AN ORDINANCE OF LOVE

As Jesus sat at supper with His disciples prior to His fated suffering, He instituted the sacrament through which they could remember Him and through which they could covenant to keep His commandments on the condition of love. Such was the theme of the last supper of His mortal life. In John's account of the Last Supper in chapters 13-15 Jesus used the word 'love' 20 times in 14 verses. This made it clear indeed that what He was about to do for them through His infinite sacrifice was a token of love and should be a token of love forever more. Then the admonition to all who would accept that love through the emblems of sacrament: "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you" (John 15:12); "...this do in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19).

One might ask why the Lord chose the Last Supper as a discourse on love. What to us became The Last Supper and the institution of the sacrament we observe to this day, was in actuality Jesus' last Passover meal or the feast of unleavened bread which was an ancient festival that commemorated the salvation of Israel from bondage in Egypt. The Passover had been kept by Israelites for generations as a token of the Lord's love for them: "Because  the Lord loved you...hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt" (Deut. 7:8). When Jehovah freed the Israelites from Egyptians, He freed them from physical bondage of slavery and likewise from spiritual bondage by giving them laws and commandments which with the passing of time they had great difficulty in keeping. The atoning sacrifice which Jesus was about to perform for Israel following the last Passover was to free them once more from physical and spiritual bondage, physical being the sting of death and spiritual being the pathway to eternal life through the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. As the Jewish day ends and begins at sunset, thousands of Paschal lambs were killed on the day of the Passover signifying that the lamb was the great and last sacrifice. That same day, before the sun set again, Jesus hung on the cross, in realisation of that significance, the offering of His body grounded in ultimate love for "greater love hath no man that this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

"Before Jesus introduced the ordinance of the sacrament, He taught His disciples more about love. In order for them to understand the sacrament, they had to first understand the basic principle of love" (Perry, L. Tom, Why Call Ye Me Lord, And Do Not The Things Which I Say?, Ensign Nov 1984). The Lord emphasized several times that only those who are obedient to his commandments truly understand what it is to love Him and others, because the commandments are principles of love. The commandments of God enjoin us to love him, others, and ourselves. Keeping the commandments of God enable us to join together in love as eternal families. Without obedience to these principles of love, there is no eternal life" (Breck England, NT Lesson 23, Love One Another As I Have Loved You".

Jesus predicted that in our day people will not keep the commandments and because 'iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold' (Matt 24:12). But more than that, the love of many within their own families shall wax cold and brother shall rise against brother, and father against the son, and children against their parents (Mark 13:12). We see evidence of this constantly in media where families are torn and at war with one another; where hatred abounds instead of love; where family feuds cause generations to foster animosity and breed bitterness, resentment and ill will; and where blood is thinner than water. The Church is not exempt from this. There we encounter hypocrisy where some members, to be seen of men, are more courteous, loving and kind to other Church members than they are to their own families; where parents allow familiarity to breed disrespect between each other and their children; where parents mete abuse; and where children are so disobedient to their parents that instead of havens their homes become battlegrounds. It has been said 'you hurt the most those you love the most'. Why is it that we are more mindful of hurting the feelings of our friends and strangers than we are of hurting our families? If we are at odds with any family members we will not be fit for the kingdom. Our family members are those that count the most, we cannot be saved in the Kingdom of God without them in the sense that if we harbour unforgiveness, hatred or ill will toward them. I feel that we will be held accountable for any issues we have caused or pain we have inflicted that we do not seek to rectify. In extreme cases where abuse has been involved, there might need to be professional mediation to bring the perpetrator to repentance and the victim to healing.

