The Mesa Arizona Temple at Christmas (LDS.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I published this column in the Deseret News<\/em> on 8 December 2011:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the beginning was the Word,\u201d begins a Christmas story that we seldom read at Christmas, \u201cand the Word was with God, and the Word was God. \u2026 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us\u201d (John 1:1, 14).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe Greek verb translated as \u201cdwelt,\u201d \u201cskeneo,\u201d means \u201cto dwell in a tent\u201d \u2014 which, in Greek, is a \u201cskene.\u201d So John 1:14 could be rendered as \u201cAnd the Word was made flesh, and tented among us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThis recalls the Old Testament tabernacle in the wilderness, a tent-sanctuary symbolizing the presence of God that was pitched in the midst of the traveling camp of Israel:<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAnd it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend\u201d (Exodus 33:8-11).<\/span><\/p>\nThe Hebrew word translated as \u201ctabernacle\u201d is \u201cmishkan,\u201d which refers to the place where God\u2019s presence, his \u201cshekinah,\u201d resided. \u201cAnd let them make me a sanctuary,\u201d says the Lord in Exodus 25:8-9, \u201cthat I may dwell (\u2018ve-shakan-ti\u2019) among them, according to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle (\u2018mishkan\u2019).\u201d John\u2019s Greek verb (built from the root \u201cs-k-n\u201d) seems to play off of the Hebrew root (\u201csh-k-n\u201d; in Arabic, the equivalent root is, precisely, \u201cs-k-n\u201d) in order to suggest that the presence of Moses\u2019 portable temple among the Israelites prefigured Christ\u2019s earthly life in a \u201ctabernacle of flesh\u201d among mortals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe epistle to the Hebrews also links Christ closely with the temple \u2014 most notably when it compares him to the high priest of the earthly sanctuary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe have such an high priest,\u201d says the author of Hebrews, \u201cwho is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.\u201d He is \u201ca minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.\u201d Human priests merely \u201cserve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things\u201d (See 8:1-5). Into the holy of holies \u201cwent the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people \u2026 which was a figure for the time then present\u201d (9:7, 9). \u201cBut Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. \u2026 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us\u201d (9:11-12, 24).<\/span><\/p>\nSo John compares Christ to the tabernacle\/temple, and Hebrews likens him to a high priest officiating within the temple.<\/span><\/p>\nBut, through redemptive vicarious service in the temple, we, too, can imitate Christ. \u201cThe keys are to be delivered,\u201d said Joseph Smith, \u201cthe spirit of Elijah is to come, the Gospel to be established, the Saints of God gathered, Zion built up, and the Saints to come up as saviors on Mount Zion. But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples, erecting their baptismal fonts, and going forth and receiving all the ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, washings, anointings, ordinations and sealing powers upon their heads, in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead, and redeem(ing) them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nWhat more Christ-like gift could we possibly give than to go to the temple this Christmas season, to help, in our lesser and derivative way, to redeem God\u2019s children? If we haven\u2019t planned to attend the temple during this hectic and foreshortened month, perhaps we should. It may require special effort, but nothing could be more thoroughly in the spirit of the season.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I published this column in the Deseret News on 8 December 2011: \u00a0 \u201cIn the beginning was the Word,\u201d begins a Christmas story that we seldom read at Christmas, \u201cand the Word was with God, and the Word was God. \u2026 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us\u201d (John 1:1, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1356,2517,2628,2616,2619,2622,1369,2625,641],"class_list":["post-67938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christ","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-story","tag-epistle","tag-hebrews","tag-high-priest","tag-jesus","tag-new-testament","tag-temple"],"yoast_head":"\n
Temple Attendance is a Christlike Gift<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" I published this column in the Deseret News on 8 December 2011: "In the beginning was the Word," begins a Christmas story that we\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Temple Attendance is a Christlike Gift\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" I published this column in the Deseret News on 8 December 2011: "In the beginning was the Word," begins a Christmas story that we\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-02T21:30:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-03T03:17:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/12\/mesa-arizona-temple-christmas-1281888-gallery.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html\",\"name\":\"Temple Attendance is a Christlike Gift\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-02T21:30:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-12-03T03:17:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" I published this column in the Deseret News on 8 December 2011: \\\"In the beginning was the Word,\\\" begins a Christmas story that we\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Temple Attendance is a Christlike Gift\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Temple Attendance is a Christlike Gift","description":" I published this column in the Deseret News on 8 December 2011: \"In the beginning was the Word,\" begins a Christmas story that we","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Temple Attendance is a Christlike Gift","og_description":" I published this column in the Deseret News on 8 December 2011: \"In the beginning was the Word,\" begins a Christmas story that we","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2018-12-02T21:30:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-12-03T03:17:30+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/12\/mesa-arizona-temple-christmas-1281888-gallery.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html","name":"Temple Attendance is a Christlike Gift","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-12-02T21:30:50+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-03T03:17:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" I published this column in the Deseret News on 8 December 2011: \"In the beginning was the Word,\" begins a Christmas story that we","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/12\/temple-attendance-is-a-christlike-gift.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Temple Attendance is a Christlike Gift"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67938\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Mesa](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/12\/mesa-arizona-temple-christmas-1281888-gallery.jpg\")
<\/a>