President McKay, my brothers, sisters and friends:

President McKay, setting me apart one year ago, charged me: "to be a special witness to the name of Christ in all the world"  D&C 107:23 I shall use my few minutes pursuing the business of that charge.

In fancy, I made a pilgrimage back through nineteen centuries of time to Palestine. I went to seek the man of Galilee called Jesus. I fancied I was in that fabulous city of Tiberius on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where I observed, along the water's edge, miles of palaces and fashionable residences surrounded by palm groves and rich gardens, gay with tropical luxuriance. On an almost deserted thoroughfare I saw the markets of rich merchants and the stands of oriental trades people.

Approaching a merchant, I inquired if he knew the whereabouts of the man of Galilee, named Jesus. For a moment he just stared at me; then said, "Where have you been? Look at this deserted street. Only minutes ago he came this way going west, and all the customers followed him. I would have followed, too, had I someone to watch my merchandise."

I overtook the multitude before it settled on a little hill. Fortunately, I found myself near him with sitting space for some of you out there who, in fancy, will stretch your imagination one thousand nine hundred years back into the past. Come quickly. He is speaking:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth" (see  Matt. 5:3-5 see also Matt. chapters 5-7 for the Sermon on the Mount).

He pauses, and arises from his sitting position upon a large rock as if to survey the multitude.

He is tall in stature, perfectly formed without spot or blemish. He wears a tunic and an outer robe. Sandals are on his feet.

He settles back upon the rock and speaks:

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God"  Matt. 5:6-8

I find it difficult to concentrate on what he is saying, just for gazing at him.

    His brow is smooth.
    His complexion is clear.
    His eyes are blue.
    His hair is long.
    His beard is brown like his hair.
    His every feature is perfect.
    His motions are graceful.
    His voice is soft and low. (This pen picture is by a Roman trader who, on the old silk road to China, paused in Palestine.)

Listen to him: "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
"Give us this day . . ."  Matt. 6:9-11

Need I repeat more of it?

"Lay up not for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal;
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal;
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also"  Matt. 6:19-21

"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
"Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these"  Matt. 6:28-29

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you"  Matt. 6:33

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you"  Matt. 7:7

You priesthood fathers would bless your wives and children if you would gather them around you and read to them the full text of the great Sermon on the Mount. Do it soon. It is the greatest speech ever delivered from the lips of men. It is the most widely circulated speech ever heard among men. It has been printed in thousands of books and uttered by thousands of speakers from thousands of pulpits to millions of people.

Another time, when he sought seclusion, he went into a desert place to be away from the crowds. The multitude found him, and he received them. And when the day began to wear away, he gathered up five loaves and two fishes, blessed them, and fed five thousand people. After the feeding, there remained twelve baskets of fragments  Matt. 14:14-21

Another time he fed four thousand, after blessing seven loaves and a few fishes  Matt. 15:30-38

The feeding of these thousands was only one of the many kinds of miracles he performed.

He cleansed the leper;
    —turned water into wine;
    —stilled the wind;
    —calmed the waves;
    —walked on the water;
    —healed the sick and the halt;
    —cast out evil spirits;
    —returned sight to the blind;
    —restored life to the dead.

Words of his deeds spread throughout the countryside, even to Greece and Rome, and when it was time for the Feast of the Passover, Jerusalem was crowded with people from far and near who had come to see this marvelous man of Galilee. And they were not disappointed. Down from the Mount of Olives and through the streets of Jerusalem he came, riding a little donkey.

His path was strewn with flowers, palm branches, and the robes of friends who watched his entry and who sang:

"Hosanna to the Son of David:
"Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
"Hosanna in the highest" (see  Mark 11:9-10

Witnessing the procession, I fancy, were two slaves, filled with rabid curiosity.

"Who is he?" asked one of the other.

"I don't know," was the reply.

"Is he a king?"

"No, he's not a king."

"Well, is he crazy?"

"No—he's not crazy."

"Then who is he?"

"I don't know—he's not a king—he's something greater than a king."