Most importantly, if we are not bound in love, we cannot hope to have the Lord's spirit with us always as it is promised us through the token of the sacrament. When we are not bound in love to our family members, no matter what their feelings are towards us, we are not fully worthy to partake of Christ's flesh and blood through the sacredness of the sacrament for that which was wrought in love should be partaken in love. No man can confess to fully love God when he does not love his fellow beings for when there is an absence of love, more often than not there is a presence of adverse feelings which are not worthy of true disciples of Christ. Regarding this President Joseph Fielding Smith Jr said the following: "If any of the members are not in good standing; if they have in their hearts any feeling of hatred, envy, or sin of any kind, they should not partake of these emblems. If there are any differences or feelings existing between brethren, these differences should be adjusted before the guilty parties partake; otherwise they will eat and drink unworthily and bring on them the condemnation spoken of by Paul. We should see that our hearts and hands are clean and pure. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:343)"

The importance of cherishing and honouring family relationships can be seen through the following story:

"Some time ago a friend of mine related an experience that I should like to pass on to you. He said:

'My father's cousin and my father lived in the same community and were competing in the construction business. There grew up over the years a very keen and bitter rivalry between them. This was triggered in the beginning in the bidding of construction contracts, and later in our city political affairs where they opposed each other in very spirited elections. Our immediate families inherited this situation upon the death of my father, for we boys seemed to take over where Dad left off. It was quite a strain on the members of his family and ours even to be civil to one another, even in our Church callings where he served as bishop of one ward and I in another, and later in the high council where we were both members. When we came together it seemed that Satan took over, and I am sure he did, for haven't we been told that where contention is, the Spirit of the Lord is not? 

This situation continued to fester. Suddenly I found myself with a call to put aside all worldly things and go to preside over a mission. This was a thrilling experience to contemplate, and yet I subconsciously had a most uneasy feeling about it. I kept asking myself: 'Are you really worthy to accept such an important call?' I was living the Word of Wisdom, I was a full tithe paper, I was faithful in all my Church activities, I was morally clean, and yet this uneasy feeling persisted. I set about immediately to get my business and personal affairs in a condition where others could handle them when we were gone. While returning home from my office one afternoon, it really happened. I didn't hear a voice, but as clearly as if a voice spoke to me something said: 'You must go to your father's cousin and get things straightened out. You cannot go on this mission and teach the gospel of love when this terrible feeling exists between you.' 

I drove to his home, and with great fear and trepidation went up and rang the doorbell. There was no answer. After waiting a few minutes I went back to my car and said silently, 'Lord, I made the attempt. I am sure this will be acceptable.' But it wasn't. This uneasy feeling still persisted. I prayed earnestly about it. The next day as I sat in a funeral service, my cousin came in and sat across the aisle from me. The Spirit moved me to ask him if I could see him at his home after the service. He agreed. This time I went with calmness and tranquility in my soul because I had asked the Lord to prepare the way for me.

When I rang the doorbell he invited me into the living room and congratulated me on my mission call. We talked a few minutes about things in general, and then it happened. I looked at him with the feeling of love, which replaced all the old bitterness, and said: 'I have come to ask forgiveness for anything I have ever said or done that has tended to divide us and our families.' At this point tears came into our eyes, and for a few minutes neither of us could say a word. This was one time when silence was more powerful than words. In a few minutes he said: 'I wish I had come to you first.' I replied: 'The important thing is that it is done, not who initiated it.' At this moment we had a rich spiritual experience, which caused us to purge our lives and our souls of those things which had separated us, which has resulted in our having proper family relationships. Now I could go on my mission and teach the true meaning of love, because for the first time in my life I had experienced its deepest dimension, and now I could honestly say that there wasn't a person in the world that I didn't love and appreciate. Since that day my life has never been the same, for it was then that I learned in a most positive way as I had never understood before the injunction of the Master to his disciples when he said: 'A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another' (John 13:34) (N. Eldon Tanner in CR, April 1967, pp 105-6, The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p. 161)

When Judas left the Passover feast to pursue the path of betrayal, Jesus said to His disciples that He was with them only for a little while longer (John 13:33). Peter was so sorrowful that he said: "Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death" (Luke 22:33). We can imagine the Saviour saying: "No Peter, that won't be necessary, 'whither I go, ye cannot come' (John 13:33). All that is required of you is to partake of this token of love in remembrance of me that you may love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34)

"Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." (John 13:1)

A LOVE DIVINE

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.....he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.....and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5)

