Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Forty-Three
The Reality of the Atonement of Christ is Experienced with the Sacrament and in the Temple
Nephites experienced the reality of the atonement of Jesus Christ – 3 Nephi 11 records that Jesus said unto them: “Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world” (Vs 14).
All 2,500 Nephites “did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come” (Vs 15).
The Nephite multitude was invited to feel the prints in His hands and in His feet, and to have physical contact with the emblems of His suffering and of His atonement. However, the certain knowledge that Jesus “was the God of the whole earth, and [had] been slain for the sins of the world” (Vs 14) was felt in their hearts from the witness of the Holy Ghost. Joseph Smith taught: “No man can know that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (TPJS, p. 223).
The sacrament allows us to experience the reality of the Lord’s atonement – Jesus connected the Nephite experience of feeling the prints in His hands and in His feet to the sacrament. After He introduced the sacrament to the Nephites He said unto them: “And ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world” (3 Nephi 18:25). They were to invite others to “come unto [Christ]” that they might also “feel and see” by partaking of the sacrament.
As we partake of the sacrament, we have physical contact with the emblems of His suffering and His atonement. These physical emblems facilitate and strengthen the enduring spiritual witness from the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ. (See Thomas Griffith, BYU Magazine, Fall 2006)
The temple allows us to feel and experience the reality of our Savior’s atonement – As we receive the blessings of the temple we also have physical contact with the emblems of His suffering and of His atonement. In this real and wonderful way we are able to feel with our hands and in our hearts, both by physical contact and by the greater spiritual witness of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus is “the God of the whole earth, and [was] slain for the sins of the world.”
Preparation and worthiness are essential to experience the reality of the Lord’s atonement– The sacrament and the ordinances of the temple are designed to provide ways so we can frequently feel and experience the reality of the Lord’s sacrifice and atonement on our behalf.
For the Nephites to have such marvelous personal experiences with the Lord and with the emblems of His sacrifice and atonement they had to be worthy and prepared. The crucifixion took place “in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month on the fourth day of the month” (3 Nephi 8:5) and the Lord appeared to the righteous who were spared almost a year later “in the ending of the thirty and fourth year” (3 Nephi 10:18) thus giving the righteous Nephites time to more completely repent and prepare. For us to receive all the blessings of the temple we must be worthy and prepared.
Testimony – It is significant that the Nephites were invited to feel the prints in His hands while they were at the temple. If we are worthy, prepared, and have the desire, our experience at the temple with the emblems of His suffering and atonement can be just as meaningful and life changing as it was for the Nephites at their temple in the land Bountiful.