Just as the good tidings to Mary concerned the advent of the Savior, so they do for Benjamin. Of course, the timing is significantly different. For Mary, the event was imminent—a matter of months. For Benjamin, this event lay over a century in the future. Why, given such a difference, would this particular piece of news come to Benjamin now? I suggest that the reason is associated with the larger timing of the new king and the new covenant.
It does not seem likely that the Messiah’s mission was itself new to the people. Although Mosiah 3:5–11 is a catalog of Jesus’s earthly ministry and his atonement, much of the substance of this revelation had been available for generations through the small plates of Nephi; and surely the believing descendants of Nephi who came to Zarahemla would have shared these crucially important teachings with the people of Zarahemla, since they had lost the knowledge of their creator (Omni 1:17). Therefore, in the two generations that had passed, the congregation assembled before Benjamin would have repeatedly heard the substance of Benjamin’s declaration about the Messiah’s mission. We know that they observe the law of Moses (Mosiah 2:3), which, in the New World, has included the hope of the Messiah since the days of Nephi (2 Ne. 25:24).
The numerous small differences in detail indicate that Benjamin received a vision of Jesus’ ministry and is reporting his own experience, rather than citing scripture. Even where there is thematic overlap, Benjamin is giving the information in a fresh way. Certainly his prophetic vision would dominate his recollection, despite his familiarity with the scriptures left by earlier prophets who had similar experiences. For example, Nephi had a similar vision, but it came in response to a personal question. Benjamin receives this information, not only as a result of his personal righteousness (although no mention is made of seeking more information on this point), but “that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy” (Mosiah 3:4). In contrast to Nephi’s personal experience, Benjamin’s is explicitly public.
Benjamin explains why this knowledge is the core of his sermon: Salvation comes through the name of Yahweh-Messiah (v. 17). This theological point, combined with Benjamin’s desire to give a new name to his people, explains the timing of the message. Benjamin is setting up his covenant with a powerful reminder of the importance of the name that they will bear.
Internal Reference: Even though Benjamin is citing his personal revelation of the Savior, many details were already available about Jesus’s ministry from the small plates of Nephi. For example, 1 Nephi 11:31 also notes Jesus’s healing of the sick: “And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men. And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.”
Significantly, despite the similarities, Benjamin adds new information: Jesus will raise the dead, give sight to the blind, and restore hearing to the deaf. Although Nephi certainly saw these acts of healing in vision, he does not list them among the recorded acts that he saw Jesus perform. Benjamin must be referring to his own revelation and not to Nephi’s revelation, at least not the version recorded on the small plates.
External Reference: One of the fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls discusses a Messiah who will redeem and resurrect (4Q521). Note that one of the aspects of this redeemer is healing.
[. . . For the hea]vens and the earth shall listen to His Messiah [and all w]hich is in them shall not turn away form the commandments of the holy ones. Strengthen yourselves, O you who seek the Lord, in His service.
Will you not find the Lord in this, all those who hope in their heart? For the Lord seeks the pious and calls the righteous by name. Over the humble His spirit hovers, and He renews the faithful in His strength. For He will honor the pious upon the th[ro]ne of His eternal kingdom, setting prisoners free, opening the eyes of the blind, raising up those who are bo[wed down]. And for [ev]er(?) I (?) shall hold fast [to] the [ho]peful and pious [. . .]
[. . .] shall not be delayed [. . .] and the Lord shall do glorious things which have not been done, just as He said. For He shall heal the critically wounded, He shall revive the dead, He shall send good news to the afflicted, He shall [. . . the…], He shall lead the [. . .] and the hungry He shall enrich (?).
John Tvedtnes references this fragment in his discussion of the Messiah in the Book of Mormon and in the Dead Sea Scrolls. He notes that: “Most of the elements found in this text are found in the messianic passage in Isaiah 61:1–3.” He also notes that the elements of the Messiah’s mission from both Isaiah and the Dead Sea Scrolls fragment appear in the Book of Mormon, though not all in the same place as they do in Isaiah or the Dead Sea Scrolls.