In the darkness, the voice of Christ proclaims the destruction of many people and cities for their wickedness—He also proclaims His divinity, announces that the law of Moses is fulfilled, and invites men to come unto Him and be saved.
About A.D. 34
📒 20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.
What Type of Sacrifice Does Jesus Want From Us?
When the Lord says, “ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit... him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost." He is redefining sacrifice. No more animals. No more outward tokens. He asks for something far deeper—something only we can give.
Below is a simple, scripturally‑anchored dissection of the verse.
1. The Sacrifice Jesus Wants: A Broken Heart
A broken heart in scripture is not emotional collapse—it is spiritual openness.
What we offer:
• Our pride
• Our resistance
• Our self‑reliance
• Our stubbornness
What this means for us:
We let God break open the hard shell around our hearts so He can write His law inside us.
Cross‑references:
📜 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
• Psalm 51:17 — “The sacrifices of God
are a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart…” is the humility required
to receive God’s help through His son
Jesus Christ.
📜 26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.
• Omni 1:26 — We are invited to “offer [our]
whole souls as an offering unto him.”
📜 19 And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled.
• 3 Nephi 12:19 — The law of sacrifice is
fulfilled in Christ; now He asks for our
hearts.
Section Summary in One Sentence
A broken heart is our willing surrender to God—offering Him our pride, resistance, and whole souls—so He can write His law within us and make us new through Christ.
2. The Companion Sacrifice: A Contrite Spirit
A contrite spirit is a spirit that bends instead of bracing.
What we offer:
• Our excuses
• Our self‑justification
• Our defensiveness
• Our illusions of independence
What this means for us:
We acknowledge our need for Christ. We stop pretending we can save ourselves. We let Him reshape us.
Cross‑reference:
📜 34 Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.
• D&C 64:34 — “The Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind.”
Section Summary in One Sentence
A contrite spirit is our willing humility before Christ—laying down excuses, defensiveness, and self‑justification so He can reshape our hearts with a willing mind.
3. The Promise Attached to the Sacrifice: Baptism of the Holy Ghost
Jesus never asks us to offer a broken heart and a contrite spirit without giving a covenant in return. The moment we yield our pride, our resistance, and our self‑reliance, He opens the way for something only He can give:
“…him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost…”
This promise is not symbolic. It is the inward transformation that turns discipleship into rebirth.
What He Promises Us
1. Inner Cleansing
John the Baptist testified that Christ would “baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:11).
This fire is the cleansing power that removes what we cannot remove ourselves.
We see this in Mosiah 4:3, where the people were “filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins.”
2. Spiritual Rebirth
Jesus taught plainly:
“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)
Peter echoes this:
We are “born again, not of corruptible seed”
The Book of Mormon gives the same witness:
“Ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.”
“Be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”
This rebirth is not emotional hype—it is covenantal transformation.
3. A New Nature
Alma describes those who are sanctified by the Spirit as becoming “pure and spotless before God”
Moses records that Adam was taught:
“Ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven.”
And that a disciple “was born of the Spirit, and became quickened.”
The Holy Ghost does not merely comfort us—He remakes us.
4. The Companionship of the Holy Ghost
Jesus is the One who “baptizeth with the Holy Ghost”
(John 1:33).
He promised His disciples:
“Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.”
(Acts 1:5)
At Pentecost, “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost”
(Acts 2:4)
In Helaman’s day, “the Holy Spirit of God … did enter into their hearts.”
This companionship is the covenant gift that guides, warns, comforts, and sanctifies us.
5. A Heart That Feels Again
Jesus promises that those who come to Him with a broken heart will be “sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost”
(3 Nephi 27:20). This is the heart‑changing power that softens what was once hard, awakens what was once numb, and restores what was once lost.
The Pattern in 3 Nephi 9:20
The Lamanites in this verse “knew it not.”
They simply yielded—and God did the rest.
This is the pattern for us:
• We offer our brokenness.
• He gives His fire.
• We offer our contrition.
• He gives His Spirit.
• We offer our hearts.
• He gives us a new nature.
This is the covenant exchange at the center of discipleship.
Section Summary in One Sentence
When we offer Christ our broken and contrite hearts, He fulfills His covenant by baptizing us with fire and the Holy Ghost—cleansing us, rebirthing us, and giving us a new nature through His transforming Spirit.
4. What This Means for Us Today
When we ask, “What sacrifice does Jesus want from us?” the answer is surprisingly simple and deeply demanding:
He wants:
• Our openness
• Our willingness
• Our surrender
• Our teachability
He does not want:
• Our perfection
• Our performance
• Our self‑made righteousness
The pattern:
We offer brokenness » He gives fire
We offer contrition » He gives the Holy Ghost
We offer our hearts » He gives His power
This is the exchange that transforms discipleship from duty into rebirth.
The Sacrifice Jesus Wants From Us
When we ask “What type of sacrifice does Jesus want from us?” the answer given in
3 Nephi 9:20 is both simple and soul‑deep: He wants our hearts—broken open, softened, surrendered, and willing. In place of outward offerings, He invites us to bring Him our pride, our excuses, our resistance, and our illusions of independence, trusting that when we lay these on His altar, He will give us something infinitely greater. Through the covenant promise of the Holy Ghost, He cleanses us, rebirths us, reshapes us, and fills us with a new nature we could never create on our own. This is the holy exchange at the center of discipleship: we offer our brokenness and contrition, and He answers with fire, Spirit, and transformation. I testify that when we come to Christ with openness, willingness, and humility, He keeps every promise—He heals what is wounded, restores what is lost, awakens what is numb, and writes His law into our hearts until we become new creatures in Him.
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