Mark 14:12-25, What Do You Remember?

The Passover Meal and Jesus’ Control Over Events

Mark chapter 14 reading from verses 12 to 25. Hear the word of the Lord. And On the first day of unleavened bread when they sacrificed the Passover lamb his disciples said to him Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?

And he sent two of his disciples and said to them Go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him and wherever he enters say to the master of the house. The teacher says where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?

And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready where there prepare for us. And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them and they prepared the Passover.

And When it was evening he came he came with the 12th and as they were reclining at the table and eating Jesus said truly I say to you one of you will betray me one who is eating with me. They began to be sorrowful and say to him one after another Is it I.

And he said to them it is one of the twelve one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born and As they were eating he took bread and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them and said Take this is my body and he took a cup and when he had given Thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank of it and he said to them This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

Truly I say to you. I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine. Until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. May the Lord had his blessings the reading of his Holy Word. What do you remember.

Maybe about someone who's passed away. Do you remember their warmth? Their cute quirks. Maybe something nice they did for you personally. We almost always remember people for what they did for us. I Remember my grandmother my my mother's mother.

One winter is around Christmastime this was visiting there for Christmastime with a bunch of other cousins and I was half asleep. She thought I was all the way asleep. I was on the sleeping over these pullout beds, you know coming from out of the couch in the living room.

I guess the cousins were taking up the bedroom. Anyway, she came to me because the blanket had fallen off and she lifted it up kind of gently flinging it into the air. Letting it fall letting it unfurl and then softly fall on me.

So I'd be warm in my sleep. She never knew I knew she did that but but I remember. What about you? What do you remember? You remember a dad taking you to hunt or maybe watching you play ball or giving you a piece of concerned advice.

Do you remember a friend encouraging you to try harder? You can achieve what you want or maybe help you move. There's a real friend when he helps you move. You remember a teacher. A professor who was willing to teach after class may discuss the subject with you personally.

Because he or she really cared. It's good to remember what people have done for for you people long to be remembered. I think the main purpose of Chinese ancestor veneration is that we remember those who went before us.

The best way to do that is by telling others of the good of the good that someone has done. Like I just did about my grandmother. That's far better. I think than burning Joss sticks or leaving little bowls of food or for us Westerners a bouquet of flowers at a gravestone.

Spiritually and psychologically unhealthy people don't remember the favors done for them because they just take them for granted. But stew over the betrayals the disappointments the insults. Healthy people I think remember kindnesses and favors done for them.

Because they recognize that they didn't deserve the favor that the person went out of their way to help me. When I didn't do anything for them, I remember when we visited South Korea for a week. In the early 90s.

I remember the man in the subway train who got off a stop early from his stop. Just to help us find our little hotel. I remember the taxi driver who gave us a free ride so we could get to where we needed to be.

I Remember the man at the train station who upon learning that we were at the wrong train station. Hailed us a taxi. Took us in the taxi to the right train station and paid for the taxi. That was nice.

It's anniversary Sunday for us ten years with a lot of good to remember. I think we'll always I'll always remember the look of indignation on Justin Scruggs face. You should see Justin Scruggs with indignation ten years ago ten years and one week ago.

I should say that was part of what propelled us here. I Remember Alan pulling a trailer for several months. Beginning his tenure his usual practice of being the first one to arrive didn't do that this morning.

This is unusual morning for him. But most every morning. He's the first to arrive. I remember all the work that Wayne Griffin did from unloading. I probably don't actually even know the all their way the work Wayne Griffin did but I remember some of it.

Anyway, I'm unloading equipment early in the morning to moving partitions in the middle of the afternoon to driving gym kids home late in the evening. I Remember the first day we looked at this place.

I mean it was a mess. This place was a disaster. You could hardly see the basketball markings on the floor. Sawdust covered everything. I remember all those who worked so hard to make this a decent place.

George did all kinds of work. He built the steps practically by himself. Joe painted nearly every square inch of this building inside and out including the roof. Many others did all kinds of other things.

Wayne again helped it with everything. Did I think you did even just yesterday? He was out there helping retrieve our van. Yes, it was Wayne. I remember the families that took turns cleaning this gym once a month for years after that.

