Gramps,

I do have a question pertaining to the Sacrament. Multiple church leaders and gospel-oriented manuals teach that Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament, in remembrance of both his body and his blood. While reading my scriptures, I came across Genesis 14:18-19, which seems to say that Melchizedek partook in some sort of Sacrament ordinance. But didn’t Melchizedek live 2000 years before Jesus Christ? My question is simply this; understanding that our knowledge of ancient rituals is limited to few accounts, including the Bible and modern day revelation, was it a sacrament that is spoken of in these two verses?

Thanks.

Dave

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Dave,

The evening before His Crucifixion, Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament in remembrance of His sacrifice. Prior to that time, there were sacred meals that foreshadowed the Atonement, but none of these were the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The Passover meal has some of the most readily recognizable symbols, and it is from this meal that Jesus took bread and wine and blessed them with a new purpose.

Genesis 14:18 and Exodus 18:12 show that sacred meals were a part of true worship before the Law of Moses. While the Sacrament can be classified as a sacred meal like these other examples, it stands alone in that it serves as a remembrance of the Atonement and not a foreshadowing.

Gramps