Where we are
This is the chapter of the Three Nephites — the three disciples who, like John the Beloved, asked to tarry on the earth, never tasting death, until the Lord comes again, that they might keep bringing souls to Christ while the world stands. It is one of the most beloved and mysterious chapters in the Book of Mormon, and at its heart is a beautiful contrast of holy desires: nine disciples ask for rest — to finish their ministry and come quickly to Christ's kingdom — and three ask for labor without end — to stay on the earth, ministering, until the last day. Both desires are blessed; but the three are called more blessed, because they chose the harder and more loving path: to forgo rest, to keep laboring, to bring the souls of men to Christ for as long as the world endures. The chapter is a meditation on love that chooses ongoing service over reward, and on the mystery of the translated — those changed so they cannot die, sanctified in the flesh, ministering unseen among the nations.
Begin with the question and the two desires. Before he departs, Jesus asks each disciple, one by one — the individual attention again — What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father? (v. 1). And nine answer the same: We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry... may have an end, that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom (v. 2). This is a good and blessed desire — to serve faithfully through a normal lifespan and then come quickly to Christ, to find rest (v. 3). There is nothing wrong with longing for the rest of God's kingdom; Christ blesses them and grants it: after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest (v. 3). But three disciples sorrow in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired (v. 5) — their desire was so bold, so seemingly presumptuous, that they could not bring themselves to ask it. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, names it for them: ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved... desired of me (v. 6) — the desire to tarry, to remain on the earth, never tasting death, until the Lord returns.
And Christ calls this desire more blessed: more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory (v. 7). Why is the desire to tarry — to keep laboring, never resting — more blessed than the desire for rest? The answer is in verse 9: all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand. The three did not ask to tarry for their own sake — not to avoid death, not for a longer life — but to keep bringing souls to Christ. Their desire was love: the longing to go on saving souls, to go on laboring in the harvest, for as long as the world endures. The nine desired rest; the three desired more labor — and the more loving desire, the desire to keep serving rather than to be rewarded, is more blessed. The word study below opens up the translation by which they are kept; but the heart of the chapter is this: that the highest desire a disciple can have is not for his own rest but for the salvation of others, and that the Lord honors the soul who would rather keep working in the harvest than go home to the reward.
And the chapter describes the change wrought upon them — the translation. They shall never taste of death... shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality (v. 8); they shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world (v. 9). They are caught up to heaven and transfigured, seeing unspeakable things (vv. 13–15). And Mormon, who has seen them and to whom they have ministered (v. 26), describes their preservation: the prisons could not hold them, the earth could not bury them, thrice they were cast into a furnace and received no harm, and twice... into a den of wild beasts; and behold they did play with the beasts as a child with a suckling lamb (vv. 19–22). And when Mormon later inquires of the Lord, he learns the nature of the change: there was a change wrought upon their bodies, that they might not taste of death... that Satan could have no power over them, that he could not tempt them; and they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy (vv. 37–39) — a translation that holds until the judgment day, when they will receive a greater change and dwell with God eternally (v. 40). The three are sanctified in the flesh, deathless, untemptable, ministering unseen among the nations as the angels of God (v. 30), working great and marvelous works until the last day — all because they desired, above their own rest, to bring the souls of men to Christ while the world stands.
The chapter has three movements.
- The two desires (vv. 1–11). Christ asks each disciple what he desires; nine ask for rest at the age of man and are granted it; three desire to tarry like John, and are called more blessed — they shall never taste death but live to bring souls to Christ until he comes in glory, becoming even as he is.
- The change and the deliverances (vv. 12–23). The three are caught up, transfigured, seeing unspeakable things; they minister among all the people, and no prison, pit, furnace, or wild beast can harm them; they bring many to the church of Christ.
- The mystery of the translated (vv. 24–40). Mormon has seen them; they minister unseen among Gentiles and Jews and all nations, as the angels of God, working great works before the judgment; wo to those who reject Christ's words and his sent ones; the change wrought on their bodies — sanctified in the flesh, deathless, untemptable, until the judgment day brings a greater change.
The verses to carry are these. Verse 7 names the gift — ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father... when I shall come in my glory. Verse 9 names the reason — ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand. And verse 39 names the change — they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy. The chapter exists to give the gift of the three who tarry — the love that chose ongoing ministry over rest, and the mystery of the translated who bring souls to Christ, unseen among the nations, while the world stands.
The two desires: rest, and labor without end (verses 1–11)
And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand. — 3 Nephi 28:9
Before he departs, Christ turns to his twelve and asks each one, one by one, a tender and searching question: What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father? (v. 1). It is the same question he asked at the start of the chapter before (what will ye that I shall give unto you?) — the Lord inviting his servants to name their deepest desire. And nine of them answer the same: we desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry... may have an end, that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom (v. 2). This is a holy and blessed desire — to serve faithfully through a full life and then come quickly to Christ, to find rest (v. 3) in his kingdom. The longing for the rest of God is no small or selfish thing; the weary servant who longs to go home to his Lord is honored, and Christ grants the request: after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest (v. 3). There is no rebuke here. To desire rest with Christ is good.
But three disciples sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired (v. 5). Their desire was so bold that they could not voice it — perhaps it seemed presumptuous, perhaps too much to ask. And Christ, knowing their thoughts, names it for them: ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews, desired of me (v. 6). They had desired what John the Beloved desired — to tarry, to remain on the earth, never tasting death, until the Lord's return. And Christ calls this more blessed: more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death (v. 7). Why more blessed? Not because tarrying is inherently better than resting, but because of the motive — which Christ names with precision in verse 9: ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand. The three did not ask to tarry for themselves — not to avoid death, not for a longer or easier life. They asked to stay so they could keep saving souls. Their desire was pure love — the longing to go on laboring in the harvest, to keep bringing the lost to Christ, for as long as the world endures. The nine desired rest; the three desired more labor — and the desire to keep serving, to forgo one's own reward for the sake of others' salvation, is more blessed.
There is a profound teaching here about the hierarchy of holy desires. It is good to desire rest with Christ — the nine are blessed. But it is more blessed to desire to keep working in the harvest, to lay down even the longing for one's own rest for the sake of bringing souls to Christ. This is the very heart of Christ himself, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross — who chose the labor of saving rather than the ease of glory. The three Nephites, in desiring to tarry and labor and bring souls to Christ while the world stands, were desiring to be like him — and so Christ promises them the highest blessing: ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one (v. 10). The desire to keep saving souls is the desire to share Christ's own heart and work, and so it draws the three into the very oneness of the Godhead — even as I am. And it is rewarded with fulness of joy: for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy... even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy (v. 10). The joy of the laborer who never stops bringing souls home is full, as full as the Father's own — for there is no greater joy than the joy of saving, and those who choose it over their own rest enter into the very fulness of the joy of God.
The change and the deliverances (verses 12–23)
And they were cast into prison by them who did not belong to the church. And the prisons could not hold them, for they were rent in twain... And thrice they were cast into a furnace and received no harm. And twice were they cast into a den of wild beasts; and behold they did play with the beasts as a child with a suckling lamb, and received no harm. — 3 Nephi 28:19, 21–22
Christ then touches every one of them with his finger save it were the three who were to tarry (v. 12) — the nine touched (perhaps the moment of their blessing), the three not touched, for their change would be of a different kind. And the three are caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things (v. 13) — forbidden... that they should utter (v. 14), a transfiguration in which they were changed from this body of flesh into an immortal state, that they could behold the things of God (v. 15). They return to minister, but did not minister of the things which they had heard and seen, because of the commandment (v. 16) — keeping the sacred things sacred.
And then Mormon describes their deliverances, and the catalog is a litany of impossibility overcome. They minister unto all the people, uniting as many to the church as would believe... baptizing them (v. 18). And when the wicked try to stop them, nothing can: they were cast into prison... and the prisons could not hold them, for they were rent in twain (v. 19); cast down into the earth; but they did smite the earth with the word of God... and were delivered out of the depths (v. 20); thrice they were cast into a furnace and received no harm (v. 21); twice... into a den of wild beasts; and behold they did play with the beasts as a child with a suckling lamb (v. 22). The echoes of scripture are deliberate and rich: the prison rent (like Peter's, like Nephi and Lehi's), the furnace unharmed (like the three young men in Daniel), the wild beasts tamed (like Daniel in the lions' den). The Three Nephites are heirs of every deliverance in the record — preserved through fire and beast and prison and earth, because their work is not finished and cannot be stopped. There is a beautiful image in the beasts: they did play with the beasts as a child with a suckling lamb — not merely surviving the lions but playing with them, the deathless saints so at peace, so beyond the power of harm, that a den of wild beasts becomes a nursery. And the fruit of it all is salvation: they did preach the gospel of Christ unto all people upon the face of the land; and they were converted unto the Lord, and were united unto the church of Christ (v. 23). The desire of the three — to bring the souls of men unto Christ — is fulfilled: through every deliverance, they keep gathering souls into the church, unstoppable, until the whole people is blessed.
