The first teaching priority was establishing a church and giving the Sermon on the Mount teachings, then there was the break for healing and blessing children. Once it was time for learning again, Jesus spent time on other prophets.
He got the Nephites to record that the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite had come to pass. He endorsed the teachings of Isaiah that they already had. He quotes prophecies of Malachi so they could have them.
The importance of having a written record was established pretty early for the Nephites before they were even Nephites, when Nephi himself needed to go back for the brass plates. Reminding the Nephites that there were important things in the scriptures they already had, and reminding them of the fulfilled prophecy they had recently seen, makes a lot of sense. Introducing them to a prophet from another land that they had long been gone from, and who had long been dead, is a little more surprising.
I have seen suggestions that some of the scripture that we have repeated in the Book of Mormon is to give us a better translation of it, though any differences are often minor.
I do not doubt that the Savior could have given the information from Malachi in his own words, but he quotes it and he names Malachi. I see in that a reminder that the Lord recognizes the work of his servants. They may not be doing it for recognition (ideally they aren't), and he doesn't owe them any more than they are already given, but he still remains generous and appreciative and loyal.
It makes me think of a few different things. One is that I believe he desires us to be united as much as possible. He tells the Jews there are other sheep, and he tells the Nephites what it means, and that there are still more sheep. Someday Judah and Ephraim will be united, but for now - if you can handle it - I will at least let you know about each other.
(And of course, what we can handle is a bigger topic, but we'll get there.)
Also, it reminds me of this, which I just saw recently:
http://www.shakesville.com/2017/02/my-essay-was-stolen.html
I have seen some people copy others' material as their own before, which is its own problem, but yes, sometimes people won't take the credit, but they won't give it to the author either. When linking is so easy, and when you get reminders, that is a choice. Given that more marginalized people are more likely to have their work stolen and wrongly attributed, it shows a nasty side of human nature. I can get away with abusing this person, because they are from a group that doesn't do anything good anyway - except they do good things; the credit just goes to the first higher-ranking person who puts it out there. There's that, but also, if you think something is worth passing on, why can't you see the worth of the originator?
That leads to the third thing: Jesus never does that.
I am sure one reason lesser beings might do it is because they have insecurities and things that lead to a temptation to keep others down. The Savior of mankind is secure in his achievements, but I think what is more important to him is that he loves even the most insecure and fallible humans. He had to love them enough to suffer and die for them. He came to know us in that process.
And he will fight for us. He will give us credit for any thing we do right, and he had made a path so we can be forgiven of the things we do wrong. We can be raised up at the last day because of what he has done, and we can become better now because of what he continues to do.
I know these posts and the things I say outside of these posts will keep coming down to loving others, but that doesn't make it less true or less important. We must love each other, and part of that is appreciating each other. We can understand the imperfections, then still celebrate any time one of us overcomes our weaknesses. Sometimes we can help each other in the overcoming.
That is what will be most like him.
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