Links for today’s readings:
Read: Esther 7 Listen: (2:08)
Read: 1 John 4 Listen: (2:58)
Links for today’s readings:
Read: Esther 8 Listen: (3:41), Read: 1 John 5 Listen: (3:00)
Read: Esther 9-10 Listen: (6:15), Read: 2 John Listen: (1:50)
Scripture Focus: Esther 7.3-6
3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”
5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”
6 Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”
Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.
8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.
The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”
As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”
The king said, “Impale him on it!” 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.
Matthew 2.16-18
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
Reflection: A King to Hope In — Hope of Advent
By John Tillman
Kings have always been replacements for God. (1 Samuel 8.7)
Some ancient kings only claimed to “represent” or “manifest” a god and others to descend from a god or gods. Many modern kings and politicians still do this. They are just more subtle about it.
Neither Xerxes nor Herod are righteous kings.
Kings don’t usually take well to criticism, the pointing out of flaws, or to being tricked. When Herod discovered the Magi’s deception and his first violent plot against Jesus failed, he ramped up the violence, murdering innocents as Christ’s family fled into exile.
If Xerxes had felt manipulated or accused when he realized he was Haman’s partner in the violent plot Esther exposed, he could have turned on Esther instead of Haman. God’s providence and Haman’s actions ensured he did not. However, after all the drama of getting Xerxes on their side, he couldn’t stop the violence or establish peace. He executed Haman but, as for the coming attacks, he couldn’t stop them or defend the Jews. He only allowed them to defend themselves. He added war to destruction and blood on top of blood. Afterward, mothers still wept for their children, refusing to be comforted.
God charges all kings, Herod, Xerxes, and our leaders, to establish righteousness. Yet most of the tools kings have destroy rather than cultivate. They wield the sword, not the plow. Even in brief moments when kings of the earth might support us, they are not as helpful or powerful as they seem. They are vulnerable to betrayal, assassination, and overthrow. Kings seem glorious in throne rooms yet their glory is an illusion of wealth, lacking any transcendence.
It’s easier than we might think to fall into the dangerous trap of replacing God with a king who is only an illusion of the power, glory, and righteousness of the Messiah. Herod’s soldiers and advisors did it. So might we.
Jesus is the one king we can hope in. He will not add war to violence and call it peace. His power is unassailable and unselfish. His glory is not an illusion of wealth or fine clothes, but the transcendent truth of existence. His righteousness is established not only by cutting down enemies but by cultivating goodness, growth, and godliness. His reign is both already and not yet. His kingdom is coming. His Advent is near.
Come quickly, King Jesus.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Hosanna, Lord, hosanna!…Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; we bless you from the house of the Lord. — Psalm 118.25-26
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more about Another Love Chapter — Love of Advent
One purpose of Christ’s advent was to show what God is like. The Holy Spirit’s advent in our hearts shares that purpose.
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