3 Nephi 18

(December 1, 2009)

As I read through this chapter, I began to think about why we break bread and have water for the Sacrament.  I wondered if it was because that was what the Savior did at the first Sacrament at the Last Supper, but I then discarded that idea because of the unlikelihood that it was an accident that the Savior chose this procedure.  I then began to think about communion in literature.  Whenever people eat (or fail to eat) together, it is typically representative of communion or failed communion.  I was forced to discard this idea as well.  The likelihood is high that the literary symbolism was derived from the Sacrament rather than the reverse.

Finally, I wondered how much of a guest-obligation tradition of the Middle East was responsible.  I think I need to review the customs of the time, but my recollection is that when a guest entered the house and shared bread certain obligations became binding on both parties.  That certainly predated the Last Supper, and it could have served as the symbolic reference that the Sacrament was using to teach us about communion with the Father.