The Bitterness and Sweetness of Life: Lessons from Passover and Easter

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Rom 10:9

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

NKJV

Tax season has mercifully come to an end.  I found myself so caught up in the numbers, specifically the number 1040, which explains why I failed to post anything last Wednesday and Saturday.  My plans are to resume posting next week in order to take a break this week to celebrate Easter, or as I like to call it, Resurrection Sunday.

This week my family and I took a break from taxes and had the opportunity to attend a Passover Seder dinner.  Regardless of whether you are Christian or Jew, I recommend taking the opportunity to attend a Seder for the symbolism of the dinner not only serves to remind Jewish people of their slavery in Egypt and how God miraculously delivered them from that slavery but it also is the dinner being served during the Last Supper of Christ.  As a Christian, the symbolism of the Seder dinner also points to the death burial and resurrection of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

During the course of the Seder, we partook of the Maror (“bitter herb”) and the Charoset, which is a sweet salad of apples, nuts, wine, and cinnamon.  The Maror, usually horseradish, brings tears to the eyes to remind Jews of their Egyptian slavery.  After partaking of the Maror, the Charoset is even sweeter and speaks of the sweetness of the Jews deliverance from slavery.  (1)

In addition to Passover, this week we also celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.  As I was partaking of the Seder dinner, I equated the Maror to the death of Christ on Good Friday and the Charoset symbolizes the sweetness of the victorious resurrection of Christ on Resurrection Sunday. 

Our lives and even our nation have had, and will continue to have both sweet and bitter moments.  At present we are experiencing what I believe is a bitter moment.  Many still are unable to find work and in fact census data shows that 86 million private sector workers now sustain 148 million benefit takers.  (2)  This is not only bitterness for those relegated to eking out an existence on some government subsidy but is also bitterness for those working who are asked to do more while the government takes a greater portion of their income through taxation.  My hope is that in the upcoming elections we will take the opportunity to elect officials to office that will help our nation once again enjoy the Charoset, which will taste much sweeter after the bitterness of the Maror of the Obama administration. 

So, as we celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, take a moment to reflect on how the bitterness of the death of Christ on Good Friday led to the sweetness of his resurrection.  Because of the resurrection of Christ, we all have the opportunity to enjoy a new life with our sins completely forgiven. 

1. For Dummies. The Symbolic Foods at a Passover Seder. www.dummies.com. [Online] [Cited: April 16, 2014.] http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-symbolic-foods-at-a-passover-seder.html.

2. Jeffrey, Terence P. 86M Full-Time Private-Sector Workers Sustain 148M Benefit Takers. www.cnsnews.com. [Online] CNS News, April 16, 2014. [Cited: April 16, 2014.] http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/terence-p-jeffrey/86m-full-time-private-sector-workers-sustain-148m-benefit-takers.