The mystery of the translated (verses 24–40)
And it came to pass that thus did the three did go forth among all the people of Nephi... Now this change was not equal to that which shall take place at the last day; but there was a change wrought upon them, insomuch that Satan could have no power over them... and they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy. — 3 Nephi 28:39
Mormon then speaks personally and tenderly of the three, for they are not merely figures of the past: I have seen them, and they have ministered unto me (v. 26). Mormon himself, a thousand years later, was ministered to by the Three Nephites — they were still on the earth, still laboring, in his own day. And their ministry reaches far beyond the Nephites: they will be among the Gentiles, and the Gentiles shall know them not. They will also be among the Jews, and the Jews shall know them not (vv. 27–28) — they move unseen among all peoples, unrecognized, doing their hidden work. When the Lord seeth fit... they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations... and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls (v. 29) — their desire to bring souls to Christ extends to all the world, all the scattered, all the nations, until the last day. They are as the angels of God, and if they shall pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus they can show themselves unto whatsoever man it seemeth them good (v. 30) — angelic ministers, appearing and disappearing, working great and marvelous works... before the great and coming day of judgment (v. 31). And Mormon adds a solemn warning: wo be unto him that will not hearken unto the words of Jesus, and also to them whom he hath chosen and sent among them; for whoso receiveth not the words of Jesus and the words of those whom he hath sent receiveth not him (v. 34). To reject the Lord's messengers — including these three — is to reject the Lord himself.
And finally Mormon, who had honestly confessed his uncertainty about the nature of their change (whether they were mortal or immortal... I know not, v. 17), tells us he inquired of the Lord, and received the answer: there must needs be a change wrought upon their bodies, or else it needs be that they must taste of death; therefore, that they might not taste of death there was a change wrought upon their bodies (v. 37). The word study below opens up this translation; but Mormon describes its effects precisely. The change is not equal to that which shall take place at the last day (the full resurrection), but there was a change wrought upon them, insomuch that Satan could have no power over them, that he could not tempt them; and they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy, and that the powers of the earth could not hold them (v. 39). The translated state is a partial transformation — not full immortality, but a sanctification in the flesh that places them beyond death, beyond Satan's power, beyond temptation, beyond the reach of fire and beast and prison. They are holy, deathless, untemptable, kept in this state... until the judgment day of Christ, when they will receive a greater change, and... be received into the kingdom of the Father to go no more out (v. 40). The three who desired, above their own rest, to keep bringing souls to Christ, are given exactly what they asked: an unending ministry, a sanctified and deathless life, the power to labor in the harvest until the last day — and at last, the greater change and the eternal dwelling with God. The chapter that began with two holy desires — rest and labor — ends with the three laborers sanctified in the flesh, ministering unseen among the nations, as the angels of God, bringing souls to Christ while the world stands, until the day they too come home.
How the chapter is built
3 Nephi 28 is built around a contrast of holy desires, and Mormon structures it so that the choice between rest and labor reveals the heart of true love. The chapter opens with the nine who desire rest (vv. 2–3) and the three who desire to tarry and labor (vv. 5–10); it develops the cost and gift of the three's choice (the change, the deliverances, vv. 12–23); and it closes with the mystery and purpose of their translated state (vv. 24–40). The architecture sets the two desires side by side without disparaging either — the nine are blessed, the three more blessed — so that the reader sees that both the longing for rest and the longing for endless labor are holy, but that the more loving desire, the desire to keep saving souls rather than to receive one's own reward, is the higher. Mormon builds the chapter so that the central revelation is verse 9 — ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me — the motive that makes the three more blessed. The structure preaches that the highest desire a disciple can have is not for his own salvation or rest but for the salvation of others, and that the Lord honors above all the heart that would rather keep working in the harvest than go home to the reward.
And the chapter is built as the bridge between Christ's ministry and the ongoing work that continues after his ascension and even after the Nephite nation's fall. By establishing that three disciples tarry — deathless, untiring, ministering unseen among all nations until the last day — Mormon connects the ancient Christophany to every age after, including his own (he was ministered to by them) and the latter days (they will be among the Gentiles and the Jews, working great works before the judgment). The Three Nephites are the living thread that ties the events of 3 Nephi to the whole future of the world: the gathering of Israel, the work among the Gentiles, the bringing of souls to Christ in every nation, all continue through these deathless laborers. Mormon structures the chapter so that the reader understands that Christ's work did not end when he ascended; it continues, unseen, through translated servants who labor on, as the angels of God, until the day of judgment. And the chapter's deepest gift to the reader is its model of love: that the highest blessing belongs to those who, like the Three and like John and like Christ himself, would rather keep bringing souls to the Savior than receive their own rest — that the fulness of joy is found not in being saved but in saving, not in resting but in laboring in the harvest of the Lord until the world shall stand no more.