Symbolism of the Steps of Administering the Sacrament

This is part of 2 of 2 of a lesson that I wrote for my Elders Quorum. Part 1 showed where the sacrament fits in the steps of spiritual progression. This part explains the symbolism of the steps of administering the sacrament.

Step 1: Preparation and Setup

The sacrament begins when priesthood holders, typically Teachers in the Aaronic Preisthood, set trays of unbroken bread and water on the sacrament table and cover the trays with a white cloth. Those who prepare the sacrament represent God the Father and Jesus Christ (or Jehovah, his name in pre-earth life) preparing for the atoning sacrifice. Their preparation began before Christ was born into this world. When Alma the Elder (a prophet in The Book of Mormon) baptized a man named Helam, his baptismal prayer ended with these words – “and may [Almighty God] grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world.” (Mosiah 18:13). The scriptures do not explicitly tell us how God prepared Jehovah for the atoning sacrifice, but we can make some reasonable assumptions. God taught and mentored Jehovah. He also put Jehovah through tests and trials that allowed him to grow and develop, even in the pre-earth life. During his mortal life, Jesus further prepared by doing things such as studying the scriptures, being baptized, fasting for 40 days and then resisting Satan’s temptations, communing with his Father, giving service, and ascending the Mount of Transfiguration to be endowed with great power.

The sacrament bread symbolizes the body of Christ and the water symbolizes his blood. The body of Christ is the veil and the blood of Christ is the power by which we are able to go through the veil into the presence of God. The Apostle Paul explained the meaning of the body and blood of Christ – “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20). The bread and water of the sacrament can represent approaching the veil and going through it into the presence of God.

The bread can also represent the physical acts of keeping the commandments, or what we physically do with our bodies. This is known as “the outward ordinances” (D&C 107:20), “the law of carnal commandments” (D&C 84:27), “the temporal law” (2 Nephi 2:5), and “the lesser portion of the word” (Alma 12:10). The water can represent “the inner man” (Moses 6:65), or the motives for action. This is known as “the spiritual law” (2 Nephi 2:5), “the law of God after the inward man” (Romans 7:22), and “the greater portion of the word” (Alma 12:10). The bread would represent a lesser set of commandments and trials and the water would represent a greater set of commandments and trials. When a person successfully completes both rounds of trials, he is then “sanctified by the Spirit” (D&C 84:33) and “it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full” (Alma 12:10).

The white cloth represents the power, spirit, light and glory with which God anointed Jehovah to be the Savior of the world before the creation of the earth. In fact, the title ‘Christ’ means ‘Anointed One’. The Lord revealed to Isaiah what his anointing specifically was for: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:1-3).

The Apostle Peter described how God also anointed Christ at the time of this baptism, and the purpose of that anointing: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” (Acts 10:38).

The prophet Lehi saw the Savior in vision after he had been anointed with God’s spirit: “And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day.” (1 Nephi 1:9). The white cloth represents the brightness of Christ’s luster, which is his power, spirit, light and glory.

When Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration, “his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). His light is, among other things, a protective covering, shielding him during spiritual warfare. In order for Christ to have performed the atoning sacrifice, he had to allow his protective covering of light to be opened so that all the sins of the world could be loaded into him.

The sacrament table represents an altar of sacrifice. Altars are designed with right angles, just like typical sacrament tables in LDS chapels. For Christ, the altar was the Garden of Gethsemane and then the cross, which was also made of right angles.

Step 2: The Congregation Sings a Hymn

After eating the last supper of the Passover, Christ and his disciples sang a hymn before he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to perform the atoning sacrifice (see Matthew 26:30). When we sing the sacrament hymn, we are re-enacting the hymn that Christ sang with his disciples. We are also singing a “song of redeeming love” (Alma 5:26).

Step 3: The Bread is Broken

While the congregation sings a hymn, the priests stand up, pull the white cloth away from the bread, and then break the bread into little pieces. The priests represent God the Father, the bread represents Christ, and the act of breaking the bread represents the atoning sacrifice when God “laid on [Christ] the iniquities of us all” (Isaiah 53:3), which “suffering caused [Christ], even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that [he] might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink” (D&C 19:18).

An angel told King Benjamin that Christ would suffer “more than man can suffer, except it be unto death” (Mosiah 3:7). Alma the Younger describes the suffering that he experienced for his sins after an angel appeared to him and his partners in crime, the sons of King Mosiah (grandsons of King Benjamin), and told him to stop destroying the spirituality and testimonies of the members of the church at that time and place. His ensuing suffering is likely the greatest suffering that “man can suffer, except it be unto death.” Alma also mentions the one thing that would have made his suffering worse, which is what Christ did suffer – “But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins. Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments. Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.  Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.” (Alma 36:12-15).

