For Such a Time as This: The World Turns Upside Down
Esther 9-10
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
9-13-2020
Review
[Star Wars clip].
Luke’s cries of joy make sense when you understand that there was nothing that they could do to save themselves. It’s what happens when you are rescued. Hmmmm….we’ll come back to that in a minute.
Last week, we saw things go very badly for Haman. What a difference a day can make!
At the second banquet, Xerxes again asked Esther what she wants and she replies that her request is her life and her petition is the lives of her people.
Xerxes is perplexed. He literally has no idea what she is talking about. Who would dare threaten his queen?
Esther takes a deep breath and says, “An enemy and an adversary. This wicked, evil, vile Haman.”
All the blood rushed out of Haman’s face and he knew he was doomed.
Xerxes storms into the palace gardens and Haman falls at Esther’s feet and begs for his life.
Isn’t that rich? Mordecai wouldn’t bow before Haman and now Haman is falling down before the Queen - Jewish woman!
The king returns to find Haman “falling on the queen’s couch” and accused him of trying to rape the Queen! Xerxes needed a way out of this mess and he found it.
Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, tells the king that Haman has set up a pole in his front yard and had planned to impale Mordecai on it.
Xerxes burns with anger and orders that Haman is impaled on it instead.
Xerxes gives all of Haman’s estate to Esther and Esther appoints Mordecai to manage it.
Esther fell down at the king’s feet and begged with tears for the lives of her people.
Xerxes knows that that Haman’s law cannot be undone but he give Mordecai permission to write another edict.
Mordecai writes an edict giving the Jewish people all over the Persian empire the ability to defend themselves on the 13th of Adar.
The Jewish population explodes in celebration and their mourning is turned into dancing and joy.
The only thing left is the waiting.
That brings us to the last verses in Esther. If you have missed one, you can always watch them on our Facebook page.
Turn with me to Esther 9.
Prayer
The Tables are Turned
“On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the edict commanded by the king was to be carried out. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but now the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them. The Jews assembled in their cities in all the provinces of King Xerxes to attack those determined to destroy them. No one could stand against them, because the people of all the other nationalities were afraid of them. And all the nobles of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and the king’s administrators helped the Jews, because fear of Mordecai had seized them. Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and he became more and more powerful.” (Esther 9:1-5)
The narrator has been a master of building suspense and ending sections with cliffhangers. But not here. The author covers the day of the battle in one verse and with little emotion. Why?
I believe it was because the outcome was never in doubt.
We know that there has been an unseen hand behind the action in Esther and, as Mordecai said, “relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place,” (Esther 4:14) one way or another.
God keeps His promises. He promised to make Abraham great and that his descendants would be “as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.” (Gen 22:17)
In Genesis 3, God promised that there would be an offspring of Adam and Eve that would be the undoing of the snake (satan). Satan would “strike His heel but this Messiah/Deliverer would crush his head.” (Gen 3:15)
Pharaoh ordering all the male Jewish babies killed (Exodus 1) and Herod ordered all the Jewish male babies under two destroyed. (Matt 2)
In between these two events, satan uses Haman to try once again to destroy the Jewish race to keep the Messiah from coming on the scene.
For eight months, the enemies of the Jews prepared. I’m sure many of them had the 13 day of Adar circled on their calendars.
They sharpened their swords and waited for the day of the kill.
But it didn’t go anything like they thought it would. The author says that the “tables were turned.” This is an emphatic phrase in the Hebrew that means “reversal.”
While it was assumed that these enemies would slaughter the Jewish people with ease, several things happened in those eight months that changed the game.
1. The edict gave the Jewish people permission to defend themselves. It says that the Jews ‘assembled in each city.” This word means that they decided to work on a united front.
2. fear of the Jews had spread throughout the empire. Wait. Why?
The Jews were a small minority with very little power. There was something supernatural going on here.
3. Not only were people afraid of the Jews in general but people were afraid of Mordecai, would was now second in command, having replaced Haman.
The king’s court, the nobles, satraps, governors, and king’s administrators all gave assistance to the Jewish people because of Mordecai’s power. The politics of the palace had turned and it behooved them to side with Mordecai.
