3 Nephi 18

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CHAPTER 18
Jesus institutes the sacrament among the Nephites—They are commanded to pray always in His name—Those who eat His flesh and drink His blood unworthily are damned—The disciples are given power to confer the Holy Ghost. About A.D. 34.
 
  1 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded his disciples that they should bring forth some ^abread and wine unto him.
  2 And while they were gone for bread and wine, he commanded the multitude that they should sit themselves down upon the earth. Did the disciples have to leave and come back? or just go get some that was already with them. If they left for a time, did what did Jesus do while they were all waiting? Would He want the disciples to miss anything he said? 
  4 And when they had eaten and were filled, he commanded that they should give unto the multitude. All things done in order, He then commands the 12 to give this to the multitude. In these things, I catch a glimpse of one way we can minister to others. The casseroles we make, the flowers that we take, the little earthly elements we use to lift up those around us, as we pair them with prayer and the power of our faith, can cause great positive change in the lives of those we minister to. What does it mean to eat and be "filled"? With food, to be filled means to not be hungry anymore. Did they eat as much bread as they needed to to not be hungry? If it was spiritual, was the "filling" immediately experienced with the eating of the bread? How do we experience being "filled"? One thought is that when you have an abundance of food, at the first sign of being hungry you can easily go be fed, so you are never at the point of being really hungry. If we have His Spirit to be with us always, it's kind of like that. We need never feel "hungry" again. It seems like the apostles would represent the deacons and priests in our day, but in our day, they eat and drink last. Maybe we have the order reversed; or...this is why the presiding priesthood holder eats/drinks first because the apostles were the highest ranking or presiding officers present?
  5 And when the multitude had eaten and were filled, he said unto the disciples: Behold there shall one be ^aordained among you, and to him will I give power that he shall ^bbreak ^cbread and bless it and give it unto the people of my ^dchurch,     unto all those who shall believe and be baptized in my name. He says that He ordains one with power. Is that just authority or is there a literal power that is used to bless? When Jesus is present, He always administers the sacrament himself. When He is gone, He needs servants to stand in His place. Whatever power comes with the sacrament, comes whether He is physically present or not. Does it change things for you to imagine the Savior breaking the emblems of the sacrament for you personally to remember Him and covenant with Him directly?     
  7 And this shall ye do in ^aremembrance of my ^bbody, which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you. What are we remembering? 1. That His body has been shown to people on earth. 2. That His body was freely given to be crucified for our sins. 3. That His body was resurrected and He still lives. 4. That His body retains the scars of His crucifixion as a symbol of His love. Why does God ask us to do things in a physical way to testify that we remember Him? Is it because it gives us time to pause, reflect, act in agency, takes effort, choice?  
  8 And it came to pass that when he said these words, he commanded his disciples that they should take of the ^awine of the cup and drink of it, and that they should also give unto the multitude that they might drink of it. I wonder what the deal is with wine historically vs today. It seems they all drank it and I don't get the feeling it was all "new" wine (grape juice), but perhaps in moderation? Hmmm...
 9 And it came to pass that they did so, and did drink of it and were filled; and they gave unto the multitude, and they did drink, and they were filled. Jesus promises them that after He's gone, He will leave them with ministers with power to administer the sacrament to them, that they will always be able to remember these events and what He has done for them. He also promises them that if they do these things, they will always have His Spirit to be with them, which is what they had been praying for in past chapters. Even though we don't have the wherewithal to assign ministers after us, we hope that others will continue to minister to those we love after we're gone.
 10 And when the disciples had done this, Jesus said unto them: Blessed are ye for this thing which ye have done, for this is fulfilling my commandments, and this doth witness unto the Father that ye are ^awilling to do that which I have commanded you. The cup is a witness that we are willing to do the commandments. It is not enough to just remember Christ. We must do what He asks. Because of our mortal weakness, we can only witness that we are willing, not that we always do. Jesus tells the disciples they are blessed because they've just shown Heavenly Father that they're willing to obey His Son. This is a sign they've given to Father.
 11 And this shall ye always do to those who repent and are baptized in my name; and ye shall do it in ^aremembrance of my ^bblood, which I have shed for you, that ye may witness unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you. What are we remembering? 1. That He suffered so much for our sins that He bled from every pore. 2. That His blood was further split when He was whipped. 3. That His blood also flowed when He was hung on the cross. 4. That blood is our lifeforce; without it we will die - His Atonement is also our lifeforce; without it we will die spiritually. 5. That He willingly sacrificed for us - that we may also sacrifice for Him. This is kind of a mission statement of ministry--to remind all about Christ and what He has done for us and to encourage them to keep His commandments, so that they can have His spirit to be with them. Perhaps when we witness we do always remember Him, the "always" part is partaking of the sacrament every week...
 12 And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my ^arock. Taking the Sacrament is an action that puts us on the rock of Christ.  Jesus tells us that if we, as ministers, and those we minister to, do these things and remember Him, we shall be built on His rock, which rock is, what Christ told Peter, is the rock of revelation. This could tie in to the Aaronic Priesthood holding the key to the ministering of angels. The sacrament unlocks those keys, if taken worthily.
