Healing and Repentance - Alma 15:5-11

... and they went in unto the house unto Zeezrom; and they found him upon his bed, sick, being very low with a burning fever; and his mind also was exceedingly sore because of his iniquities; and when he saw them he stretched forth his hand, and besought them that they would heal him. And it came to pass that Alma said unto him, taking him by the hand: Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation? And he answered and said: Yea, I believe all the words that thou hast taught. And Alma said: If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed. And he said: Yea, I believe according to thy words.
And then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ. And when Alma had said these words, Zeezrom leaped upon his feet, and began to walk...

If you remember, Zeezrom was one of the more prominent lawyers in Ammonihah, and one of the principle antagonists of Alma and Amulek, who tried to overthrow them by deception and have them punished for teaching against the wickedness of the people. However, Alma and Amulek easily detected his deception and called him out on it. Zeezrom however, instead of letting the detection turn him against them and their teachings, recognized the truth of their accusations and took them to heart. Following this, he attempted to defend them, but ended up getting ejected from the city by the enraged crowd.

Zeezrom, now repentant, felt the full weight of this folly and assumed that the wicked citizens of Ammonihah would now kill Alma and Amulek. As was seen in the previous post, Alma and Amulek were not killed but forced to watch as the people committed a terrible Auto da fe, throwing women and children into the fire. Zeezrom, due to the guilt for his role in accusing Alma and Amulek, then fell into fits of remorse so intense that he developed a fever and was in terrible shape.

Note the words of Alma who only asks: "Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation?" Which may seem odd, since being sick and tormented, it seems that Zeezrom might be more interested in His power to heal. But since the cause of his state was induced by sin, Christ's power to save is what was needed. And anyway, as we saw in many instances in the scriptures, the power to heal is apparently coupled with the power to forgive sins. And in the end, Christ's power to save is the only thing that matters. Because regardless of survival, salvation is what's really important. This is the principle is important to remember when considering why God permits certain evils like the Auto da fe, and acts of terrorism. Events like the flood, bubonic plague, the holocaust, and others can probably only be understood in context of this principle. God's actions are always concerned with the spiritual growth and salvation of His children, and not always their comfort. Indeed discipleship ofttimes seems to bring more tribulation than smooth sailing, but always builds grit, character and faith.

So concerning His power to save; it is absolute. No matter how far into the pit we have fallen, how far and how long we've wondered away or how fiercely we may have mocked Him, we can always come back. Good old G. K. Chesterton, raised a Christian and turned atheist for a time, describes his experience similar to the prodigal. He says it was like the man who travelled the world in search of England, only to find that it was actually England that he had left in the first place. Such is repentance. No matter how stupid and rebellious we may have become, we can always lay aside our stupidity for wisdom, and our rebellion for humility. And He will unequivocally take us back with "much rejoicing". Such was the case with Zeezrom.