My brothers and sisters, here in the building and on the air, all children of our Heavenly Father, I stand before you in humility, in need of help from our Heavenly Father. I have asked him to help me. I would appreciate an equal prayer from you to the same end.

This is Easter time. The celebration of the resurrection has just passed, and sometimes there is a tendency to think that thereafter the Lord ascended, and we have nothing more to do about it. I have had particularly in mind two or three passages that I shall try to recall.

In the Passover chamber, the Lord said, ". . . I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me"  John 14:6 At various times in his mission, he added the word "light," so that in its complete form it stands, "I am the way, the truth, the life, and the light."

I remember that at the time of the raising of Lazarus, the Lord said, in response to a statement from Martha:

". . . I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
"She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world"  John 11:25-27

Peter, speaking to the Sanhedrin, in response to their question, ". . . By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?" replied, ". . . by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, . . . for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved"  Acts 4:7-10,12

As I have read the record, I have been persuaded that not so fully did the apostles themselves, up until after the resurrection, understand who the Savior was or might be, as did the learned men of Israel, who saw, who partially understood, and who feared.

The Savior, the Book tells us in Acts, remained on the earth after his resurrection for forty days  Acts 1:3 during which time he worked and preached and, I would assume, assisted in setting in order his Church.

But I thought that I might run over, so far as my memory serves me, a few of the visual demonstrations that were given in those early days of the Resurrected Christ. You remember that an earthquake came before the break of day and rolled back the stone from the sepulchre. We are not given an account as to how the Savior came from the sepulchre except that we read that the burial clothes were left in the sepulchre itself.

You remember that Mary Magdalene was the first, even before the dawn broke, to go to the sepulchre. Seeing it open, she rushed to tell Peter and John. They not realizing, not understanding, not knowing what to look for, rushed to the sepulchre and found it empty  John 20:1-9

Shortly after that the women came with spices because there had been no time on the previous Friday night properly to prepare the Christ for his burial. They did not understand that he was to be resurrected on the morning of the third day, for they came on that morning properly to dress and prepare the body for burial. Mary Magdalene was with them and Mary the mother  Mark 16:1-2 You recall that while he forbade Mary, to whom he had already shown himself, to touch him  John 20:17 he permitted the women to hold his feet.

They saw him. They heard his voice. They knew he was resurrected.

A little later on that day, two of the disciples were on their way to Emmaus. The Savior joined them. He seemed to be uninformed about what had happened in Jerusalem which seemed to have been common talk in Jerusalem by that time, and they talked a bit about that. The Savior did not appear apparently to them as he had appeared before his resurrection. So he went along with them and began to tell them all about it, who he was, and began to repeat the scriptures to them. Coming to an inn they invited him in with them. They went in, sat down, preparing to eat. He broke bread and offered it to them. Then they recognized for the first time who he was, and he vanished  Luke 24:13-32

That night the ten—there were only eleven altogether now because Iscariot had committed suicide; were sitting in a room together and suddenly the Savior stood among them. They were frightened. They thought he was a spirit. He said, ". . . Why are ye troubled? . . . Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have"  Luke 24:38-39 They had thought he might be a spirit.

And then he asked them—and this has always been interesting to me—he asked them for food—they were at dinner—and they gave him broiled fish and honeycomb, and he ate—a resurrected being ate of these earthly foods  Luke 24:41-42

Thomas was not there, and Thomas said that he would not believe if he could not touch the Savior to be sure. Eight days following, the apostles were all together again, this time Thomas with them, and the doors being shut, so the record says, the Savior suddenly appeared in their midst and addressing himself to Thomas, with his unbelief, invited an examination of his body. "Reach hither thy hand," said he, "and thrust it into my side: . . ." Whether Thomas did as he was bid or not, is not clear, but at the end of it, Thomas said, "My Lord and my God"  John 20:26-28

Thereafter, or on that same day, he had shown himself to Peter as was disclosed in the report which was made by these disciples who had seen him on their way to Emmaus  Luke 24:33-34  1 Cor. 15:5

Thereafter, he appeared several times; among others he appeared to five hundred at one time, and the writer of Acts declared that some were then living of that five hundred when he wrote  1 Cor. 15:6

He appeared to the disciples and talked with them thereafter, particularly on the occasion when Peter and six others of the apostles, apparently, decided that they would go fishing, that everything was over. So they went fishing. You will all remember, I am very sure, the incidents of that fishing trip. The apostles had fished all night and caught nothing. As they neared the shore of the Sea of Galilee they saw a figure on the shore by a fire. The figure asked them if they had caught any fish. They answered no. Then said he, "Cast the net on the right side of the ship" which they did, and it was filled with fish. Then John perceived that this was the Lord and so told the group.

Peter, the impetuous Peter, who sometimes apparently talked before he thought, cast himself over the side of the boat, having first wrapped himself with his coat, for he was naked and did not want to appear before the Christ in that kind of condition—which carries its lesson, I think, as to chastity and morality and modesty—and he hurried to the shore. They all went to the shore. They found there the Lord whom they then recognized. He had already prepared something to eat and invited them to partake of it  John 21:1-14

It is not clear to me whether or not the Lord ate at that time, though the inference might be that he did.

That was the time when he questioned Peter a bit, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" referring, I assume, to the fish and the food. "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee."
"Feed my lambs"  John 21:15-16

The second inquiry came and the same answer, except that at this time the Lord said, "Feed my sheep." And even a third time did this question come, and the third time Peter, with what quite evidently was something of irritation, said, "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee."

"Feed my sheep"  John 21:17

A great lesson in three words of the mission and duty of the Church then under organization and which has been the obligation and the duty from that day until now of those who possess the priesthood of God, as we do.

Finally, he called them together again on a mount in Galilee, the disciples, and at that time he gave them the great commission, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned"  Mark 16:15-16

Those are the words of the Christ. Then he told them of the signs which should follow them that believed.

We, brethren and sisters, are the recipients of the great blessings that attach to the work of the last dispensation. We are also the obligees of the great responsibilities which have been placed upon those whom God has called to lead this last dispensation. I personally try to think more frequently of the obligations I have than of the blessings that I have enjoyed, and yet as I cast my mind back over a long life, I think of no one in my acquaintance who has received greater blessings of health and strength than have I myself, for which I am grateful.

I am grateful, as we all are, for the prayers of the Saints in our behalf. We know we have them, we know they are efficacious. We pray that you will overlook our weaknesses and failings, for each and all of us are human; make us humble but never let us forget our gratitude for the blessings which we enjoy.

The Lord is good to us. He is giving us direction if we will take it. I urge you to bring your thoughts back, as I did last night, from space, about which we know nothing in comparison with what there is to know—and fix our minds upon the great powers and authorities which we have as members of the priesthood, representing our Heavenly Father, endowed with a portion of his authority to work out his purposes, not ours.

I bear my testimony to the truthfulness of the gospel, that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that the Prophet Joseph was a prophet raised up under his direction, who with his authorities through the revelations of our Heavenly Father, founded the Church. I bear my testimony that the same Spirit and the same power and the same authority with which he, the Prophet Joseph, was invested, now exists in the Church and has since its foundation, that President David O. McKay is the recipient of that power and that authority today.

I urge upon you with all the fervor that I can express, that we follow the leadership of the Church, know that President McKay is the prophet, seer, and revelator of the Church, that we bring our lives into complete harmony with the commandments of the Lord, all to the end that having fulfilled our obligations to the dead and to the living, we may be finally saved and exalted in his presence, which I ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.