We Celebrate Easter Once Each Year, But Every Sunday Can be Easter!

We have the opportunity to remember the Easter story and Christ’s sacrifice for us every Sunday as we participate in partaking of the Sacrament.

In fact, all the ordinances we partake in are full of symbolism and point us to Christ and his doctrine. The Sacrament reminds us of Christ’s atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection. 

The Sacrament can bind us to Christ.

Partaking of the Sacrament is a very personal experience. 

Elder L. Tom Perry said, “Partaking of the sacrament provides us with a sacred moment in a holy place.” (Perry, Elder L Tom. “As Now We Take the Sacrament .” Liahona, Apr. 2006.) 

We read this in D&C 59:8-10 regarding Sabbath Day worship:

“Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High.”  

Not only do we come to take the Sacrament to remember Christ’s sacrifice for us, but we come to the Sacrament to offer our own sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit. 

When we humbly come, we can connect with Christ and learn the will of God for us. 

During Passover, Christ met with his disciples and took elements from the old law to help them understand the new law he was giving them.

He gave them the Sacrament and told them that there would be no more animal sacrifices after this. Christ offered himself as the final sacrifice to fulfill the Law of Moses. 

After his resurrection, Christ went to the Americas as a resurrected being and established his Church there. In reading 3 Nephi Chapter 18, we learn how Christ gives the Sacrament to his disciples and the multitudes there. At the end of verse 12, after giving them the Sacrament, the Lord says, “ And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock.” 

Christ himself said by partaking in the Sacrament, we are building our foundation upon the rock, which is Christ. So, therefore, the Sacrament joins us with the Savior. 

He loves us.

He wants us to remember him and our covenants with him so we get to partake of the Sacrament each week. 

The nature of our mortal bodies is that we get distracted and forget. 

The sacrament prayers tell us that we remember his body and the blood he shed for us and to remember Christ.

I love that we can take the Sacrament often because it helps keep me motivated and focused. I notice a big difference in my life after missing just a week or two of being able to partake of the Sacrament. There is strength and power in coming prepared to partake of the Sacrament. 

Some of the symbols of the ordinance of the Sacrament and how they point to Christ 

The more we understand the sacrament symbols and how they point to Christ, the more we can benefit from the Sacrament. 

A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different concepts and experiences. 

Some symbols of the Sacrament Christ himself explains. Other symbols prophets have spoken on.

We can also enjoy personal revelation and additional insights into what is explained in all symbolism. 

There are multiple layers to these sacred symbols.

Sacrament Cup

One symbol of the Sacrament I have pondered on for the last couple of months is the sacrament cup. From my personal revelation, the cup reminds me of the Savior in Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:39 “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt”. 

We all experience hard things in life that feel too hard to bear. 

As I think of Christ, I can’t begin to imagine his pain and sorrow.

He didn’t give up! 

When things seem too hard, we can yoke ourselves with Christ and remember that he has already suffered for us. We do not need to be alone in dealing with the challenges that life throws at us. 

In John 16:33, the Lord says, “These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” 

Do we trust in Christ’s sacrifice that he did the Father’s will? If we trust in His will and quit trying to do things our way, we can find the peace Christ promises us. 

Maybe not all the answers, but peace in Christ. 

The White Tablecloth

The white tablecloth represents the white linen used to cover Christ’s body when he was buried in the tomb, just as the white tablecloth covers the symbols of Christ’s body. 

Luke 23:53, “And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.” 

Luke 24:12, “There arose Peter and ran to the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.” 

Christ was resurrected and lives.

Brethren who Administer the Sacrament

The priests or Melchizedek priesthood holders administer the Sacrament for the Lord to bless it. They act for Christ. Christ administered the Sacrament to his disciples, and these brethren administer the Sacrament to us on Christ’s behalf. 

Elder Holland teaches, “Live your best and look your best when you participate in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. May I suggest that wherever possible a white shirt be worn by the deacons, teachers, and priests who handle the Sacrament. For sacred ordinances in the Church we often use ceremonial clothing, and a white shirt could be seen as a gentle reminder of the white clothing you wore in the baptismal font and an anticipation of the white shirt you will soon wear into the temple and onto your missions.