Anniversaries are about remembering we have a look at a lot of good to remember. We've had hundreds perhaps thousands of children and teens and young adults pass through here and not only get to play ball.

But to hear the gospel. We've studied our way through numerous books of the Bible Genesis Matthew John and others several other small ones and sung our way through the book of Psalms three times now. We began with a challenge to be multiracial in an area of segregated churches and had the Perry's make that a reality.

From day one. Well, we now have a Sunday school class in Mandarin. We've had three weddings among church members one of them at least a civil Ceremony anyway, what that one was right here. We've had multiple baby dedications and I'm hoping for more hint.

Yeah, we've even had sadly a funeral right here. One of our Jim jr. Children died and we had his funeral right in this building. I imagine this was the place that meant the most. To a little BNC bill boy.

Remember his name Damian Farmer. Yeah, this was the place that meant the most to him that his mother chose to have the funeral here. I Remember her weeping right about there in Revelation 21 we're told that in the new heaven and the new earth He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more.

Neither shall but there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away. I Think one of the reasons that in the end there will be no more weeping will be because of all all the painful things.

The funerals of little boys the wounds the betrayals the crushing disappointments. The divorces the deaths all of that will be forgotten. It won't be remembered at least not by themselves for the tragedies that they were.

All that will remember is the good that God Somehow worked out of them. Well, what do you remember. Here the Lord Jesus takes the ceremony given to Israel to remember what the Lord has done for them the most important holiday Holy Day of the year and he Transforms it into the way that we are to remember him and we see that in three parts first.

There's the preparation. Second there's the predestination and finally there's the presentation first there's the preparation for verses 12 to 16 the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread actually verse 12 here begins and.

And on the first day of unleavened bread now technically if you want to be really, you know Picky you would sell mark. Hey, that was actually the first day of Passover. Actually, there's only one day of Passover or whatever.

This was the day of Passover, but The the Passover and unleavened bread were technically two separate holidays back-to-back. The people kind of consider them as one and use the terms Passover and feast of unleavened bread.

Interchangeably sort of like sometimes we do with lump Christmas and New Year's together, you know. Say happy holidays the Lord Jesus and his disciples are already in Jerusalem for the Passover. And so the disciples ask him in verse 12 Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover and you notice there?

That they they know Jesus well enough that they know he is intent on keeping the Passover. They don't ask him, you know, do you want to keep the Passover this year? No, they just know it's for certain that he wants to keep it.

And so where where do you want it to do it? They probably didn't know how important this particular last Passover was to him. They just knew that he kept the law and so was intent on having this Passover.

It was already the day the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed. And now keep in mind. Because this is different from our way of thinking that that we would say it's the same day. We would say that's Passover day.

No, I'm not technically. This is the day Passover lambs be sacrificed but in the Jewish reckoning the day ends at sundown so maybe they Sacrificed the lamb about you know noon of that day and then they have that same Lamb in our way of thinking that day.

But for them the day ends at sundown and so the evening meal that's another day for them. So then in the evening they would have the Passover meal and that would be Jesus's Son the day begins for them at sundown.

That would be Jesus's Death day. I don't want to say last day because he has more days coming after death, but this is his death day. This is Thursday. The day they prepare. When they're talking here is verse 12 begins and the next day beginning at sundown is what we call Good Friday.

Now they are right that the Lord Jesus is determined to have this Passover indeed. He is the host of it. People want to debate whether what happens next, you know. Go into town and you'll see this man like that whether that's all part of Jesus's pre-arranged Secret plan, you know, he went into town and he made arrangements and he found a place and told, you know.

Send your guy out there with a street with a jar of water. All that is so they the authorities wouldn't capture him by stealth. The the jar of water the man carrying a pitcher of water would be unusual and their day.

Because that was usually women's work carry a jar of water. It's like saying look for the guy carrying the purse oh that kind of sticks out and so and Go find a look and they'll take you at a large upper room on second story.

Maybe it's harder to be found out that way people want to argue whether Jesus had naturally arranged that or Whether he just kind of supernaturally knows That there is this man with a jar that will take you to a room, you know and all that Mark and the other Gospels don't tell us and that's not really the point.

