Did the Atonement really take place in the Garden of Gethsemane – as it’s taught in Mormonism? 

In Matthew chapter 26, as the Jewish religious leaders are plotting Jesus’s death and bargaining with Judas Iscariot, our Lord institutes the memorial of communion with the remaining eleven apostles in the upper room.  Verse 26 “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 breaks the unleavened bread to symbolize the torture His flesh was about to endure.  Verse 27-28 “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 (meaning the new covenant of grace, not the law), which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”  Then the Lord says something interesting, Verse 29 “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”  The blood of the New Covenant is not an animal’s blood, but Christ’s own blood. This is the last time the Master will partake of these elements with His disciples during His mortal life.  And, only when His Father’s kingdom is established in heaven will we partake of the wine again.  This Passover marked the end of an old era – where sacrifice looked forward to the Atonement.  And the beginning of a new era -when communion was to be in remembrance of the Atonement.  Jesus transforms the last Passover into the first observance of the Lord’s Supper.  Verse 30 “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”  Which was a short walk outside the east city wall of Jerusalem.  

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