 13 But whoso among you shall do ^amore or less than these are not built upon my rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall ^bfall, and the ^cgates of hell are ready open to receive them. This is the second time He's taught them about foundations of rock and sand. We must be aware what our beliefs are founded on or we will be caught unawares when the storms arrive. What is the "more or less than this"? Partaking of the Sacrament? Repenting and renewing our covenants?  In Come Follow Me this week, in the vision of the degrees of Glory God says “  let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet." Covid is revealing quickly if we are built upon The Rock or sand....I just heard of a miracle that happened in one of the contemporary was in Israel, where a group of soldiers found themselves in a minefield. They started slowly digging the soil in front of them to carefully expose the mines 30 inches down and disarm them, when a super strong wind came and removed 30 inches of topsoil and exposed hundreds of mines so they could see where to walk to escape. In this analogy about building upon sand, it made me think that our adversity/tribulations will be like this mighty wind that will expose each of our own "landmines" of iniquity, giving us the opportunity to disable each one. 
 14 Therefore blessed are ye if ye shall keep my commandments, which the Father hath commanded me that I should give unto you.
 15 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and ^apray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him. This is soooooo true! 2 Corinthians 10:5 "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" Challenge every thought that doesn't produce a fruit of the Spirit. It contains a lie. You must flesh it out and replace it with truth. This is the ultimate form of casting out evil spirits. Remember, this is to the 12. They are not above temptation or falling. Even they must watch and pray, lest they be led away captive by the devil.
 16 And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my ^achurch, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the ^blight; I have set an ^cexample for you. How did Christ pray? Was He talking about the words of the prayer? His posture? Who He prayed for? He has also asked us to be a light - His light should be reflected in our countenances. His life is our example. In our ministering we should seek to act as conduits for His light and love. We are commanded to be obedient, watch and pray, so that we won't succumb to Satan and his minions, and to minister the same throughout His church.
 17 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto his disciples, he turned again unto the multitude and said unto them: We forget that He was just talking to the disciples...can we apply these words to us? Why didn’t He just say this to the whole multitude? What special meaning do these words have to the 12? 
 18 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for ^aSatan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. Do you watch and pray always? What are you praying about? I submit, again, that it is about taking every thought captive so that we are not caught in Satan's lies. 
 19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name; This is where I get tripped up when people talk about praying to Jesus... And yet, we are told to strengthen our relationship with Christ. How do you have a relationship with someone you never talk to? Isn't prayer, "talking"? 
 20 And ^awhatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you. I have SO much faith in this! This is seems so simple, yet so many prayers seem to go unanswered. Is it because we don't have an eternal perspective on what is truly "right"?
 21 ^aPray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed. Does this mean, pray that your wives and children will be blessed or, if you pray in your families, your wives and children will be blessed? It appears that Jesus, knowing that He has just revealed more light and truth to this people, that an equal opposition is coming, when He turns towards the multitude and warns them that Satan desires to sift them as wheat. It seems like a far more personal threat. He explains how and why prayer is one of the best protections against the adversary.
 22 And behold, ye shall ^ameet together oft; and ye shall not forbid any man from coming unto you when ye shall meet together, but suffer them that they may come unto you and forbid them not; This was taught in the Doctrine and Covenants too, but we seem to think government gets to make the call on this. sigh. 
 23 But ye shall ^apray for them, and shall not cast them out; and if it so be that they come unto you oft ye shall pray for them unto the Father, in my name. We can pray that we’ll all be protected and/or healed. How about that? This also seems to be saying that no matter who comes (in their sins, as we all do) that we should pray for each other. And what are we praying for them, if not that they overcome their sins through Christ? And why are they coming, if not to overcome the world?
 24 Therefore, hold up your ^alight that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the ^blight which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed. This gives reference to Moses and the brass serpent. Jesus is the one that is lifted up as the light and we are to show others what He did and do the same. The “jab” is in no way the "thing" we are to lift up and it in no way represents Him or anything He has ever done! What if the "cross" represents Jesus, and the "snake" is the evil in us that is crucified? Or...if Jesus took our place on the cross, then "we" are the "snake". The purpose of "looking at the snake on the cross" to live would be to see our fate without Jesus Christ who took our place.
 25 And ye see that I have commanded that ^anone of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might ^bfeel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world; and whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation. I love how Jesus points out that the things He has just commanded them to do, He has just shown them by example. Pray like He did. Invite all to come, like He did. We have yielded to temptation every time we do not follow His example. Another word for temptation is 'unbelief'. He gives them guidance in how to conduct their church gatherings, not leaving anyone out, but being a gospel of inclusion--be a light, invite, pray for all, gather in. President Nelson is inviting us now to do just that, and even on a grander scale, gather in the believing blood, the House of Israel. It is important that we help those who gather with us to "feel" the Spirit and "see" truth more clearly. If you take His words literally, He's telling them to invite others to come to Christ and "feel and see" Him as well!