The point is whether it is by natural Providential arrangement or by supernatural foreknowledge. He just knows all things. Jesus is the host of This Passover in verse 16 the disciples go to Jerusalem and found it just as he had told them he made the preparations one way or another.

This is to show us just as events are seem to be spiraling out of control. That Jesus really is in control. He is in control of how this last Passover will go down and we need to know that. Sometimes people who want to get God off the hook, you know get God off from being blamed when horrible things happen.

You know someone we love dies or when a crime is committed or we're just terribly heartbroken for some reason. Don't want to get God off the hook of that. He's Oh God didn't do it and You maybe they want to say to us and believe differently.

How can you say now now in this circumstance in this with this horrible thing happening? How can you say God is in control of it? You're making God into a monster. They will say he's in control of Of school shootings of Accidents on the highway.

He's in control of sins that leave us as a victim. And so that they think that's a great point of criticism. God somehow is not responsible in a way. Well, he's not really responsible. But but what is their solution?

They are they are left with a God who could have changed things. They really haven't changed. They really haven't solved a problem at all. They've just kind of confused it. Because they're still left with a God who could have changed things who knew what was coming.

Surely God knows all things. He knows this guy is getting a gun and he's going to the such-and-such a place to do such-and-such. He knows that. So they haven't really solved that problem at all. Well, they say free will this the free will defense all bad things are the result of human free will only.

You know say yeah, okay. It's human free will is involved, but not something deeper that but how did you know? How does that make it any better? To say it's human free. Well Besides of the victims of the high school didn't use their free will to get killed.

They didn't say I freely choose to go to school today and get killed. No, of course not. So their free will is not involved again. They're just gonna not really solving the problem. They're just confusing it.

The free will defense doesn't solve the problem at all. It only reduces God and Takes any meaning out of the event. Yeah, sure the shooter did what he did because of his free Demented will but if God is not in control.

Those who suffer those who got killed but parents others still suffering suffer for nothing and this suffer for what for the bad luck. I've just happened to be in the way of a maniac and God knew that was coming and did nothing.

That I mean you haven't helped anything with this defense, but if God is in control, it's still horrible. Don't misunderstand. We don't reduce the atrociousness of things like that by one ounce. We do not.

But we have something else added to it. The sovereign God who works out of everything some good for those who love him and All the blood in the horror we may not be able to see anything good in atrocities like that for now.

Sure, we mean that we may not be able to see it yet. But on that day When there will be no more weeping. Then we will. And so believing that The sovereignty in the of God in the midst of horror and tears believing that Bring some solace and some meaning even now.

Well here Here the most horrible atrocity in history is coming within 24 hours. It's the most horrible atrocity because it befalls the only person in his all of history who did not deserve any pain or Punishment or death and he got one of the most horrible deaths and yet we see on the eve of it that he is Perfectly in control of it.

Judas, Predestination, and Human Responsibility

Well next is the predestination in verses 17 to 21 and Jesus and the 12 come to the upper room prepared for the Passover. They're going through this ceremonial meal. There's the lamb there. There's the different herbs.

Different cups of wine the unleavened bread. Reclining they're eating and then Jesus predicts his betrayal. Notice he predicts it with certainty. Truly I say to you One of you will betray me. Now this seems unthinkable to them.

They were loyal and he's still a popular with the people. He was just just a few days earlier. He's greeted with loud praise by the people as he came into the city. But he's saying one of you you who maybe he means like one of you Jews one of you fellow Israelites.

No, he makes it very specific one who is eating with me. He definitely means one of them right there at the table. Right there in that room. How could that be? They were saddened by that the thought that one of his hand-picked disciples would betray him.

They had no idea who it was now. We look back on it. We got to think it's obvious. Yeah, we're thinking it's Judas. Everybody knows it's Judas. And even paintings of the scene make Judas look out to be this is creepy looking character.

You can tell who the Judas guy is the rest kind of guy get. Peter's probably a little older with a beard. Okay, John a little younger, but Judas is the creepy looking one. He's obviously the bad guy. But it never occurred to the disciples here notice that it never occurs to them that Judas might be the betrayer.

