In the Book of Mormon Abinadi quotes perhaps the most beautiful passage of Messianic prophecy found in the Old Testament. Isaiah prophesies regarding the mission of Jesus Christ, and while looking into the future, writes about the events of the Savior's life in the past tense.
"Surely he has 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; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Mosiah 14:4-5; Isaiah 53:4-5).
Pierced Bread
There is an Old Testament connection to this verse. The word wounded is the Hebrew word chalal, meaning "to pierce or bore through." There is a related word, which is challah, mentioned in Levitical Priesthood sacrifices. It means "a pierced or punctured cake." Leviticus 2:4 states, "And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil."
Anciently this was called "pierced bread." Cake is different from bread because the outside of a loaf of bread is smooth, but cake has little holes or perforations. The symbolism of the Savior's mission is remarkable. Gethsemane means "oil press" and this sacrifice is "mingled with and anointed with oil." The Garden of Gethsemane was used to produce such pure olive oil as the olives were placed in mesh bags and ground with large circular stones. The pure oil was pressed out of the tiny holes in the bags producing a reddish, brown liquid as it would first appear. Latter-day scripture reveals that Jesus bled from every pore (see D&C 19:18). Just as the ancient sacrifice was "anointed with oil," Jesus was "the Anointed One." That's what the word Christ or Messiah means.
I marvel at His sacrifice for me as I have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament, recalling the "pierced bread" of an earlier time.
Giving Away the Spoils of Victory
There is another aspect of this beautiful Messianic prophecy as it reads,
"He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
"Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Mosiah 14:11-12).
Often in scripture, the word travail is used to portray giving birth, as a woman in travail (see Genesis 38:27; Isaiah 54:1, Jeremiah 4:31; John 16:21). In a sense, that is what the Savior is doing for each of us. Verse 10 says, "he shall see his seed," or His spiritually begotten sons and daughters.
The word divide in the New Testament is sometimes translated from the Greek word merizo, meaning to cut in pieces like the sacrament. There is a term Bible scholars call a merism. It is the pairing of opposites like Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end, first and last, etc. The word merism is derived from the Greek merizo. But it's not just the beginning and the end and it's not just A and Z; it's everything in between. The word represents a totality and completeness. Perhaps think of this the next time the sacrament is passed to you. Christ wants to give you everything He has.
The verse above says, "He shall divide the spoil with the strong." In battles, the victorious side always got the "spoil"--the goods recovered in the battle. In Luke's account of Gethsemane it states, "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44). The Greek word for agony is agonia meaning "a contest."
Jesus won the contest and the victory prize. But, according to Isaiah, He "divides the spoil" or shares the prize in totality with His spiritually begotten sons and daughters. He "justifies many." Justification is your legal standing before God. Really, if you come unto Him, He will give you the whole pie. He will "fight your battles" (see D&C 105:14).
Actually, the legal case is recorded in D&C 45:3-5:
"Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—
"Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;
"Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life."
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