Alma 15

The Healing Power of Jesus Christ

Reaching out to those who suffered was a focus of Jesus Christ’s mortal ministry. Alma and Amulek had the same focus after being miraculously delivered from prison by the hand of God. This lesson can help you access the healing power available through Jesus Christ.

Invite diligent learning. Help students understand that gospel learning is not meant to be a passive experience. It requires careful reasoning, study, prayer, and action. You can help your students by creating experiences that will encourage them to participate in discussions, share their experiences, and ask questions.

Student preparation: Invite students to read the idea for family scripture study under Alma 15:1–12 in the study outline “June 24–30. Alma 13–16: ‘Enter into the Rest of the Lord’” in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: Book of Mormon 2024.

Possible Learning Activities

Physical and spiritual sickness

The following is intended to help prepare students to recognize the symptoms, or impact, of sin. You may choose medical conditions students are more familiar with than those on the list if needed.

Examine the following list of medical conditions. Contemplate their symptoms as well as any treatments used to remedy or cure them.

• Heart disease

• Cancer

• Broken bone

• What would happen if someone only treated the symptoms of these conditions without seeking to understand the underlying problems?

When introducing the following paragraph and possible questions, do not seek or allow students to disclose personal sins.

Like physical sicknesses, sin—or spiritual sickness—also has symptoms. Contemplate what might be some of the symptoms of sin, and take a moment to think about the condition of your spiritual health. The following questions can help you do this.

• According to the Gospel Topics article “Sin” (topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org), what are the effects of sin?

• How might sin impact our feelings about ourselves and influence our relationship with others?

As you study, listen for the Holy Ghost to teach you how you can better access the healing power of Jesus Christ to improve your spiritual well-being.

Zeezrom’s condition

After being miraculously delivered from prison in Ammonihah by the hand of God, Alma and Amulek traveled to Sidom (see Alma 15:1–2). While in Sidom, they ministered to those who had been cast out of Ammonihah for believing their message of Jesus Christ. One person they ministered to was Zeezrom.

Consider distributing the following handout for students. They could work together in small groups, using Alma 15:4–12 to identify what Zeezrom’s symptoms were and determine the prescription that could heal him.

Spiritual Sickness

Read the scriptures listed under “Symptoms.” Below them, list any words or phrases that describe Zeezrom’s condition.

• How might you describe Zeezrom’s condition, including his spiritual well-being?

• What do you remember about Zeezrom that would cause him to feel this way?

Consider inviting a student to share some of the story of Zeezrom’s past. The following verses may help: Alma 10:31; 11:21–22; 12:1, 7–8. You may also consider sharing the statement by President Ezra Taft Benson in the “Commentary and Background Information” section.

Physical illness is not always associated with sin (see John 9:2–3). Note Zeezrom’s feelings of guilt in Alma 14:6. While experiencing guilt is not enjoyable, it does serve a purpose. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the purpose these feelings can have. Watch the video “We Believe in Being Chaste” from time code 13:15 to 13:49, available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, or read the text below.

All of us have experienced the pain associated with a physical injury or wound. When we are in pain, we typically seek relief and are grateful for the medication and treatments that help to alleviate our suffering. Consider sin as a spiritual wound that causes guilt or, as described by Alma to his son Corianton, “remorse of conscience” (Alma 42:18). Guilt is to our spirit what pain is to our body—a warning of danger and a protection from additional damage. (David A. Bednar, “We Believe in Being Chaste,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 44)

• According to Elder Bednar, what is one of the purposes of guilt?

• How might this change our view or perspective of feeling guilty after making a mistake?

• In what ways do you think Zeezrom’s symptoms were like “a warning of danger and a protection from additional damage”?

Healing through the power of Jesus Christ

Carefully read about Zeezrom’s healing in Alma 15:4–12. You may want to watch the video “Zeezrom Is Healed and Baptized” (2:42), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. As you read, pay attention to the details that contributed to Zeezrom’s healing. Consider writing notes of these details under the “Prescription” portion of your doctor’s note.

• What principles or truths can we learn from Zeezrom’s healing?

One principle we learn from these verses is that as we exercise faith in Jesus Christ, we can be healed.

• What evidence did you see in these verses of Zeezrom exercising faith in Jesus Christ both before and after he was healed?

• How can we exercise faith in Jesus Christ in the same manner?

Elder David A. Bednar explained how we can exercise faith. Watch the video “We Believe in Being Chaste” from time code 13:49 to 14:17, available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, or read the text below.

