this kind.
CONCLUSION
I testify that Jesus does have the power to bring peace and wholeness to us in times of need. There are a lot of “other sources” out there that people may turn to in times of trouble and lack. And not all those sources are bad or useless. But there is one source of peace and comfort that we can always turn to that will always help. And that source is Christ. I testify that as we reach out to “TOUCH” the Savior, that his power can give us guidance in times of uncertainty, send someone to help us, provide actual healing through miraculous means, or at the very least, provide us with a sense of peace that all will be ok in the end. There is REAL power in reaching out to Christ. Through our prayers, through spending time in his holy house, through seeking help from inspired leaders, through turning to the scriptures and words of living prophets for counsel, or by relying on the love, prayers, and service of our families and congregations. I believe that the love and power of Christ can flow from each of these divine sources of help and provide healing and wholeness. That we remember that in our times of need is my solemn prayer and hope for all of us.
CALLED TO SERVE
For Matthew chapter 10, I may not do the full treatment here, but allow me to give you a brief activity-based lesson idea that can quickly but effectively cover some important principles from this chapter. This chapter recounts the Savior’s call of the twelve apostles and his charge for them to take his gospel out into the world. And he gives them instructions on how that was to be done. Well that can be very helpful to us as his disciples in that we too are given the same charge to preach his gospel. So it’s a great chapter for anyone who aspires to do missionary work in the kingdom, whether that’s full-time, or as a member missionary.
The way this activity works is I print out a number of different posters with Preaching Principles on them and I place them on the walls around the room in various positions. I then divide my class up into 2-4 teams and a representative from each team comes to the front of the classroom where they’re given a flyswatter. Then as the teacher, I display a verse of scripture up on my screen, or, if I didn’t have a projector, I might just call out the verse from chapter 10 and begin reading it out loud. The students with the flyswatters then have the task of running to the principle they feel best matches the message of that verse and slap it with their flyswatter. Their team members back at their desks may feel free to shout out and help direct them to the correct match. The catch is, once you have slapped a principle, you are committed to that one and cannot change your mind. Whoever slaps the correct principle first, wins a point. Now, if every one of the team representatives has chosen the incorrect poster, you give all another chance all at once to slap a different poster until the correct answer has been identified. Now there are some principles included on the posters that do not match any of the verses at all. And I feel that just keeps the game more interesting and a bit more challenging.
I’ll make the posters themselves available for download if you’re interested, but I would recommend that you print them on cardstock because the flyswatters can sometimes rip the regular type of paper when slapped.
Here are the answers though. And for our purposes here, I’ll do them in order, but I recommend you do them out of order in your classes so that students don’t look ahead and anticipate the next answer.
10:1
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
The match is: Remember that God has given you POWER to help people physically and spiritually.
Jesus gives his witnesses power over all that is unclean. To heal “ALL MANNER” of sickness and “ALL MANNER” of disease. So that would include spiritual, emotional, relational, financial, social, and even physical diseases.
10:8
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
The match is: Be willing to give freely to anybody the gift of the gospel that you have received. We must remember that God invites ALL to come unto him. We have been fortunate enough to have been freely blessed with the fruit of the tree of life, and therefore, we must make an effort to give that fruit to others. To salt the earth and let our light so shine. Do it freely.
10:9-10
9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
The match is: Rely on the Lord and forget your worldly needs and concerns. Now I don’t believe that we literally live that instruction in the way they did back then, but the principle upon which it’s based still holds true. To do God’s work, we’re going to need to rely on him and put our physical and worldly concerns behind us. I believe this particularly holds true when it comes to full-time missionary service. Our focus centers more on the eternal than the temporal, the spiritual than the material.
10:16
16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
The match is: Be cautious and careful, but gentle and non-threatening. That’s a great way to describe the ideal missionary approach. Be wise, pragmatic, and vigilant. Study, be prepared for questions, learn the best ways to deal with people, but at the same time, be completely genuine and sincere in your motives. Don’t be confrontational, contentious, or combative as you seek to share the gospel.
10:17
17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
The match is: Expect opposition, it won’t be easy. Anyone who has attempted to share the gospel or has served a full-time mission knows what Jesus is talking about here. There WILL be challenges. People will persecute and ridicule and oppose you. The adversary is not going to give up his power over others easily. So don’t be surprised when things get tough. It’s all a part of the call.
10:19-20
19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
The match is : Rely on the Spirit, He will give you the words to say. The Doctrine and Covenants promised that as long as we are willing to open our mouths, then the Spirit will fill them with the words to say (Doctrine and Covenants 33:8). We just need demonstrate our faith to call on that power and place ourselves as instruments in God’s hands. I can think of many times in my church callings, my missionary service, or as a teacher where I’ve felt the Spirit giving me the words to say. I just had to open my mouth.
10:28
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
The match is: Don’t be afraid, even of death, only sin. Fear is the tool of the adversary. God works by faith. So there is no reason to fear what man can do. Even if you were to lose your life sharing the gospel, all that is happening is that you’re getting your transfer to the Spirit World a little earlier than you probably would prefer, but the state of your soul is fine. But, If you allow the adversary to defeat you, that can have eternal consequences. Even if you live a long and healthy life, it’s temporary. Eternity is a long time and sin is the greater tragedy.
10:29-31
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
The match is: Remember that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. And yes, I realize that Jesus is speaking to the apostles and the value of their lives in this case. But the principle holds true for all of God’s children. These verses are highlighting the worth of souls. If God notices and cares about sparrows that men value so cheaply, then certainly God knows and cares about you. You are of way more value than many sparrows. And so are the people you are teaching. There is no one out there that is not a beloved son or daughter of our Heavenly Father. There is no one you can meet who doesn’t have the potential to become gods or goddesses in the next life. We must strive to remember that as we serve.
10:40
40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
The match is: You are a representative of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. That may be one of the most wonderful things about missionary service. It’s one of the most Christlike things you can do. For full-time missionaries, there is something beautiful about the name tag that you wear. Nowhere on that tag do we find our own name. People didn’t call me Ben on my mission. I was Elder Wilcox. Yet, there ARE three names on that tag though-the three things you do represent as you serve. What are they? You represent your family, your church, and Jesus Christ. Those are the names we find there. And how refreshing it is to not be focused on us during our service, but completely on others. That’s what Christ spent his life doing. And if we are meant to become “even as he is” and to “receive his image in our countenances”, then sharing the gospel is one of the greatest ways to do that. Those that receive us, are actually receiving him. What a privilege!
And now, we’ll add just one more principle from chapter 11.
11:1
And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
The match is: You are not working alone. Christ will work with you. You’ll notice in this verse that Jesus doesn’t just send his apostles out to teach the gospel while he sits back and watches. He goes out and works too. He works with us, side by side.
After the game, I would invite my students to look around the room at the posters we just highlighted and to write in a journal or on a piece of paper their answer to the following question:
Which instruction do you feel was the most important for you to hear today? Why?
CONCLUSION
And to conclude, I would just want to point out some of the blessings the Lord promises those who seek to preach the gospel with others. In 10:22 he promises that we will be saved. In 10:32 “32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” And then 10:39 “39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” So there you have it. It’s actually a good thing to be a loser! If we give up the concerns and priorities of our temporal lives in the service of God, then we will gain a far better life in the world to come—eternal life.
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