3 Nephi 17

Verses 1-4: Go and Ponder

What does this reveal about the atonement?

Christ's atonement allows for our spiritual progress and increase of knowledge, which go hand in hand. His great gift is all about giving us everything He has and is- even though we don't deserve it, and that includes, and also necessitates, a deep personal understanding of the gospel and the Savior's mission. This is what He desires for each individual present when He instructs them to go to their homes and ponder and pray for understanding.

Lesson for me?

*I can carry out this commandment every day by continuing to seek understanding through pondering and prayer. In this way I can begin to claim the inestimable blessings He holds in store for me.

Verses 6-10: Healing

What does this teach me about the atonement?

This entire passage is symbolic of the spiritual healing Christ offers to all of us. We all have spiritual blind and deaf spots. We are spiritually and  emotionally halt and maimed, and spiritually lame.  And he heals us all!

When He tells the multitude that He has compassion for them, He means it. He literally and perfectly knows their pain.  Thus He finds joy in this healing work.

Lesson for me?

*As I go about my daily interactions, I can emulate my Savior by taking the attitude of a compassionate healer- trying to understand others' feelings as best I can, and helping to heal their pain through love.

Verses 11-25: Prayer & Little Ones

What does this teach me about the atonement?

This is perhaps the most beautiful account of the Savior's interaction with His beloved children in all of scripture. This demonstrates the attitude of One who sacrificed all for the love of another. The little ones are meant to represent all of us. By bringing them all forward, He shows us our spiritual potential. We are all little ones in His eyes: Gods and Goddesses in infancy. By focusing on Him and taking His perspective, we become what He knows we can be with His help. "Become as a little child," He instructs, a continual beginner. Because He atoned for us and gave us repentance, we can be made innocent again. We can try and fail, taking stumbling steps on the path of  discipleship, maturing by degree under His loving parentage, eventually becoming as He is.

The prayer He offered with words defying reduction to man's alphabets, begetting a joy our language has no words for, gave the multitude a tiny taste of what awaits them if they continue in Christ and His doctrine. And then He wept for the joy He felt in loving them and looking on their joy. That's the joy He's promised all of us.

Lesson for me?

*Just as "The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as [the multitude] saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him (1 Corinthians 2:9)." 

That scripture came to reassure my heart once during a time of great despair and discouragement, and here it is again, just to give me energy to keep buggering on.  Don't ever trade inconceivable joy for a moment's pleasure, excitement or ease or a fleeting feeling of power over others. Stay with Christ and His love.