Two miles from Jerusalem, on the southeast slope of Mount Olivet lay a village called Bethany, a name meaning 'house of the poor'. It is in this beloved village, in the home of Simon the leper, among his most devoted and beloved friends, Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead and his sisters Mary and Martha, that Jesus and His disciples spent the holy week of the Passover. It can only be imagined with what sorrow and heavy hearts His last week on earth was spent in the company of those who accepted Him as the Son of God, and who knowing of His impending death (Matt 26:2) prepared and offered support. It is in this home that He received the holy anointing in preparation for His kingly burial as the beloved Mary, who loved to sit at Jesus' feet and hear His words of eternal life, took from her treasures an alabaster box containing the costly ointment of spikenard with which she anointed the Saviour's head and feet and wiped them with the hairs of her head and no doubt, her tears. Later in the week He sat at supper with His disciples, who 'were His own and who He loved unto the end' (John 13:1) instituting the sacrament that they might always remember Him and have His spirit with them, washing the disciples feet admonishing them to be servants of all and commanding them to love one another as He had loved them.

Outside Jerusalem's walls, there was in Jesus' time, a pleasant garden spot by the name of Gethsemane where Jesus and his disciples retreated for pondering and prayer. It is here that He taught them the doctrines of the kingdom and where they together communed with the Father of us all. It was in this sacred spot, following the Passover, and on this holy ground where the Saviour of the world took upon himself the sins of all mankind. Gethsemane, meaning 'oil-press', exacted from Him who created us all, the greatest suffering known to man. 'Just as oil is pressed unmercifully from an olive in order to extract each precious drop, the law of justice exacted its full payment from the Saviour of Mankind as He willingly wrought out the infinite Atonement' (Larry D. Keeler, Gethsemane).

As the Saviour wrestled with His agony wanting the cup to pass from Him, we no doubt, with all the host of heaven, stood in line clutching our burdens of mortality, waited with bated breath, hoping against all hope that He would not shrink back from the bitter cup and leave us unransomed and lost.  As He subjected Himself to the agony of Gethsemane, the scope of which He never imagined, the 'oil-press' extracting blood through every pore, the Saviour, assisted and comforted by an angel from on high, fulfilled His promise that not one tear would fall unnoticed and not one sin be overlooked during the exquisite agony He suffered for our sakes. It is in that moment of His total submission to the Father's will, when the price was paid, the slates wiped clean and the tears of our sorrows wiped away, that we understood the worth of our souls and the love which He bore for those who had been given Him as His own. The plan conceived before the world was, at once became the plan achieved.

Later, as He hung on the cross, enduring the physical pain of crucifixion, 'all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred. And finally, when the atoning agonies had taken their toll....he voluntarily gave up the ghost. As the peace and comfort of a merciful death freed him from the pains and sorrows of mortality, he entered the paradise of God....[and there] consisting of all the holy prophets and faithful saints from ages past; these, comprising all who had taken upon them His name, and who being spiritually begotten by him, had become his sons and his daughters, even as it is with us; all these were assembled in the spirit world, there to see his face and hear his voice' (Bruce R. McConkie, The Purifying Power of Gethsemane, Conference Report, Ensign May 1985). What love must have flowed at the sight of the Saviour who did not shrink back from drinking the bitter dregs of a cup that we might live and live more abundantly (John 10:10). The sacrifice given, the suffering completed, the sting of death removed eternally.

"The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, [as they mourned and wept (Mark 16:10)] and saith unto them, They haven taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple......so they ran both together....." 

(John 20:1-4)

Not yet fully understanding and not really believing that such joyous news could be real, that their Lord had assuredly risen (Mark 16:11), and fearing the Jews (John 20:19) who had the power to take His body away, the beloved disciples must have harboured a spark of hope, that what the women who had seen Him had said was true, and that they will once again walk by His side and hear the words of eternal life come from His lips, for they who had loved Him before, had loved Him still. The grief and the sense of irreparable loss of yesterday must have turned to wonder and anticipation that He truly lived once again, for the women who had 'wept at the cross and sought to care for His wounded and lifeless body and had come to His tomb to weep and worship their Master' (Bruce R. McConkie, DNTC, 1:843) had testified that they had seen Him and worshipped Him at His feet. It is to them that the angel announced 'He is risen!' and it was they who were honoured to see the resurrected Lord first. With what joy and wonder the beloved apostles received Him when He first came to them within the closed doors of a room where they were assembled! For forty days He ministered to them and taught them all they needed to know concerning the building up of His kingdom and rolling forth of His great work (Acts1:3). How they must have believed all that He told them would be fulfilled for His resurrection bore witness of the truthfulness of His words. Now that His sacrifice was complete, their work was beginning. They were to take His gospel to the ends of the earth, to all nations, to the Jew and Gentile alike, that all may know that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah and Saviour of the world, that He alone is 'the way, the truth, and the life' (John 14:6). 