In fact, they are questioning themselves before they start pointing fingers at Judas. They is it I. It is one of the twelve who is dipping bread into the dish with me. I Don't think we understand how shocking this is to them because we don't understand how much they valued loyalty.

Remember the definition of love in the Old Testament. Chesed steadfast love is to be loyal to be faithful like like Ruth loyally followed her mother-in-law Naomi back to Bethlehem not thinking about herself, but only about her commitment to her.

To them that's love. That's commitment. And that's what they aspired to be. That's what it means to be a friend to be loving. It's not a feeling like we Americans think it's not a feeling that you make me feel good and I'm gonna hang around you for as long as you make me feel good and If that is then I'm gonna find something else.

No. To them it's steadfast. Then take that understanding of that understanding of loyalty and friendship and didn't multiply it by ten. When you've made the intentional commitment like these men have to be a disciple.

You know, they have said now this person Jesus is my teacher. He's my master. I'm gonna listen to him. I'm gonna follow him. I'm gonna support him and yet Judas betrays him. That's the worst sin just almost unthinkable to them now some.

Some Christians for some reason to try to make excuses for Judas that he was trying to maybe was this is some part of a Clever plan to just to force Judas to act to force Jesus to act as a revolutionary you know if he if he told him where Jesus was and the forces came after him then he would use his supernatural powers to overthrow the Establishment and he would bring in that literal earthly kingdom that I've been wanting him to bring in.

And so he really wasn't against him. He was just trying to manipulate him. That's what some people argue that kind of stuff. As though Judas never thought Jesus would be killed but this the Bible doesn't excuse him at all.

Elsewhere, he is called a thief and a Devil and here what he is what he what Judas does is called betrayal twice. He betrayed him. He wasn't just trying to manipulate him he betrayed him. Now, why did he do it?

Why did you just do it? No sure. He did it because because he chose to okay. Yeah, he chose to because you know, he chose money over Jesus. See that's how he used his free will to betray him. But why did he do that?

Well, some would say well he just did. Free will has to be allowed. Human free will is the ultimate cause they say. The uncaused cause which is you know in psychology and everything else we just know that's false.

But that's what they say. Some theologians reason that in order to for people to have free will everything all of the future. Has has to be open to whatever choices people make. Nothing can be set. Nothing can be determined or predestined to take place in order for people to they'll say, you know in order for people to choose freely.

Everything must be possible. So they reason even God since everything is possible all our choices. Even God can't know the future because there's you know, we might change our mind. The future is open to whatever people using their free will want it to be.

That's called open theism. I prefer to call it mini theism because they make God small. But here first in verse 18 Jesus says, you know, she says one of you will Betray me. He speaks definitely about the future.

He doesn't say, you know, one of you might betray me. I Got a bad feeling. One of you might sell me out. There's a 90 chance of betrayal. He doesn't say that he says definitely truly. There's a certain I say to you one of you will betray me.

We can't talk definitely like that maybe sometimes we do but we we can't really do it we can. We can say we might have lunch. I Plan to go home. But you never know what might happen. Jesus can talk like that.

Because it's predestined. Notice in verse 21 the Son of Man goes as it is written of Him. So what happens to him over the next 24 hours. What we remember in the Lord's Supper. What Judas is plotting to do is already written of him.

It's predicted in the Old Testament. God showed it to the prophets there and it must happen because scripture cannot be broken and some will say well if that's the case. If Judas must betray Jesus because it's already written.

Well, then he has no choice. He's a puppet and isn't responsible. But scripture doesn't say that he had no choice. He had a choice. Sure he had a choice. He uses quote free will to betray Jesus and some will say well that then if they use if that's the case.

Then it's not predestined. But Jesus says here that it's written. And it is certain. It's what God for ordained he pre-planned and told the prophets centuries earlier. What all of that is is now determining what is happening here.

It is written. But some will say if that's the case, how can Judas be held responsible and he certainly is held responsible, isn't he? He gets a whoa Whoa to that man. By whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

It would have been better for that man if he had been born. What's that perfect tense by the way? I think we got that look good. What would would have been although it's in the past and it's done and it's not impossible to undo that.

