Taking the Bitter with the Sweet

 

“That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.” – Exodus 21:8

 

Today some Americans eat meat at every meal. This comes as part of being in the richest nation in history. But in many parts of the world people rarely eat meat – and when they do it’s an item of luxury. This is how it was in ancient times. The consumption of roasted lamb at the Passover was a luxury for the Israelites– a food item for celebration. This is how they would remember and commemorate their exodus from slavery in Egypt in 1440 B.C.

 

The Bible says that they were to eat the lamb with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. The unleavened bread is called matzah; it’s a bit like a cracker. The reason for this is symbolic; yeast symbolizes sin among the people. This is why the apostle Paul wrote (in I Corinthians 5:7-8) “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast — as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.”

 

The bitter herbs were consumed to give some symbolic balance to the elements of celebration and feasting. This says something about the nature of life: We have to accept the bitter with the sweet. This was something God’s people had to get used to. If they were going to feast and be freed from slavery, they would have to eat bitter herbs and wander in the wilderness for 40 years before they’d be able to settle in the Promised Land.

 

And the same thing is true today. Whatever cup of blessing we receive, it almost always has a bitter side to it. If the cancer is healed, that means that life continues with a heap of medical bills. If the marriage is saved, it means that the hard work of living together and the practice of conflict resolution needs to go on as well. If the inmate is released from prison, it means that he needs to find ways of making it in the “real world” while staying out of trouble. If the job at the workplace continues and someone avoids being fired, then that employee has to find ways to go on in a tough work situation.

 

This is an inevitable part of life. The sweetest parts have their bitter side. There is no resurrection glory without a painful, bloody cross.

 

The beautiful thing about the Old Testament Hebrews is that they accepted this reality and embraced it. This is why Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

 

May the Lord give us strength to face the varying cycles of life – both the bitter and the sweet.

 

                        God bless you, Pastor Andrew McHenry