The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p 495; “You cannot give the priesthood without having it.” – Spencer W. Kimball
History of the Church 1:40-41; “John the Baptist, May 15, 1829. The messenger who visited us on this occasion, and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament, and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which Priesthood he said would in due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first Elder of the Church, and he (Oliver Cowdery) the second. It was on the 15th day of May, 1829, that we were ordained under the hand of this messenger and baptized.” – Joseph Smith
John 3:29-30; “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
If John the Baptist declared that he must decrease so Jesus could increase then why would he show up with the Aaronic Priesthood to bestow it upon Joe and his friends?
Furthermore, none of Jesus’ apostles held the Melchizedek Priesthood so how could they offer it to anyone? Don’t forget the LDS prophet Kimball said that you can’t give the priesthood to anyone if you don’t have it!
Thirdly, Jesus was the only person who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood according to Hebrews chapters 7-10, so how could it be passed onto anyone?
And last, but certainly not least, don’t forget that in order to qualify to be a member of the biblical priesthood of Aaron you had to be from the tribe of Levi and you had to be a son of Aaron, which Joe and friends were not.
“…Jesus was the only person who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood according to Hebrews chapters 7-10…”. Correct! We only know what the Bible tells us and that is all that is told about the this Melchizedek Priesthood.
It is not explained further to us at all. False religions, cults, etc. attempt to explain away things NOT explained in the Bible. They claim that they know the answers.
God does not tell us in His Word so we leave it at that. Christians don’t need the answers to everything but what we need to know, is right there and explained in other passages.