Elder Groberg shares a great thought on how good these deacons, teachers, and priests are. 

 “You young men must be worthy and realize what a privilege you have to pass the bread and water, the emblems of the Lord’s love for all of us. Think of the blessings you offer—hope, love, joy, forgiveness, freedom, and everlasting life. What a contrast to so many youth who today pass other types of white substances and other kinds of liquids that bring gloom and failure, captivity and death in the deceitful guise of happiness!” John H Groberg, "The Beauty and Importance of the Sacrament", General Conference, April 1989

Christ wants us to partake of these emblems to have hope, love, joy, forgiveness, freedom, and everlasting life. Is that what you see as the bread and water is being passed?

Bread

The bread reminds us that Christ is the bread of life or living bread. 

John 6:51, the Savior said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 

Bread is one of the most common and ancient staple foods in history. It represents nourishment. The bread symbolizes that we are fed spiritually and receive spiritual energy and strength.

The bread is broken into pieces representing the broken body of Jesus. 

Elder Dallin H. Oaks once observed:

“because it is broken and torn, each piece of bread is unique, just as the individuals who partake of it are unique. We all have different sins to repent of. We all have different needs to be strengthened through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we remember in this ordinance.”  Dallin H. Oaks, “Introductory Message”(address given at the seminar for new mission presidents, June 25, 2017), 2.

Christ knows each of us individually. I don’t know how it was done that he felt all my pains, sorrows, trials, temptations, and joys.

He did that for each one of us. 

I have felt forgiveness, strength, love, and peace as I have used the atonement. 

I have heard many others share their experiences of how the atonement has helped them. I know I didn’t have their experiences, or even when I’ve had similar experiences, I responded or felt differently than the other person. Yet, we each could tap into the atonement and gain what we individually needed from it. 

Water

The water reminds us that Christ is the living water. 

All living life needs water to survive.

Without Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, there would be a finite physical and spiritual death. Still, we can have eternal life because of his atonement and resurrection. 

In John 4:14, The Savior declared, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” 

The water symbolizes His blood shed in Gethsemane, the cross, and its sanctifying power. 

To sanctify something means to make it pure and holy. So we use the sanctifying power of the atonement to repent and be clean through the blood of Christ. 

3 Nephi 27:19 “And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.”

Repentance is a gift that we all need.

 It is not just giving up sin or behavior, but a mighty change of heart to change and desire to be more like Christ and move forward with those actions. Repentance and being sanctified is a process and can be a lifetime pursuit. 

We are so blessed to physically partake of the bread and water. As we do, we can become sanctified.

Elder Christofferson says, 

”As we partake of the sacramental bread and water each week, we would do well to consider how fully and completely we must incorporate His character and the pattern of His sinless life into our life and being.” “The Living Bread Which Came Down from Heaven”, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, General Conference, October 2017

I’ve never had an experience like Saul on the road to Damascus or Alma the Younger. 

But I have come to believe in the Savior and trust his atonement by doing little things daily. 

As I study my scriptures, say my prayers, and repent, the Holy Ghost testifies that the Savior knows and loves me. 

His atonement is infinite. It covers everything, and I can use it repeatedly - even when I make the same mistakes as long I keep trying to improve. 

Christ would have us use the atonement more.

When I get stuck and try to go about life, as my kids say, by “doing it me ownself,” I forget to rely on the Savior as I should. But, when I get over myself and my pride and trust that God’s plan is greater than my plan, peace comes back. 

My circumstances don’t magically change and are better, or I get the answers I want. But instead, I have a calm inside and can react and deal better with what is happening around me. 

Christ loves us. That is why he prayed in the garden, was beaten, crucified, and resurrected 3 days later. 

We don’t need to celebrate the Easter story just on Easter Sunday. 

We can think of it every Sunday and throughout our week, and as we remember him, keep his commandments and take his name upon us. 

Thanks for Reading!

Katie