October 3, 2010

Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.
And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. (Luke 22:7-8)

Jesus’ words were obeyed and the annual feast was observed as it had been for nearly fifteen hundred years.  At first it seemed no different than the ceremony they had heard all their lives, but in an instant the Savior radically transformed this ritual observance with these words, “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.”  How astonished the disciples must have been, and even more so when Jesus, after the Passover meal took the cup and said, “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”

This dramatic event ushered in the new covenant that Jesus sealed with His blood.  The Mosaic feasts and sacrifices were abolished forever, as Jesus commanded the Nephite people on this land, “And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings; and ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” (3 Ne 4:49) As we remember Jesus’ sacrifice that delivered us from Satan and the bondage of sin, let us renew our covenant with him to offer a broken heart and contrite spirit.
Your servant Dan