Not all who watched his triumphal entry into Jerusalem were his friends. Members of the Jewish Sanhedrin, disturbed by Jesus' miracles and preaching, and definitely alarmed by his growing popularity with the people, plotted as they watched, for his arrest—even for his death. Not many hours later they bribed one of his apostles with thirty pieces of silver to betray him  Matt. 26:15 After a trial of mockery, held informally, irregularly, and illegally during the night while his friends, the people, slept, he was scourged, then led to a place called Calvary where he was nailed to a cross. Among his last words were, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do"  Luke 23:34

The morrow was the Sabbath of the Lord their God. Lest his presence on the cross desecrate that holy day, his body was hurriedly removed and laid away in a borrowed tomb where it lay for three days.

Resurrected, he tarried off and on with his disciples for forty days.

One day, as he walked with his disciples on a lonely road, he paused to bless them and then in their presence he ascended heavenward. As he disappeared a heavenly messenger announced:

". . . Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven"  Acts 1:11

Whence came this Jesus of Nazareth—this man of Galilee?

Some thirty years before his ministry began, Mary, his mother, laden with child and in the throes of her travail, had just arrived at Bethlehem.

Hers had been a long four-or-five day journey on the back of a little donkey, when she was not afoot. When she arrived, there was no place for her at the inn where she had expected to stay, and no one round about would give her space to stay. So a bed of clean straw was hastily made for her in a manger in a nearby stable.

There, Jesus of Nazareth was born. The dumb animals tethered there were the first to hear the infant cry.

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
"And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
"And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger"  Luke 2:8-12

And there in the manger the shepherds found him.

Later wise men from the East brought the babe gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh  Matt. 2:1-12

If Jesus had come, as these wise men, riding on a camel, bearing gold, frankincense, and myrrh, with a crown on his head, he undoubtedly would have been accepted—king of the Jews.

His coming had been long awaited, but they could not accept one, born so humbly and lowly in a stable.

He came born away from home, in obscurity.

He preached—the clearest, most simple, teacher of profound truth that ever came among men.

He healed—

He called followers about him, even apostles.

He suffered—betrayed, denied, and deserted.

He died—a horrible death upon a cross.

He was resurrected—after three days in a tomb.

He lives.

He will return again.

Listen; these words are his:

"I am from above  John 8:23
I came down from heaven  John 6:38
All power is given unto me  Matt. 28:18
I am the light  John 8:12
Ask in my name  John 14:13
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest  Matt. 11:28
I am the way  John 14:6
Keep my commandments  John 14:15
I am the Lord of the Sabbath  Matt. 12:8
I am greater than the temple  Matt. 12:6
I am the life  John 14:6
I am the resurrection and the life  John 11:25
I am the truth  John 14:6
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away  Matt. 24:35
I will rise from the dead  John 20:9
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father  John 14:9
Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye say well for so I am  John 13:13

"I know," said the woman at the well, "that Messias cometh, which is called Christ."

Jesus answered—"I that speak unto thee am he"  John 4:25-26

When Caiaphas shouted—". . . tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God."

Jesus answered—"Thou hast said"  Matt. 26:63-64

"Nearly two thousand years have passed and none has reigned, or served, or dreamed who has so touched and molded human life. He is the ideal—the example—the greatest unalterable, wholesome, growing influence in a world of blood and tears. Books on his life fill libraries; the name of Pharaohs, Caesars, emperors, kings of all ages that have come and gone are but ghosts upon a printed page. Their legions dust upon the land; their proud armadas rust upon an ocean floor."

"But this one solitary life, surpasses all in power. Its influence is the one remaining hope of future years."

In a Roman court, nearly two thousand years ago, the skeptic Pontius Pilate demanded of Jesus: "Art thou a king?"

Jesus answered: "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth."

The perplexed Pilate muttered: "What is truth?"  John 18:37-38

The truth, my brothers and sisters and friends is,—and I say it in all solemnity—it is my witness: Jesus the man of Galilee, is Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Pilate spoke again: "What shall I do with this man?"  Matt. 27:22

What he did is history. Now twenty centuries later—what will you, my listening brothers sisters and friends, do with this man?

Speaking for myself, I have accepted him as the Son of God.

He is the living Son of the Living God—that is my testimony—my witness—and I declare it boldly, yet humbly, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.