SCRIPTURE: “[Jesus] turned himself unto the three, and said unto them: What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father? And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired. And he said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts, … Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven … for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand.” -3 Nephi 28:4-7, 9 [source]
QUOTE: “Moses, Elijah, Elias and many of the leading characters mentioned in the Scriptures, who had operated in the various dispensations, came and conferred upon Joseph the various keys, powers, rights, privileges and [permissions] which they enjoyed in their times. … Whatever of knowledge, of intelligence, of Priesthood, of powers, of revelations were conferred upon those men in the different ages, were again restored to the earth by the ministration and through the medium of those who held the holy Priesthood of God in the different dispensations in which they lived.” -John Taylor, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, chapter 8. [source]
QUOTE: “The angel told good old Cornelius that he must send for Peter to learn how to be saved: Peter could baptise, and angels could not, so long as there were legal officers in the flesh holding the keys of the kingdom, or the authority of the priesthood.” -Joseph Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, chapter 8. [source]
COMMENTARY: Since Jesus is perfect, we know he can’t be forgetful. Unless, of course, he figured out a way to get perfectly drunk. Which must be exactly what happened. How else can you explain him sending Peter, James, and John to Joseph Smith to restore the priesthood to the earth, when John the Beloved and the Three Nephites were still tarrying in the flesh and bringing souls to Christ? I don’t think they could be doing that without the priesthood. But what do I know? I’m just another apostate.
