The Aaronic Priesthood: Ancient and Modern

President Packer gave some interesting insight into the duties of Aaronic Priesthood holders: “Anciently they looked forward to the atonement of Christ through the ceremony of the sacrifice. We look back to that same event through the ordinance of the sacrament.  Both sacrifice before, and the sacrament afterward, are centered in Christ, the shedding of His blood, and the atonement He made for our sins. Both then and now the authority to perform these ordinances belongs to the Aaronic Priesthood.  This is indeed a sacred responsibility and includes you in a brotherhood with those ancient servants of the Lord.”  There is a powerful similarity between the purposes and duties of the holders of the Aaronic Priesthood in ancient and modern times.   

This connection between the ancient priests and modern priests (and deacons and teachers) can help inspire holders of the lesser priesthood to magnify their callings.  Those who held the Aaronic Priesthood in the days of the Law of Moses were tasked with making sacrificial offerings for the whole congregation of Israel that were representative of and looked forward to the sacrifice of the Savior.  In a similar manner, those of the Aaronic Priesthood today bless and administer the emblems of the Sacrament for the whole congregation of Saints that look back to the atonement of Christ.  Those ancient priests performed different types of prescribed sacrifice—peace offerings, sin offerings, trespass offerings, etc.—but all of them had a similar pattern and purpose.  The congregation would bring their offering, usually an animal, which the priest would then handle and perform the prescribed procedure for the sacrifice.  The individual could not complete the sacrifice by themselves.  In many cases the actions of the priest would help to provide forgiveness to the individuals: “And the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them” (Leviticus 4:20).  In a similar way, today the members of the congregation are to come to Church each Sunday and “offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (D&C 59:8).  As we do so, we participate in the ordinance of the Sacrament that is brought to us by the deacons, teachers, and priests who prepare, bless, and pass the bread and water to the congregation.  We cannot participate in the Sacrament without them.  It is of course the Savior that provides forgiveness, but the holders of the Aaronic Priesthood are the means that the Lord uses to bring us the blessings of His sacrifice.  As Elder Renlund put it, the priesthood brings the payload of Christ’s atoning power to each of us: “Christ’s atoning power is made accessible through the priesthood, which delivers the payload….  Like the rocket whose purpose is to deliver a payload, the priesthood delivers the gospel of Jesus Christ, enabling all to make covenants and receive the associated ordinances.”  The ancient priests provided the authority to perform sacrifices prescribed in the Law of Moses, and modern holders of the Aaronic Priesthood have the authority to provide us with the Sacrament, and the goal of both is the same: to teach us of the Savior’s atonement and bring us to His forgiving power.  The physical nature of the offerings that are made are of course different, but modern Aaronic Priesthood holders can look back in unity to the ancient priests and Levites who similarly performed their duties to serve the Lord’s children.  As President Packer put it, “It is no wonder that we feel so humble when we participate in the ordinances assigned to the Aaronic Priesthood.”