3 Nephi 18:1-7

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 bread and wine unto him.

The Savior sent His disciples to get bread and wine. He was ready to institute the Sacrament among the Nephites.

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

“And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).[1]

He commanded the multitude to sit while waiting for the disciples to return.

When they returned, He took the bread and broke it apart and blessed. He gave the bread to the disciples and had them eat the bread. When they had eaten the bread, He commanded the disciples to give bread to the multitude.

When the multitude had eaten the bread, He spoke again to the disciples. One would be ordained and will receive the power to break and bless the bread to be given to church members. All who believe will be baptized in His name.

“The twelve Nephite disciples received authority to baptize directly from the resurrected Jesus and not from earlier scripture or the community of believers (3 Nephi 11:21–26; 12:1). The specific granting of divine authority to mortals is a recurrent element in the resurrected Lord’s ministry at the Book of Mormon’s climax (3 Nephi 18:5, 36–37; 20:4; 4 Nephi 1:5).”[2]

He commanded them to observe this ordinance, “even as I have done” (3 Nephi 18:6).

“We bind ourselves through the covenant made in partaking of the sacrament. Through partaking of the bread, we remember the body of Christ and his providing the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 11:24; compare 3 Nephi 18:6—7).”[3]

They were commanded to eat the bread “… in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen” (Moroni 4:3).

“Now these Nephites ate the sanctified bread in remembrance, not of the broken body or of the suffering of the Lord, but of the unforgettably glorified physical body, ‘which I have shown unto you’ (3 Nephi 18:7). Their sacrament was, quite literally, a sacrament of ‘shew’ bread, of the bread of life that had been shown to them, the bread of a resurrected being which they had not only seen but also touched and whose hands had touched them.”[4]

“Significantly, when Jesus visited His disciples in the Americas, He also instituted the sacrament among them. In doing so, He said: ‘This shall ye always observe to do,’ and ‘it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me.’ Again, at the outset of the Restoration, the Lord instituted the ordinance of the sacrament, giving instructions to us similar to those He gave His earlier disciples.”[5]

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[1] “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and brake it, and blessed it, and gave to his disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is in remembrance of my body which I give a ransom for you…

“For this is in remembrance of my blood of the new testament, which is shed for as many as shall believe on my name, for the remission of their sins.

“And I give unto you a commandment, that ye shall observe to do the things which ye have seen me do, and bear record of me even unto the end” (JST Matthew 26:22, 24-25).

[2] The Historical Case against Sidney Rigdon’s Authorship of the Book of Mormon, Matthew Roper and Paul J. Fields, Mormon Studies Review 23/1 (2011): 118.

[3] The Stumbling Blocks of First Corinthians, Monte S. Nyman, Reprinted by permission from The New Testament and the Latter-day Saints (Orem, Utah: Randall Book Company, 1987), 249—62, Maxwell Institute website.

[4] Seeing Third Nephi as the Holy of Holies of the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 19/1 (2010): 48.

[5] The Sacrament and the Atonement, Elder James J. Hamula, October 2014 General Conference.