Bitter

Exodus opens with a description of the children of Israel in slavery. Their Egyptian taskmasters “made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour” (Exodus 1:14). Later, when Moses and Aaron requested that Pharaoh allow them essentially a religious holiday, he responded harshly:

Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.

And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

Exodus 5:7-9

To this day, Jewish people commemorate that oppression as part of each Seder service by eating bitter herbs, called maror (מָרוֹר), as prescribed in Exodus 12:8.

Enduring bitter experiences is also part of the Christian celebration of Easter. As Christ prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He pleaded, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39, 42; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:20, 42). With that desperate plea, which was heard by Peter, James, and John, He emphasized the magnitude of the suffering He was about to endure on our behalf, and He connected that suffering with the sacramental cup He had just instituted to memorialize that event.

After His resurrection, as He appeared to the Nephites and the Lamanites, He introduced Himself with reference to that symbolic cup:

Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

3 Nephi 11:10-11, italics added

Elder Neal A. Maxwell characterized the Savior’s accomplishment as partaking of the bitter cup without becoming bitter (“In Him All Things Hold Together,” Brigham Young University Devotional Address, 31 March 1991). He urged us to do the same:

Partaking of a bitter cup without becoming bitter is likewise part of the emulation of Jesus.

“Apply the Atoning Blood of Christ,” October 1997 general conference

Absorbing bitterness is one way to think of the Savior’s admonitions to turn the other cheek and to love our enemies (Matthew 5:39, 44; 3 Nephi 12:39, 44). Imagine the impact as disciples of Christ all over the world experience sorrow and suffering without passing it along and without letting it define them! Like the maror in the Seder service preceding the Paschal lamb, our suffering can turn our hearts to Christ, who can replace the bitterness with exquisite joy (see Alma 36:21).

Today, I will strive to be a “bitterness absorber.” I will accept the difficult experiences of life without amplifying them and without dwelling on them. I will strive to move through them, allowing bitterness to give way to joy and peace through Christ.