Esther 3

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Esther 3:8-10, Then Haman said to King Xerxes, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.”

So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.  “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.”

Haman is a real piece of work.  He hears that Mordecai won’t kneel down before him and he is enraged.  Of course, we know that Mordecai is a Jew.  He is only supposed to bow down before God.  I’m thinking this plays in to Mordecai’s refusal but it could be that Mordecai knows Haman is a royal jerk and he simply won’t give him the pleasure.  One can’t help noticing the similarity between Mordecai and Vashti in this story.  Both refuse to honor men who do not deserve to be honored and they do so knowing there will be consequences. 

And there are consequences.  Haman, who seems to be evil inside and out, decides he doesn’t just want to punish Mordecai but his whole people group.  He wants to ensure that all the Jewish people are killed.  Let’s think about the absurdity of this: Haman wants to kill all the Jews in the kingdom because one Jew, Mordecai, refused to kneel before him.  Haman senses that Mordecai is a threat to his power and he wants to punish that threat mercilessly. 

Thus, Haman devises a plan.  He presents this idea to King Xerxes.  There is a “certain group” of people who contaminate his empire and it is not in his best interest to tolerate them.  Haman has a ready-made plan for elimination and it even involves a monetary bribe.  Xerxes either doesn’t want to be bothered or is incredibly gullible.  He basically passes his authority to Haman and says “do what you will” with an entire group of people. 

Most of us will read this with a certain amount of horror.  How appalling it is that a whole people group could be eliminated with nothing more than a flip of the hand.  And yet, this scene, with different characters, has been repeated throughout human history over and over again.  What is it about us as humans that we demonize whole groups of people?  That we fail to value human life? 

In God’s Kingdom, all human life has value.  That might be worth repeating.  In God’s Kingdom, every single human life has value.  And Jesus has called us to expand his Kingdom, to live as Kingdom people, to embody these basic Christ-centered principles.  Do we?  Do you?

Let’s pray…Lord Jesus, Help us see people through your eyes.  Always.  More of you and less of me, Jesus.  Amen.