1. Gladrags & Grace
Esther told Mordecai that she would have a go – she would go in to see the king but it would be at great personal peril. Xerxes was hardly a model king and could be quite unpredictable; an artefact from that time shows the king on the throne holding his sceptre and behind him stands a guard with an axe, ready to do the king’s will.
So it would be quite understandable if Esther pulled back, that further reflection had convinced her not to go through with it. But that is not so. She has fasted and prayed and now takes the bold step of standing in the inner court, in full view of the king.
Esther has chosen to play the part of a faithful Jew by playing the part of the Persian Queen. We read in v.1 that she “put on her royal robes” (more literally, ‘put on royalty’) and then went and deliberately stood in the inner court where the King would see her.
To be faithful to her Jewish heritage and to take her stand as one of God’s people, she did not need to renounce her position in the world but rather use it, as Mordecai had encouraged her to do. And Esther does just that to the very best of her ability – she approaches the King as the Queen.
This isn’t a case of playing worldly power games; rather, this is what it looks like to be as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove. She is doing what Jesus urged his followers to do – “use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves”.
There is a lesson here for us to grasp. In this life, we are given positions of responsibility, of varying sorts. To be faithful as believers does not necessarily mean abdicating those positions but rather seeking to use them as best we can for the sake of the gospel. That doesn’t mean a crass abuse of our position (e.g. buying everyone on the firm a Bible with company funds) but rather well thought-out and sensitive witness and testimony to the grace of God and the blessings of honouring Jesus as Lord.
Esther puts on her gladrags but she does so while trusting in God’s grace. And his grace was certainly active in this scene, for when the king sees her he holds out the sceptre to her, permitting her to come into his presence and asking her what she wants.
She can ask for up to half the kingdom and he’ll give it to her (that was not literally meant but was indicating a generous spirit toward her). What causes him to do that? His heart is in the hand of the Lord and he turns it wherever he wishes. God honours those who honour him; that’s a fact. It may not always be affirmed how we might hope it to be but it is always true and it is so here with Esther.
Yes, Esther is right to be active; yes, she needs to be wise in her approach, but without the intervention of God, her cause is hopeless. The life of faith is 100% God and 100% us – we work our salvation out with fear and trembling, knowing that God is at work in us.
2. Prayer & Purpose
With that combination of gladrags and grace, Esther finds herself in the king’s presence. What happens next may be quite unexpected: Esther invites the king, along with Haman, to a banquet. And later, when they were enjoying the food and wine, she tells the king she’ll make her request at a further banquet.
This is unexpected because we might have thought she would at once beg the king for mercy on behalf of the Jews. Quite why Esther chooses this more roundabout way is not clear; what it does show is that her fasting and praying has led to her behaving in a very careful, thought-out way. She’s got her script together and is working to plan.
Just as our responsibility and God’s grace go together, so too do our praying and our planning. Some might suggest that there is no need for Esther to be quite so careful or constrained – hasn’t God said he will give us just what we need, when we need it? She should just trust God and say whatever he gives her in the moment.
There are some who would say that also applies to the preaching of God’s Word – there’s really no need for detailed preparation, since Jesus promised to guide his disciples into all truth and the Spirit will give the words as necessary.
By extension, the same could be said about our witnessing to others about Jesus – don’t worry what to say, don’t think ahead just trust and he’ll give you the words to speak.
As a preacher, that sounds immensely attractive. But as a preacher who wants to be biblical, it doesn’t hold water. Jesus did promise his disciples to lead them into the truth – and so we have the NT; he did promise that his Spirit would give them the words to speak when they were hauled into court – and he did so; the book of Acts more than makes that clear to us.
But that is a far cry from suggesting preachers don’t need to bother preparing to preach or that we don’t need to give careful thought to how we might witness in different situations. It’s a far cry from suggesting that we need not bother to think ahead of how we will handle potentially difficult situations and conversations.
Of course we must trust God; of course he is able to, and does, give us words to speak and help us in a thousand ways. But that doesn’t remove our responsibility to prepare as best we can. Praying and planning go hand in hand, just as they did here with Esther.
3. Pride & Pain
Esther prayed and trusted God’s grace; she planned well and acted accordingly. While we have to wait to see what her exact plan is, we can see that it has an immediate impact on Haman. He thinks he’s not only well-up in the king’s opinion but also now in Esther’s. As far as he can see, his star is on the rise.
But his enjoyment of the moment is choked when he sees Mordecai still refusing to honour him. And he goes home utterly beside himself with rage and unable to appreciate what he thinks of as his blessings. The only way his family can console him is to suggest that he gets a gallows built and has Mordecai hung on the next day.
What we’re seeing here is the real nature of sin and what it does to human beings who are consumed by pride and self-importance. Here we see rage against God and his people destroying Haman as it flares and burns so passionately.
The spiritual warfare in which we are engaged is not a minor conflict, it isn’t what footballers refer to as ‘handbags’; it is utterly serious because the opposition of a hostile world to the one true God is implacable.
How can God’s people survive where there is such intense hatred and loathing? Notice what v.1 tells us: Esther goes to the king “on the third day”. Rather rings a bell doesn’t it? Is this going to be the beginning of a kind-of resurrection for the Jews? Will this moment herald the rising of their hopes for deliverance? It would seem so.
Our God is a God who intervenes and delivers his people. He has done so consistently throughout history but, supremely, he did so through the cross and resurrection of Jesus. That’s where all our hope lies; it’s also where the only hope for the world lies.
But the wretched picture of Haman and his hatred is also a solemn reminder of the sinfulness of all our hearts. How often are we robbed from enjoying the genuine blessings of God by jealousy or pride? And given that is so, what hope can there be for people like us?
Someone has helped us with that with these words: “Had God not extended the cross of Jesus Christ to the world, all would die in his presence. ‘On the third day’ after the final judgement transpired on the cross, Jesus Christ arose to imperishable life, guaranteeing safety to enter God’s presence to all who reach out in faith to touch that cross-shaped sceptre.” (Jobes p.147).
That’s where all our hope lies – in the grace of God demonstrated in his Son, in the cross and resurrection of our Lord. That ought to give us more than enough cause to rejoice today and to return to our callings with fresh energy and vigour, to the glory of God. Amen.
