In Remembrance of the Lord Jesus

Moroni described the purpose of the Sacrament for the Nephites in these words: “And they did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus” (Moroni 6:6). This is a consistent theme whenever the scriptures talk about the Sacrament; its purpose is primarily to help us to remember the Savior. When Jesus was among the Nephites He gave them bread and said this: “And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you. And 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.” He also gave them wine and said this: “Ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you, that ye may witness 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” (3 Nephi 18:7, 11). The message was that they would be able to remember Him once He left them by gathering to partake of bread and wine. The prayers that were said then and now both focus on that remembering: we “eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son” and we promise to “always remember him,” and we drink “in remembrance of the blood of thy Son” and promise that we “do always remember him” (Moroni 4:3, 5:2). As we partake of the sacrament today we tend to focus more on the renewing of our covenants, which certainly is a part of why we administer bread and water, but we should not forget the primary aim is to help us remember Jesus.    

            The Savior also emphasized this point in other scriptures. In our dispensation He taught that it doesn’t matter what we eat or drink for the sacrament if we “do it with an eye single to my glory—remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins” (Doctrine and Covenants 27:2). In other words, as long as we remember His body and His blood that was shed for us, the actual food or drink we consume is of little importance. When He administered the sacrament originally to His twelve apostles, He similarly said this: “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). First and foremost the bread was given to help us remember. Elder Holland commented in these words, “In the simple and beautiful language of the sacramental prayers those young priests offer, the principal word we hear seems to be remember…. What is stressed in both prayers is that all of this is done in remembrance of Christ. In so participating we witness that we will always remember him, that we may always have his Spirit to be with us.” He then suggested many ways that we can remember Him in this sacred ordinance: “We could remember the Savior’s premortal life and all that we know him to have done as the great Jehovah, creator of heaven and earth and all things that in them are…. We could remember the simple grandeur of his mortal birth to just a young woman…. We could remember his magnificent but virtually unknown foster father, a humble carpenter by trade who taught us, among other things, that quiet, plain, unpretentious people have moved this majestic work forward from the very beginning…. We could remember Christ’s miracles and his teachings, his healings and his help. We could remember that he gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and motion to the lame and the maimed and the withered…. We could remember that even with such a solemn mission given to him, the Savior found delight in living; he enjoyed people and told his disciples to be of good cheer…. When those difficult times come to us, we can remember that Jesus had to descend below all things before he could ascend above them, and that he suffered pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind that he might be filled with mercy and know how to succor his people in their infirmities.” And certainly there are many other things that we can remember as we consider His birth, His matchless life, His great atoning sacrifice, and His triumphant victory over the grave. We have countless testimonies of prophets throughout the ages in the scriptures that remind us of His goodness and grandeur, His longsuffering and lovingkindness, His sinless life and unimaginable suffering. This season we have the opportunity to remember His birth as we celebrate Christmas, and all throughout the year we should likewise focus on remembering Him each time we partake of the emblems of His body and blood.