Passover

God created us and a plan that we might become like him. Choice was a critical part of the plan, and so opposition was introduced so we could have that ability. A consequence of choice and opposition is that our first parents could no longer live in the presence of God. Because of this separation, God’s children would also be separated from him, inculpable but no less living with the consequences of that separation. Within this plan of choice and opposition a method of reconciliation was placed, at its very foundation. We may understand that without this reconciliation provided by God through the sacrifice of his only begotten son, his children would have been permanently cut off from his presence, there would be no opportunity for restoration. But the reconciliation was established at the beginning. Once understood, there is no further room to wonder, what if, or ask what may have happened if no reconciliation was made. We could no sooner separate the concept of water from wetness than consider the plan of salvation without that act of salvation itself. And thus, our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, is our only means of restoration and mercy.

Over the many centuries the children of God have been given many reminders of the restoring sacrifice of Jesus. Reminders that are intended to turn us back to Him. On the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan the Jews celebrate the feast of Passover, commemorating the last of the 10 plagues of Egypt and their liberation. The faithful children of Israel being passed over by the destruction that came to the first born. The sacrificial blood of a lamb marked the sanctuaries of the faithful keepers of the covenant, otherwise it would be the firstborn of the household that were sacrificed. In all these things we see reminders of the covenant. Not just the covenant made to Abraham, but the covenant that a savior would be provided for us. Moses himself acting as a living symbol of the coming Christ. One who would make the eternal sacrifice. His blood marking the cross just as they had marked their doorways.

Jesus kept this feast with his apostles, and on the evening of the feast he taught a greater meaning of the bread that was broken and wine that was shared:

1 Corinthians 11

24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

From that moment forward his disciples would continue to partake of the sacramental emblems in remembrance of Jesus, on the first day of the week as they gathered together.

We remember the Savior every Sunday through our participation in the sacrament, the holy supper. This ordinance is prepared and provided to us by those who have been authorized to do so through their priesthood ordination. This is not a trivial part of our meetings.

“Every ordinance of the gospel focuses in one way or another on the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, and surely that is why this particular ordinance with all its symbolism and imagery comes to us more readily and more repeatedly than any other in our life. It comes in what has been called “the most sacred, the most holy, of all the meetings of the Church” Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation.