Jesus then said unto all the people gathered that morning, “Now I finish the commandment which the Father hath commanded me concerning this people, who are a remnant of the house of Israel” (20:10). Jesus had been commanded to tell this people that they were part of God’s covenant people, that God had not forgotten them, that he would never forget them, that they would be gathered and blessed with all the blessings he had promised.
In some ways this is a simple message, and it runs throughout chapters 20–26. In the Lord’s due time, righteous remnants of covenant keepers will be organized to spiritually build a new templed Jerusalem (20:22). It will be beautiful and safe beyond words (22:8–17). Its purpose will be to prepare parents, children, ancestors, and posterity to welcome the final coming and reigning of the Lord (24:1; 25:2, 6). “A sign” will be given by which people in the future will know that this “work of the Father hath already commenced” in fulfilling all his promises to the covenant house of Israel (21:1, 2, 7). That sign is the beginning of “a great and a marvelous work” (20:9), promised by Isaiah and foreseen by Micah, of the coming forth of the Nephite record (20:2–7).
While simple in essence, human life is also complex. And, most certainly, this complicated block of scripture is extremely difficult to follow. It is certainly one of the most challenging sections in the Book of Mormon. Jesus even said to the people that he knew they would have a hard time understanding these things (17:2), and thus he first prepared their leaders (3 Nephi 15–16), healed and blessed them with his loving kindness (3 Nephi 17), obtained their promise that they would remember him always and keep his commandments (3 Neph 18), and saw that they had truly received the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 19), and then the stage was set on which he could expound these things, which had long been prophesied, and could put them all into eternal perspective.
This text has been called by Victor Ludlow “The Father’s Covenant People Sermon.” Others call it the “Covenant Sermon” for short. It is clearly all about God’s everlasting “covenant.” That word (either covenant or covenanted) appears 17 times here, distributed throughout the text. Interestingly, the word covenant never appears in the plural here. This Sermon focuses only on one covenant, the Father’s covenant with his people through the “seed” of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham (20:25, 27), promising eternal posterity and a place of everlasting inheritance, through the preaching of “the fulness of [Christ’s] gospel,” which “shall be preached unto them, and they shall be believe” that Jesus Christ is “the Son of God” (20:30–31).
In a way, this sermon on Day 2 balances the Sermon at the Temple given by Jesus on Day 1 (in 3 Nephi 12:1–16:20). It picks up on Day 2 (see 20:11) with a quote from Isaiah 52:8, which is where Jesus had left off the day before (quoted in 16:18). But the discourse on Day 1 was largely focused on personal righteousness. Here on Day 2 the subject of attention shifts to the collective well-being of the entire covenant people, in all of its scattered branches.
Notice also that on Day 1, as Jesus spoke the words found in 3 Nephi 15:11–16:20, he addressed his remarks only to the twelve disciples whom he had chosen, beginning to explain to them things about the great covenant that he had entered into with his people Israel (see 15:11). But he held off. Here, in 3 Nephi 20:10–23:5, he resumes speaking about that same subject, but now he explains this subject to the entire multitude. As you look at the similarities and differences between these two presentations, see if the difference in audience helps you better understand what Jesus says here and what the meaning and the remaining future fulfillment of this covenant might be.
And here, on Day 2, the text becomes very intimate in another way. Now Jesus, as Jehovah, speaks even more directly than before on behalf of the Father.
In multiple instances, the resounding use of first-person pronouns here in 3 Nephi 20–21 personalize this powerful text: “I will establish,” “I made,” “I will be,” “I will return,” “I will remember,” “I would give,” “I shall declare,” “I will cut off,” “I will pluck,” “I also will be in their midst,” “I will go before them,” etc. This use of first-person divine declarations rivals Leviticus 26, the other great example in scripture of the personal delivery by God of his words of promises and assurances given directly to his covenant people.
Throughout this extended discourse, it is clear what Jesus’s main theme is. It is all about the covenant of his Father with his people. In 3 Nephi 20–21, the word “Father” saliently appears 39 times, the word “people” appears 35 times, and “covenant” is there 20 times.
Amidst the explanations given in this covenant sermon, Jesus uses several key words and memorable expressions. Watch for these interlocking pieces, especially as they are sometimes used more than once. For example, what can be understand here about the meaning of:
In general, as you read these chapters, ask yourself on each page, “What do I learn here about Jesus Christ? About the Father and the Godhead? About the meaning of otherwise opaque prophetic words of Isaiah and Micah? About what the Father would have you do in your life and in this world today?”