Gary Ernest Smith - Jesus Institutes the Sacrament 1982 35" x 47"

Gary Ernest Smith (1942-)
Jesus Institutes the Sacrament, 1982

Oil on Canvas
Canvas: 35" x 47"
Frame: 42" x 54"

Signed Lower Right: Jesus Institutes The Sacrament / Gary E Smith 1982 ©

The sacrament ordinance—the bread, the water, the prayers, and the reminders of covenants previously made—are representative of the Savior’s Atonement, including the suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.

Participating in the sacrament ordinance, we think of the Savior’s atoning physical sacrifice as we sing the sacred hymns and partake of the emblems of the bread and water. We understand the water to represent His blood spilt—His all-redeeming suffering in Gethsemane and His selfless sacrifice on the cross. The sacrament prayer given on the water underscores such—“in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them” (D&C 20:79).

As for the bread broken and blessed in the ordinance, we’re mindful of the role of the Savior’s body in those same excruciating acts performed both in the garden and on the cross, emphasized by the lyrics of our LDS sacrament hymns.

Joseph Fielding Smith taught "In my judgment the sacrament meeting is the most sacred, the most holy, of all the meetings of the Church. When I reflect upon the gathering of the Savior and his apostles on that memorable night when he introduced the sacrament; when I think of that solemn occasion my heart is filled with wonderment and my feelings are touched. I consider that gathering one of the most solemn and wonderful since the beginning of time.

“There the Savior taught them of his coming sacrifice, which in their bewilderment they could not understand. He plainly told them of his death and that his blood should be shed, and this was said in the very hour of his agony for the sins of the world. It was a very solemn occasion; there the sacrament was instituted, and the disciples were commanded to meet together often and commemorate the death and sufferings of Jesus Christ, for his sacrifice was for the redemption of the world.

“He was about to take upon him the responsibility of paying the debt brought upon the world through the fall, that men might be redeemed from death and from hell. He had taught the people that he was to be lifted up that he might draw all men unto him, and that all who would repent and believe in him, keeping his commandments, should not suffer, for he would take upon himself their sins.”

Literature:
Teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith: Chapter 6: The Significance of the Sacrament
LDS Gospel Library Attachment: Mark 14, Luke 22, Matthew 26
Church News: December 25, 2016 "Viewpoint: Sacrament on Christmas Sunday a Poignant Event"

Provenance:
The Artist
The Collection of Blain Hudson, Park City, Utah: from above 1982
The Collection of CJ Peterson, Orem, Utah: from above, 2020