The Savior is often referred to as the Great Physician, and this title has both symbolic and literal significance. … From the Atonement of the Savior flows the soothing salve that can heal our spiritual wounds and remove guilt. However, this salve can only be applied through the principles of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, and consistent obedience. The results of sincere repentance are peace of conscience, comfort, and spiritual healing and renewal. (David A. Bednar, “We Believe in Being Chaste,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 44)

Students will need to come up with some clear answers to the first question in preparation for the final lesson activity. As you discuss this question with the class, you may want to list students’ ideas on the board. Help them come up with a variety of ideas.

The two other questions could be used as follow-up questions as part of this discussion.

• What are some ways we can access the healing powers of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

• Why do you think “the Great Physician” is an appropriate title for the Savior? Why do you think He is able to heal us?

  If students would benefit from some scriptures that confirm that Christ has power to heal, consider sharing some of the following: Psalms 30:2; 147:3; Isaiah 53:5.

• When have you (or when has someone you know) experienced the Savior’s healing?

Though we may not all suffer like Zeezrom, we all have problems and experience suffering that the Savior can help us through. Think of some of the impacts of sins or mistakes teenagers might experience and how they may need the Savior’s healing power.

Consider listing students’ ideas on the board. They could also work in pairs or small groups to brainstorm ideas and then share ideas as a class.

Create another doctor’s note to help someone. Read 3 Nephi 9:13–14, and use what you have learned today to create a prescription. You might reference Alma 15. Share how Jesus Christ can help and what it might look like to exercise faith in Him. Be sure to complete the following incomplete statement:

• If someone is feeling [list symptoms of sin] … , then they need to remember to [list prescription or remedies] …

Remind students that we all need our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the healing They can give us. Testify that exercising faith in and believing in Jesus Christ will always help us. Consider inviting students to share what they learned or what stood out to them most from their study today.

Commentary and Background Information

Who can heal me?

Elder Matthew S. Holland of the Seventy testified:

Regardless of the causes of our worst hurts and heartaches, the ultimate source of relief is the same: Jesus Christ. He alone holds the full power and healing balm to correct every mistake, right every wrong, adjust every imperfection, mend every wound, and deliver every delayed blessing. (Matthew S. Holland, “The Exquisite Gift of the Son,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 46)

How can I better rely on Jesus Christ to heal and help me?

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency taught:

When we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must have trust in him. We must trust him enough that we are content to accept his will, knowing that he knows what is best for us. …

… Faith, no matter how strong it is, cannot produce a result contrary to the will of him whose power it is. … We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing. (Dallin H. Oaks, “Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,” Ensign, May 1994, 99–100).

Why might I still remember my sins even if I have been forgiven?

Watch the video “The Atonement of Jesus Christ” from time code 5:48 to 6:56 (available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org), in which Brother Tad R. Callister, former Sunday School General President and emeritus General Authority Seventy, explains a reason why we might remember our sins even after being forgiven.

What are some of the effects of sin?

President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) explained:

[You] cannot do wrong and feel right—it is impossible. Anytime one breaks a law of God, he pays a penalty in heartache, in sadness, in remorse, in lack of self-respect, and he removes himself from contact with the Spirit of God. (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson [2014], 221)

Alma 15:8–9. Is it enough to just declare that we believe in Jesus Christ?

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency explained the need to do more than just believe in Jesus Christ:

The conversion [Jesus] required for those who would enter the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 18:3) was far more than just being converted to testify to the truthfulness of the gospel. To testify is to know and to declare. The gospel challenges us to be “converted,” which requires us to do and to become. If any of us relies solely upon our knowledge and testimony of the gospel, we are in the same position as the blessed but still unfinished Apostles whom Jesus challenged to be “converted.” (Dallin H. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 33)

Supplemental Learning Activities

The Savior and His gospel have power to heal

Consider inviting students to study some of the following verses, looking for what they can learn and feel about the Savior’s power to heal: Psalms 30:2; 147:3; Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 4:23; Jacob 2:8. What stands out to you from these verses? How can understanding these things help apply the Savior’s power in your life?

Lessons learned from Amulek

Consider inviting students to examine the life of Amulek. Invite students to read Alma 15:16–18, contemplating what feelings, emotions, and trials Amulek had experienced. What did Amulek give up by choosing to live the gospel and serve as a missionary? What did he gain? What was needed to help strengthen him? You may want to refer students to President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s address “Learn from Alma and Amulek” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2016, 71–74).