 26 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he turned his eyes again upon the ^adisciples whom he had chosen, and said unto them:
 27 Behold verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you another commandment, and then I must go unto my ^aFather that I may fulfil ^bother commandments which he hath given me. Another example of how Jesus Christ, though a God, still sees His Father as His God, and continues to do as His Father commands.  
 28 And now behold, this is the commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall not suffer any one knowingly to ^apartake of my flesh and blood ^bunworthily, when ye shall minister it;
 29 For whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and ^ablood ^bunworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul; therefore if ye know that a man is unworthy to eat and drink of my flesh and blood ye shall forbid him. Before He leaves, He gives the disciples a further, refining detail--even though they are not to exclude anyone, or cast them out of their gatherings, they are not to allow anyone knowingly unworthy, to partake of the sacrament, as a protection to that person, because of the consequences of partaking unworthily. This is a hard one. It seems like the leaders of the ward don’t stop people from taking the sacrament unless they confess a serious sin. Is that the definition of “knowing”? What if you “know” but they don’t confess? Does this commandment to not let them partake still apply? Notice talking to the apostles about this and not the general body. Seems to place this responsibility on them.
 30 Nevertheless, ye shall not ^acast him out from among you, but ye shall ^bminister unto him and shall pray for him unto the Father, in my name; and if it so be that he repenteth and is baptized in my name, then shall ye receive him, and shall minister unto him of my flesh and blood. Sounds like unbaptized people shouldn't take the sacrament if they are visiting. We don't ask them not to. Why not? Maybe the taking of the sacrament unworthily refers to just not being baptized?
 31 But if he repent not he shall not be numbered among my people, that he may not destroy my people, for behold I ^aknow ^bmy sheep, and they are numbered. This kind of hearkens to the "records" of the church and maybe how we are "counted"... Interesting that if he doesn't repent and get baptized, he's not numbered as one of the people "so he may not destroy my people." Is this kind of a wheat and tares thing? We don't want Korihor teaching our Sunday School class. If someone is not there to learn and repent, then we can cast them out? Is that what it means to "not be numbered"? 
 32 Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your ^asynagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall ^bheal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them. I can't help but wonder how much more of this we will see in our day. Will there be more and more people who show up at our churches that seem different to us? Will we be tempted to want to cast them out? Are we being taught to minister so that we know how to minister to them? We are to be the 'means of bringing salvation unto them.' Still, we are to minister and include them in our love and gatherings, because they still may come unto Christ , and we may be instrumental in this. This is our charge. These are our friends, our children and loved ones, as well as the people of the earth, whom we are trying to gather in before the Second Coming. So we don't cast Korihor out of the meeting. But we make the distinction that he is not "numbered among us"...so there are certain things he can't do. But where there is no proximity, there is no influence. So we let them come and keep ministering to them, praying they will repent.
 33 Therefore, keep these sayings which I have commanded you that ye come not under ^acondemnation; for wo unto him whom the Father condemneth. They would be condemned for not keeping them because they are accountable for having been taught them directly by the Savior. 
 34 And I give you these commandments because of the disputations which have been among you. And blessed are ye if ye have ^ano disputations among you. The Savior really doesn't like it when we have contention! I guess there have been disagreements about doctrine or proceedings (maybe some felt that unworthy people should not be included in their gatherings?)  Jesus is straightening this out, and wants them to know it is not good to dispute.
 35 And now I go unto the Father, because it is expedient that I should go unto the Father ^afor your sakes. I wonder how His leaving is 'for' their sakes?  He's going to return and report and receive more direction. Perhaps, He will visit the Spirit World and let the people who died in the great upheavals of His crucifixion, know that their loved ones in the Americas have received His word and the ordinance of the sacrament, and that they soon will be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost.  We don't know for sure.
 36 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of these sayings, he touched with his ^ahand the ^bdisciples whom he had chosen, one by one, even until he had touched them all, and spake unto them as he touched them. Is this like a laying on of hands or some other special kind of “touch”?
 37 And the multitude heard not the words which he spake, therefore they did not bear record; but the disciples bare record that he gave them ^apower to give the ^bHoly Ghost. Sounds like an ordination...And I will show unto you hereafter that this record is true. How does he show this "hereafter"?
 38 And it came to pass that when Jesus had touched them all, there came a ^acloud and overshadowed the multitude that they could not see Jesus.
 39 And while they were overshadowed he ^adeparted from them, and ascended into heaven. And the disciples saw and did bear record that he ascended again into heaven. It seems there are many ways a person can be transported to and from heaven--a pillar of light, a cloud, a tunnel, a portal, a chariot--I'm sure there are more. Is there something here that teaches us the fact that the multitude were the ones overshadowed so they couldn't see Christ. His light is never dimmed and He can't be overshadowed. Only we can do that by our unbelief. The disciples were not covered maybe as a symbol that they are our connection to heaven in the church? Or the “touching” may have had something to do with being able to witness His departure...a "translation" of sorts?