Symbolism Out the Wazoo!

Maybe I'm just behind the times, but in Book of Mormon last week I learned about all of this incredible symbolism associated with the sacrament that I kind of knew existed but had no idea what it was. We studied 3 Nephi 18, and let me tell you how amazing it was. Actually, I'm hoping you'll be able to see at least a little of it yourself. 

• 3 Nephi 18:1-3. Christ commanded the disciples to bring bread and wine. He could have gotten way better bread and wine than they ever could, yet He wanted it to be their offering. And notice that when they come back in verse 3, it says He "took...and brake and blessed it; and he gave..." He accepted it, He broke it, then He blessed it and gave it back to them better than it had been before. That's what Christ does. He takes the meager offerings we have to give Him and gives it back to us better than we can imagine. And what He gives back is eternal, not just temporary.
• 3 Nephi 18: 7, 11. When Christ gave the people the bread, He told them "it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you." Then when He gives them the wine He says about the same thing. Now, here's the cool part. The bread symbolizes His flesh, which at this time, is immortal and perfect. The wine/water symbolizes His blood, which was mortal. When we take both the bread and water, we are taking Him into our bodies. Both the bread and water become part of our bodies, allowing Christ to become a part of us as well. We become more like Him when we take the bread and water. I just love that. We take Him into ourselves and become more like Him when we take the sacrament. We renew our baptismal covenant when we take the sacrament, and become more like our Savior. Isn't that beautiful?
• We talked about why the water is in a cup. Remember the bitter cup that Christ asked if it could pass from Him? That happened while He was in mortality. Everything bad and bitter and unfair went into that cup and He drank it. Part of us is in Him because He drank that cup, and so doing drank our sorrows and pains and sins. We are part of  Him, and He becomes part of us when we drink from the sacrament cup. Yet, we don't have to drink the bitter. He already drank it. Now that we are in Him, we need to allow Him to be in us.
• One last short thought, in the form of a definition I came up with. Sacrifice - giving up our best for something better.  

P.S. These are my thoughts and what I got out of my class; not intended as a statement of doctrine.

created by Michael Hawks, found on facebook.com

Happy Nationals Week!