That Day When I Drink it New With You

After giving the apostles the bread and wine in remembrance of Him, He said to them, “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). This suggests that there will be a future day when He will drink the fruit of the vine with His disciples in remembrance of the blood He was about to spill for all of us. This is confirmed in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith: “The hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth.” He then proceeded to list all of those who would be there at that great Sacrament Meeting, including Elias, John the Baptist, Elijah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Adam, Peter, James and John. In addition to those there He suggested that all the righteous who have overcome the world will be there: “And also with all those whom my Father hath given me out of the world.” These are all great prophets of the Bible, but interestingly the first person He mentioned was a prophet of the Book of Mormon: “With Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting gospel, to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim” (Doctrine and Covenants 27:5-14). Surely all the righteous prophets of the Book of Mormon will be there in that great day, but why was Moroni the one in particular that He mentioned?  

               I think it is indeed fitting that Moroni would be there with Him and all the prophets when the Savior would again drink of the vine in remembrance of His great atoning sacrifice. Moroni was the one in the Book of Mormon who gave us the sacrament prayers (in Moroni 4-5) as he wandered alone for decades with the records. He wrote, “I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. But behold, they are gone, and I fulfil the commandment of my father…. I am alone. My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go” (Mormon 8:3-5). He also wrote later, “And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life” (Moroni 1:3). So he was totally alone, wandering to seek protection from the Lamanites who sought his life because He believed in Christ. Moroni also wrote that before the Nephites were destroyed, the church “did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus” (Moroni 6:6). But after their destruction, he was completely alone for over twenty years (and perhaps much longer), and so he had no one with whom to partake. How many times did he prepare the sacrament in remembrance of the Lord Jesus for himself alone? If he did it weekly like we do today, then that means that he would have partaken of the emblems of the Lord’s death and resurrection over 1000 times by himself as he was on the run from the Lamanites. So no wonder the Lord wanted to emphasize that Moroni would be a part of the greatest gathering of the righteous ever to partake of the bread and wine—Moroni would no longer be alone in that sacred ritual!

               Of course, the promise of the sacrament, whether we take it by ourselves or in a group of hundreds, is that we are never truly alone when we take upon ourselves the name of Christ and remember Him. His promise is this: “That they may always have his Spirit to be with them” (Moroni 4:3). As we partake worthily of the bread and wine in remembrance of Him, His Spirit will be with us and ultimately He will as well. He promised His apostles on that same night He gave them the bread and wine, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:16-18). Not only will He send the Comforter, but He too will be with us. Moroni attested to that when he wrote of how the Savior indeed came to him in those lonely years: “Then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things.” His invitation is for all of us: “And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever” (Ether 12:39-41). Surely one of the most important places to seek Him is in the emblems of the sacrament as we prepare ourselves so that we too can be a part of that great day when He will drink with us in His kingdom.