Burning Must

¹The word mustard comes from the word must, which is a term for freshly crushed grape juice before it's had a chance to be fermented into wine or had all of the pulp and seeds and particulate matter filtered out of it so that it's thin enough to drink. Ancient Romans used to make a kind of condiment combining must with mustard seeds called Mustum Ardens, or Burning Must. Eventually, the seeds combined with must began to be called mustard seeds. The ingredients of burning must - must and mustard seeds - have helped me understand the relationship between faith and the Atonement of Jesus Christ better. First of all, we know that faith has been compared to mustard seeds. “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20). And the crushed grape juice, or must, has been compared to the Atonement. “Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.” (Isaiah 63:2-3). Just like must is the root of mustard and mustard could not exist properly without it, the root of our faith is the Atonement of Jesus. Our faith without the Atonement is completely useless. And at the same time, we cannot fully access the Atonement without our own little mustard seeds of faith. Without mustard seeds, must is just unfermented wine or chunky grape juice. But if you add mustard seeds in then it becomes Mustum Ardens or burning must. Combining our faith with the Atonement of Jesus Christ turns our Salvation into a burning must. No doubts or fears or temptations or adversities will dim our light or cool the fiery conviction that we will return to dwell with our Heavenly Father and our Savior once more.