Matthew 16-17

Lesson Quotes:

Chad Webb
“More recently, Elder Robert D. Hales made a statement that has caused me much reflection. He said, “We watch, hear, read, study, and share the words of prophets to be forewarned and protected. For example, ‘The Family: A Proclamation to the World’ was given long before we experienced the challenges now facing the family.” And then he added this thought, “‘The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles’ was prepared in advance of when we will need it most.”


“I am not one who is given to gloom and doom, but it has become evident why the proclamation was given in advance of the strong winds that have been blowing against traditional families. And to hear a prophet say that the “Living Christ” document was given “in advance of when we will need it most” makes me think that additional winds will be blowing, battering the faith of our students and our children.”  (“We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ”, S&I Training Broadcast June 2018)

President Joseph Fielding Smith
“The Spirit of God speaking to the spirit of man has power to impart truth with greater effect and understanding than the truth can be imparted by personal contact even with heavenly beings. Through the Holy Ghost the truth is woven into the very fiber and sinews of the body so that it cannot be forgotten” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith [2013], 183-84)

President Russell M. Nelson
“Keys are important and valuable. Most of us carry keys in pockets or purses wherever we go. Other keys are not only important and valuable; they are precious, powerful, and invisible! They have eternal significance. They are the keys of the priesthood.

“Priesthood is the authority of God delegated to man to minister for the salvation of men. ‘The power of directing these labors constitutes the keys of the Priesthood’ [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (1998),141]. We distinguish between holding the priesthood and holding keys of the priesthood. When an individual is given keys, he does not receive additional priesthood. What he has is the right to direct the work of the priesthood” (“Keys of the Priesthood,” Ensign, Oct. 2005, 40).

Prophet Joseph Smith
“Jesus in His teachings says, ‘Upon this rock I will build my Church. …’ [Matthew 16:18.] What rock? Revelation” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 195).

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded upon direct revelation, as the true Church of God has ever been, according to the Scriptures (Amos 3:7, and Acts 1:2)” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 195).

Elder David A. Bednar

“I invite each of you to consider how you would respond to the following question posed to the members of the Church many years ago by President David O. McKay: ‘If at this moment each one of you were asked to state in one sentence or phrase the most distinguishing feature of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what would be your answer?’ (“The Mission of the Church and Its Members,” Improvement Era, Nov. 1956, 781).

“The response President McKay gave to his own question was the ‘divine authority’ of the priesthood. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands apart from other churches that claim their authority is derived from historical succession, the scriptures, or theological training. We make the distinctive declaration that priesthood authority has been conferred by the laying on of hands directly from heavenly messengers to the Prophet Joseph Smith” (“The Powers of Heaven,” Ensign, May 2012, 48).

Quotes from Elder Bruce R. McConkie Handout

Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles summarized what we know took place on the Mount of Transfiguration:

“(1) Jesus singled out Peter, James, and John from the rest of the Twelve; took them upon an unnamed mountain; there he was transfigured before them, and they beheld his glory. … [Peter] said they ‘were eyewitnesses of his majesty.’ (2 Pet. 1:16.)

“(2) Peter, James, and John, were themselves ‘transfigured before him’ [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 105], … thus enabling them to entertain angels, see visions and comprehend the things of God. …

“(3) Moses and Elijah—two ancient prophets who were translated and taken to heaven without tasting death, so they could return with tangible bodies on this very occasion, an occasion preceding the day of resurrection—appeared on the mountain; and they and Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter, James, and John [see Teachings: Joseph Smith, 105].

“(4) John the Baptist, previously beheaded by Herod, apparently was also present. …

“(5) Peter, James, and John saw in vision the transfiguration of the earth, that is, they saw it renewed and returned to its paradisiacal state—an event that is to take place at the Second Coming when the millennial era is ushered in. [D&C 63:20–21.]

“(6) It appears that Peter, James, and John received their own endowments while on the mountain. [See Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. (1954–56), 2:165.] … It also appears that it was while on the mount that they received the more sure word of prophecy, it then being revealed to them that they were sealed up unto eternal life. (2 Pet. 1:16–19; D&C 131:5.)

“(7) Apparently Jesus himself was strengthened and encouraged by Moses and Elijah so as to be prepared for the infinite sufferings and agony ahead of him in connection with working out the infinite and eternal atonement. [See James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. (1916), 373.] …

“(8) Certainly the three chosen apostles were taught in plainness ‘of his death, and also his resurrection’ [Joseph Smith Translation, Luke 9:31 (in Luke 9:31, footnote a)]. …

“(9) It should also have been apparent to them that the old dispensations of the past had faded away, that the law (of which Moses was the symbol) and the prophets (of whom Elijah was the typifying representative) were subject to Him whom they were now commanded to hear.

“(10) Apparently God the Father, overshadowed and hidden by a cloud, was present on the mountain” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:399–401).

Joseph Smith Translation, Mark 9:3 (in Mark 9:4, footnote a), indicates that John the Baptist, who had been martyred but not yet resurrected, also appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration. Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles suggested a reason why John the Baptist was present:

“It is not to be understood that John the Baptist was the Elias who appeared with Moses to confer keys and authority upon those who then held the Melchizedek Priesthood, which higher priesthood already embraced and included all of the authority and power John had held and exercised during his ministry. Rather, for some reason that remains unknown—because of the partial record of the proceedings—John played some other part in the glorious manifestations then vouchsafed to mortals. Perhaps he was there, as the last legal administrator under the Old Covenant, to symbolize that the law was fulfilled and all old things were done away, thus contrasting his position with that of Peter, James, and John who were then becoming the ‘first’ legal administrators of the New Kingdom” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:404).