"And now, as pertaining to this perfect atonement, wrought by the shedding of the blood of God - I testify that it took place in Gethsemane and at Golgotha, and as pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that He is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person. I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God's Almighty Son......" 
(Bruce R. McConkie, The Purifying Power of Gethsemane, Ensign May 1985)

IN THE FINAL HOUR

"And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them; and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea....."  (Mark 6:45-48)

Sailing into the calm of the Galilean sea as the Master had asked of them, the obedient disciples who would have fain stayed with Him following the miraculous feeding of 5,000, found themselves deep in the night enveloped by boisterous waves of the sea as the wind blew in a troubling storm. Doing all in their power to avoid a disastrous shipwreck, the disciples toiled all night against the contrary wind no doubt wishing the Master was with them to once again speak those memorable words to the raging sea: "Peace be still" (Mark 4:39). But the Master, seeing their struggle, whether from the shore or by the power of the spirit from the mountain on which he prayed, stayed away until the fourth watch of the night. 

There is great significance in the 'fourth watch' of the night for it denotes the final hour. Because of their Mediterranean neighbours, the Greeks and the Romans, the Jews in Jesus' time divided the night into military watches instead of hours. The first watch lasted from 6 pm to 9 pm; the second from 9 pm to midnight; the third from midnight to 3 am and the fourth watch was from 3 am to 6 pm, being the 'final hour' of the night (as cited in Student Manual, The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p. 89). When the final hour came, Jesus walked over to the troubled ship amidst the foaming waves to test the faith of those on board for He walked as if He 'would have passed by them' (Mark 6:48). Already faced with a possible demise into the depths of the sea, the apostles 'cried out for fear' (Matt 14:26) and then a reassuring voice like a Father's to a child: "It is I, be not afraid" (Matt 14:27). Immediately Peter propelled by the love and the need of comfort from his Master, ignoring the boisterous waves that up to now threatened to engulf him into the depths of the sea, asked not that Jesus come into the boat but that He enable him to come to Him. And so Peter walked on water until the fear pulled him into the angry deep. But Peter knew where his saving grace lay and He called out: "Lord, save me!" (Matt 14:30). And of course the Saviour came saying: "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (Matt 14:31). Peter, who had just witnessed and quickly forgotten the feeding of 5,000, failed to grasp the Saviour's admonition 'Fear not. Only believe' (Luke 8:50). 

"So then if, like Peter, we fix our eyes on Jesus, we too may walk triumphantly over the swelling waves of disbelief, and unterrified amid the rising winds of doubt; but if we turn away our eyes from Him whom we have believed - if, as it is so easy to do, and as we are so much tempted to do, we look rather at the power and fury of those terrible and destructive elements than at Him who can help and save - then we too shall inevitably sink" (F.W. Farrar, The Life of Christ, quoted by Bruce R. McConkie in The Mortal Messiah Book 2, p 362)

When the winds of adversity and the binding chains of sin are licking our feet like the threatening waves of a troubled sea, we must remember that Christ has power over all and that our faith in Him can calm the turmoil and empower us to weather the life's stormy seas.We do not need to be frightened that we will be overcome, destroyed or lost, if we only believe that He who has saved us from the sting of death promises to save us from the turbulence of mortality. All it would take is a small utterance on our behalf, like Peter of old: "Lord, bid me come unto thee" (Matt 14:28). And like the sea of Galilee that calmed as the wind ceased when Peter and his Lord entered the ship, so the turbulence of our lives will cease as the Saviour's calming influence is felt in our hearts through our belief.

When we are buffeted by the winds of life, enduring terrible trials, being afraid that we will be swallowed in the depths of the sea, the Saviour will come but most often than not, He will come in the final hour when the lessons have been learnt, the faith increased and hope illuminated. Until then he watches and waits and hopes against hope that we will hear Him say: 

"I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you." (John 14:18)