The one thing that would have made Alma’s suffering worse would have been to go into the presence of God in his sinful state. When Christ took his sins upon us, he suffered what Alma did suffer and more, because Christ “he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth” (D&C 88:6). He stood in the presence of God while he was in our sinful state, but did not “become extinct.” In this way, God the Father inflicted the greatest suffering on Christ his son. However, Christ healed from the ordeal and thus gained the knowledge to “justify many; for he [bore] their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:11). He arose “with healing in his wings” (Malachi 4:2). He suffered for us “according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance” (Alma 7:13).

Step 4: Prayers on the Bread and the Water

The priest who says the sacramental prayer represents Christ, in his role as our mediator and advocate with Father, offering an intercessory prayer to God during the atoning sacrifice. The priest who stands during sacramental prayer represents God the Father listening to the intercessory prayer.

The great intercessory prayer that Christ offered as part of the atoning sacrifice is found in John 17. The sacramental prayers have much of the same intent as that prayer. In the great intercessory prayer, Christ’s pleading to the Father on our behalf included the following – “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. … And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:17-24).

Step 5: Pass the Bread and the Water

The Deacons who assist in passing the sacrament represent Christ in his ongoing mission to search for his people and to find them, and to “bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.” (Alma 34:15). As the Deacon extends his arm with the tray, his arm represents “an invitation unto all men” (Alma 5:33) and Christ’s “arm of mercy [that] hath atoned for [our] sins” (D&C 29:1) extended towards us. The hands of the Deacons passing the sacrament symbolize this truth – “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?” (Jeremiah 23:23).

While the sacrament is being passed, the Priests watch. They represent God the Father watching the work of salvation being carried out. Their eyes represent God’s eyes – “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” (Psalm 34:15). As God watches us, he hopes that we accept the offering of the atonement and that we live righteous lives that will bring us back to his presence. God has a personalized plan of salvation for each one of us that he adjusts as necessary, depending on the path of life that we choose. The Priests’ eyes are like the eyes of God as he watches our life and adjusts our individual plans. The piece of bread that we eat in a given week is slightly different than the piece we ate the previous week, symbolizing adjustments in God’s work with us, based on our own choices and performance.

Step 6: Partake of the Bread and the Water

As we extend our hand to take the bread and the water, we exercise our agency to accept the gifts of the atonement. We “partake of the fruit of the tree of life” and “eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely” (Alma 5:34). We “partake of the goodness of God, that [we] might enter into his rest” (Jacob 1:7).

God gave Moses instructions on how to sanctify his brother Aaron and the other priests who would minister in the tabernacle so that they would be fit for temple service. One of the sanctifying acts was to eat bread made for the tabernacle – “And Aaron and his sons shall eat the . . . the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them” (Exodus 29:32-33). When we take the sacrament, we also become more sanctified. To sanctify means the same thing as to make holy. The apostle Peter tells us something that Christ had said – “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). We become more holy, or sanctified, when we take the sacrament.

After King Benjamin had given the sermon that an angel had given to him, the people who heard it asked God in prayer, “O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified” (Mosiah 4:2). Drinking the water of the sacrament is one way in which the “atoning blood of Christ” is applied to us. The result for the people of King Benjamin was that “the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come” (Mosiah 4:3). The Spirit of the Lord applies the power of the atoning blood of Christ, which is the same spirit requested in the sacramental prayers – “that they may always have his spirit to be with them.”

God’s desire is that we accept the mercies offered to us in the sacrament. He is pained when we do not accept them. Alma the Younger quoted Zenock, an ancient Israelite prophet, when he was teaching the Zoramites about faith – “Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son.” (Alma 33:16). We must exercise our agency to accept the gifts and mercies that God offers, otherwise God’s effort is wasted and he is unable to rejoice with us – “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.” (D&C 88:33).

Step 7: Returning the Empty Trays of Bread and Water

When the Deacons return the empty trays of bread and water, they represent Christ returning and reporting to the Father to tell him that we have accepted the gift offered. Christ and his Father then counsel together to decide on how to best assist each of us to continue to progress spiritually by offering us gifts, sending divine aid, and putting us through additional trials. Jesus had something like this in mind when he told his disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. … Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.” (John 14:2-3, 28).

Eventually, Christ will help us fulfill what is written in this revelation – “And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will. Remember the great and last promise which I have made unto you; … purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean; That I may testify unto your Father, and your God, and my God, that you are clean from the blood of this wicked generation; that I may fulfil this promise, this great and last promise, which I have made unto you, when I will.” (D&C 88:67-69, 74-75).