It would have been better If he had not been born back when he was born would have been better for that man. Here's where it gets really hard. It's in our day it gets really hard and some will say it's not fair that Judas would be predestined to a life.

That's worse for him than if he had never lived. All right. I'm sure Judas made his choice because of his quote free. Well, I won't even argue with that. Okay, he made his choice. It was free. Well sure.

Free of any outward compulsion. It's not as though God is forcing him to like a puppet to do something. He didn't want to do he's not screaming. No God help me. I don't want to betray him, but he's God's just no.

It's not it's not what's happening. But his will wasn't free of any inward corruption. You know, he's a slave of sin and he loved money more than Jesus. So he made the choice. But the choice was written the result for him is woe.

But here's the strange part. The result for us is life. Here's the hard truth. The world even God is not about Judas or even every human being or even you or me. We've got to be converted in our thinking out of the human centered idea that the universe must exist for our good.

Because it's just natural the way we're bored. We think everything is for our good. We remember people for what the good they've done for us and we just have that. Just a natural part of the way we Self-centered way we think it's like people that they didn't know any better would go out and look at the Sun is going up and it's Coming down the Sun revolves around me.

It's obvious. Can't you see the Sun revolving around me? And so people naturally if left to themselves. Look at the world think about God. God revolves around me. I say this prayer. He does this and that God is at my beck and call.

That's the way people think. And the only way they'll know better is someone outside. Just like the way we know the Sun doesn't revolve around us. You've got outside the earth you can see. Oh, we're wrong around it.

You get outside of our experience and the Word of God tells us. Oh, it's us who revolves around him. It's a hard truth though. We got to get Converted in our thinking here. We see that there are some people like Judas who it would be better and here gets really hard.

Because it's better notices who it's better for better for them. I noticed that that it would be better for that man. Jesus says it's not better for God. Better for that man if he had not been born, but that it's not better for God.

Did he not be born? Is it? It's not better for God's people that he had not been born. It's not better for the universe. That he had not been born but for that man, it's better If he had never existed at all.

There's not a happy ending For people like that. God does not work good out of their tragedies and sins for them. He does he does that? For those who love God for those who are called according to his purpose to be his people at the end He will wipe away every tear from their eye and we'll remember all the good God brought out of even horrible things for us.

But for those like Judas who hate God and are not called to be one of his people. It would be better for them if they had not existed. Better for them the end result of Judas's life makes it better for him than if he had never lived but not for us.

What he did as Horrible as it was was what God used to bring good to us. To make life for the rest of us worth living. What for Judas makes it better for him that he had never lived? Makes life possible for us.

The great irony here is that it is precisely the fact that the universe God. Any well, I should say. Yeah, well the fact that the universe that our own lives they don't exist for us for our pleasures.

For our sense of fairness centered always on ourself, of course. But the universe exists for God's glory as he predestines all things. According to his good pleasure. It is precisely that truth that gives us lives that will for eternity be infinitely better.

Than if we had never lived. Okay, does that make sense? I? Hope so. We are in other words. We are better off for having been born. You're one of God's people you are better off for having been born. You're not like Judas.

You're not one of those who are it's better if you had had never been born. We are better off. Because we were born. Because of what happens to Jesus here because that's for us. Our lives are better off.

That's not even the best way to put it. We're better off because we existed because we're we're better off because of this. Remember that to put a fine point on it. We are better off for having been born.

Because Judas wasn't. Well next is the presentation or the re-presentation he takes the Passover and he represents it as a way to remember him and by doing that. Think of what he says about himself. I Mean, what do you think of someone who thinks?

Christmas July 4th Thanksgiving is all about me. Sometimes I think that's the way we teach our kids when make it all about what they get but never mind that. Yeah, that's a different lecture. But he takes the Passover.

He represents the way of to remember him and think about what he's saying. About who he is. You know. The Passover was the most important Holy Day for Israelites about remembering what the Lord did to bring them out of slavery.

They passed over them so that death only came to the Egyptians who didn't have the blood of the Lamb on their doorframe. It's the most important meal to remember the most important event in their history.

It's like Thanksgiving July 4th Christmas all rolled into one, but Jesus takes that and Represents it as about himself. So here is another case like CS Lewis told us about That we can't say that Jesus is just he's just a good teacher.

