Mosiah 15: The Father and the Son

I n The Book of Mormon, there is an account of the prophet Abinidi. In preaching to King Noah, Abinidi spoke words that have baffled many.

“And now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.
And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—
The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—
And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.
And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.”

Many have scratched their heads when trying to understand these verses. Let me explain what helps me personally understand them better. Let me substitute the word “Son” with “mortal”, and the word “Father” with “immortal”.

‘God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.
And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called mortal, and having subjected the flesh to the immortal, being both immortal and mortal—
Immortal, because he was conceived by the power of God; and mortal, because of the flesh; thus becoming both immortal and mortal—
... And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the mortal to the immortal, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.’

Jesus is unique in all of the history of the world; for He is the only person ever born on this earth that was both mortal and immortal! He had a mortal mother and an Immortal Father. This is the very thing that gave Him the power to redeem all of mankind! And that is the point Abinidi is explaining.

And so, Jesus is both mortal and immortal! He is both “the Father and the Son—The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son“. He is mortal because Mary is His mother. He is immortal because God is His Father.

But if this is the case, why did Abinidi simply not use the words mortal and immortal instead of the Father and the Son? I’ll provide a possible reason, but first…

Jesus could not be a personal God if He was not mortal (the Son). He could not be a saving God if He was not immortal (the Father). Jesus needed to be both mortal and immortal to be able to accomplish the atonement.

Without being immortal (the Father), Jesus could not accomplish the atonement because 1) the pain of the atonement would cause a mortal would succumb to death before the full price could be paid, and 2) the atonement required an infinite and eternal and perfect sacrifice, not a mortal, temporal, imperfect one.

But Jesus also needed to be mortal (the Son). He needed to experience everything that we mortals experience—and experience them as a mortal—and still remain sinless and unblemished. Jesus never unfairly used His immortal side to live His perfect, sinless life.

The preparations for the atonement were the entirety of Jesus's mortal life before the Garden of Gethsemane, and those preparations were absolutely required before Jesus could be a perfect and worthy sacrifice. And Jesus needed to be mortal (the Son) to experience those preparations.

Then once the preparations had been made, the atonement could be offered for all of God’s children. And Jesus had to be immortal (the Father) to both 1) accomplish and 2) endure that atonement.

Why The Confusion

To return the question posed above, why did Abinidi simply not use the words mortal and immortal instead of the Father and the Son?

The short answer is that “the Father” and “the Son” are simply titles that Jesus is known by, titles that evoke the concepts of “mortal” and “immortal” (just as the title of Messiah evokes the concept of redemption).

The long answer:

We are usually familiar with the explanations as to when and in what contexts Jesus can rightfully be called “the Father”. There is a very clear First Presidency statement on this matter. But are we equally familiar with the explanations as to when and in what contexts Jesus can rightfully be called “the Son”? After all, Jesus isn’t always referred to as the Son of God. And, be it remembered that Abinadi is prophesying at a time before Jesus' birth.

So, what title was Jesus known by in Abinidi’s time? Most likely, He was known simply as “God”. In all of his sermons, Abinidi consistently referred to Jesus as simply “God”. Even in the verse under discussion, Abinidi says “God himself shall come down among the children of men”.

If this was the title that Jesus was known by, and then Abinidi introduced the titles of “the Father” and “the Son”, then both titles would require some explanation and clarification on Abinidi’s part, would they not? And so, Abinadi explains how and in what ways God Himself is “the Father” and how and in what ways He is “the Son”. In this context, read these verses again:

“God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.

And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—“

Abinidi has introduced two new titles, so he explains what they mean:

“The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—And they are one God”.

Abindi is explaining that he is still talking about the same person, this one God he has been referring to the whole time.

Conclusion

As a final note, consider these words spoken by Jesus to Nephi the prophet just before He (Jesus) was about to born into this world:

“On the morrow come I into the world... Behold, I come unto my own…, to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son—of the Father because of me, and of the Son because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand...”

It is not coincidental that Jesus referred to Himself as this dualistic Father and Son right before He was about to be born. He was just about to become both mortal and immortal! He, Immortal, was just about to be born Mortal. He was just about to become both the Father and the Son! He was just about to live the demands both mortality and immortality, and remain perfect throughout it all. He was just about to "do the will, both of the Father (immortal) and of the Son (mortal)." Can any more pure and perfect doctrine be found in all of holy writ?

And further, are we asked to believe that Joseph Smith not only made up such perfect doctrine, but that he knew precisely where to include this marvelous doctrine, right before Christ's birth; at the exact moment when Christ became both the Father and the Son; both immortal and mortal? Such assertions stretch the bounds of reasons well beyond imagination. The Book of Mormon is true.

A Past Talk

If you are interested in even further exposition on these concepts, here is a Christmas talk I wrote a few years back:

“The Father hath life in himself.” Life dwells in God independently. In other words, the Father is an immortal, exalted, resurrected being of flesh and bones who cannot die. This was one of the transcendent and fundamental truths restored in the first vision given to Joseph Smith.

Mortal man does not have life within himself as God does. Life does not dwell independently within mortals. All mortal life depends upon God, and the life that dwells independently in him, to sustain their own life. All things live because of the Father. He is the source of life; and the one who upholds, preserves, and continues it.

The Father hath given to the Son to have life in himself. Said Jesus: “As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” Life dwells in the Father independently. And he has given this same power to the Son; the Son inherits from the Father; an immortal Father passes on to his mortal Son the power of immortality; it comes as a natural inheritance. The Son inherited the power of immortality from His Father. (These two paragraphs are based on many scriptures in John.)

Only Jesus could bring about the resurrection of all mankind and redeem us from our sins. God the Father gave him this power. In Helaman 5:11 we read that the Son “hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem all mankind from their sins because of repentance”. The power of immortality is, in part at least, the power that the Father gave to the Son to enable Him to redeem mankind, which power He received as a natural inheritance.

This power of immortality was essential to the Saviorʼs ability to accomplish and endure the atonement, for the extreme suffering associated with the atonement was beyond the power of mortal man either to accomplish or endure.

Mortal man could not accomplish the atonement because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Because we have all broken the laws of God, none of us are able to pay the price for the sins the world. Only a sinless sacrifice, only an infinite and eternal sacrifice (remember the power of immortality that was given by the Father to the Son); only an infinite and eternal sacrifice will suffice for the sins of the world.

Neither could mortal man endure the suffering of the atonement because the mortal body would succumb to death under such duress. For behold, Christ did suffer “temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than mortal man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood came from every pore, so great was his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.”

Only Christ, who had the power of immortality given to Him by the Father, could accomplish and endure the atonement. This power of immortality, this power to accomplish and endure the atonement, this power to redeem all mankind was given to Christ from the Father through the birthing process. From God who is His Father Jesus Christ inherited the power of immortality, the power to live forever. From Mary, who is his mother, Jesus inherited the power of mortality, the power to die. Jesus only of all mankind--Jesus the Son of the Living God, Jesus the Son of the mortal virgin--this One Man of all men had power to live or to die. This then is the miracle of Jesus, the miracle of His birth, life, mission, and atoning sacrifice. Because Jesus Christ is the literal Son of God, he has power given unto Him from the Father to save and exalt all who will in the sincerity of their hearts obey His gospel and believe in him AS the Literal, Eternal Son of the Literal, Eternal Father.