Oh, he had a lot of good wisdom that we can follow inspire us somewhere. Maybe we could aspire to be like no someone who takes this momentous Holy Day and makes it about himself. Is either. You have either three choices about him.

He's either a liar. Pretending to be someone he's not or he's a lunatic, but he's just delusions of grandeur or. Third thing. He's the Lord the same Lord who brought them out of Egypt. Who the original Passover was for?

And he tells us to remember him By remembering who he really is. And we see him represent the Passover into the Lord's Supper here in four parts. I love we're gonna have sub part points the the family.

Second the food third the fulfillment and fourth the future. First the family now the Passover was a family meal you had it at home. The father is the one who would break the bread you distribute it and it's a family thing most like Thanksgiving is for most of us here though.

It is Represented as for the spiritual family for the church. Jesus is the host. He breaks the bread. He gives it to them. It's not genetics. It's not natural makeup that determined who was there. It's faith.

Those who have faith are part of the new family. Next is the food. All that is mentioned is the bread. Now certainly they had a lamb. Strike us as unusual. I just thought of this over the last week unusual that they don't mention the lamb.

Because the lamb is the main course of the Passover meal. That's the main thing. They mentioned in verse 12 He said it was the day to sacrifice them. So, you know no Passover would be complete without a lamb, but it's not mentioned only the bread is mentioned from now on our Passover.

Represented as the Lord's Supper would be a bloodless meal. Jesus is the lamb. You don't know where the lamb is. He's the one breaking the bread. Jesus is the lamb and he has died once for all he doesn't need to die over and over again with every Lord's Supper.

We don't need to physically take in his body. We need only to feed on what he's already done by faith so he takes the bread not the lamb and Blesses it breaks it and says while he is still in his body take.

This is my body. Now no one there is going to think you know that the bread that he's holding in his literal hands Literally became his body. At that time. No one's gonna think that and there's no reason then because they wouldn't think that then there's no reason.

We should think that now instead like this bread is broken and then becomes like that. It becomes your nourishment the source of your life or your body. So Jesus saying my body will be broken and become the source of your life by faith.

That's the food we live off of. Next is the fulfillment. In verses 23 to 24. He takes a cup and gives thanks for it and then he distributes that to them and They drink and then he says this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many.

The covenant in Exodus was sealed by blood. But they broke that covenant. So God spoke through Jeremiah that he would make a new covenant with them a covenant with God's law written on their hearts. So that they would then remember it.

So that they would want to obey it so that they would know the Lord from their hearts. And so he says in Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 34. They shall all know me from the least of least of them to the greatest declares the Lord.

For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. Jesus here tells us. With this takes the cup. This is my blood. He's saying that now. That new covenant has begun it begins with this it begins with my blood being spilled.

It is poured out. He says notice that for many not for all including Judas. Be the perfect time to say for all if he meant for all but he doesn't he says for many. But it's not for just a few either. Not just for us here.

It's for many for all kinds of people and we remember that covenant now fulfilled. Finished in Christ through this represented Passover. Finally there is the future in verse 25. This is his goal. In other words what he's anticipating what he's looking forward to the fullness of the kingdom of God on earth.

But again, there is an interim. Truly we've we've seen this interim but several times over the past few weeks that he's talked about an interim between What he does on earth at his first coming and his second truly and he says certainly we can be confident this.

He will not drink again of what he calls the fruit of the vine in the words of wine or grape juice he will not drink of it during this interim between the time the new covenant is sealed with his blood and The time finally when the reign of God is fully here.

Now we can drink of it if we want. But he won't he is saving himself for that last great feast. When all his children the many that he bought with his blood will be there for the joy of that feast. He'll wait for now, you know, but he'll wait now for the new stuff.

He'll wait. Why have the old one? He's gonna wait for the new that the new covenant brings in a new creation. He'll skip on the old for now, you know. Like you might skip on a on a lunch because you know There's a great we're all going out for dinner to this great restaurant.

And I want to be really hungry because I want to eat a lot there for the joy set before him. The future feast that he has planned for that feast that new cup. He endured the cross. Accepted the bitter cup of God's wrath.