Fear fell on them. Fear of what? From where did it fall?
Although the book never mentions God’s name, it is obvious that He is working behind the scenes.
For eight months, the Jews had been living under the threat of extinction. This day brought relief from that threat and victory over all those who hated them.
Jeremiah prophesied that “no one would be able to stand against them,”
“‘But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil.” (Jer 30:16)
The Battle Belongs to the Lord
“The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did what they pleased to those who hated them. In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men. They also killed Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizatha, the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder.” (Esther 9:5-10)
Throughout the empire, the Jewish people were ready and defended themselves against the attacks of their enemies.
The author intentional uses the phrase “they did what they pleased” because that is what Xerxes said to Haman concerning his edict to kill all the Jews.
In the capital city of Susa, 500 men were killed. Before you start feeling sorry for these guys, remember that they had eight months to change their mind.
Also killed were Haman’s ten sons.
Remember back in chapter 5 when Haman calls his wife and advisors together to drunkenly rant about how great he was?
“Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials.” (Esther 5:11)
Everything that Haman bragged about is gone. His wealth belongs to Esther, his position to Mordecai, and he and his ten sons are now dead.
These ten sons would have been an ongoing threat to the Jews in the Persian empire. Don’t forget that they were also descendants of Agag, the enemy of the Jews.
This section ends with a very specific detail - “they did not lay their hands on the plunder.” This is repeated in verses 15 and 16. Why?
Mordecai’s edict allowed the Jews to take plunder and kill women and children as well. But only men were killed and no plunder was taken.
Because this was holy war.
When the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt, they started into the wilderness and toward the Promise Land.
The very first people to attack the children of God were the Amalekites.
“The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”
Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:8-15)
Fast forward 1,000 years and the people are now in the Promised Land.
“Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” (I Samuel 15:1-3)
Saul obeyed the Lord…sort of. He did attack the Amalekites but left their king Agag alive and the best of the sheep and cattle were brought to him as well.
Samuel confronted Saul and he made some really lame excuses. Saul’s disobedience actually cost him his throne.
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.” (I Sam 15:22-23)
Samuel put Agag to death and then left to go anoint a shepherd boy named David the new king.
So let’s put this all together. Haman was a Agagite, a descendant of the king of the Amalekites, the first to attack the Jews as they left Egypt. He may even been a directed descendant of Agag himself.
Mordecai is a descendant of Kish, who is the father of Saul!
The Jews in Persia were going to finish what Saul wouldn’t. This was an order from God Himself.
Another Day of Slaughter
The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”
“If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.”
So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder.” (Esther 9:11-17)
Xerxes is a strange guy! He actually seems impressed by the number of people that the Jews killed.
“Wow! 500 in the capital? Pretty impressive! Now I’m curious - how many did they kill outside the capital?
Again he asks Esther if she has any requests or petitions, although he doesn’t offer her up to half the kingdom this time.
Esther sighed and said, “No king, the world is right again. We are safe and happy. No further requests needed.”
Nope! Sweet, naive Esther asks for another day of slaughter! And that Haman’s ten sons that were killed to be impaled on poles!
Doesn’t this strike you as a little overkill and vindictive? The author gives us no view into her thoughts or intentions.
There were still enemies out there and they needed to be taken out. No new edict was needed. This would be a “part 2” of the day before.
Xerxes must have smiled. He liked s bloodthirsty woman.
The ten sons of Haman were impaled as a warning to the rest of Susa and an indication that they were cursed.
The next day, 300 more men were killed. Remember, the Jews were only acting in self defense. That means 300 men watched the route the day before and thought that they could do better. They were wrong.
Overall the Jews in the province killed 75,000 men. This number seems very high and most commentators believe this probably was meant to mean 75 family groups, or between 10 and 15,000 people.
Celebration Time
“This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.” (Esther 9:17-19)
Spontaneous celebrations started happening all over the empire. They had rest from their enemies and their mourning had been turned into dancing.
The Jews living in Susa, and other walled cities, celebrated on the 15th day of Adar but the rural Jews in the outreaches of the empire celebrated on the 14th day.
We will come back to this in our discussion of Purim.
Mordecai Records these Events
“Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.” (Esther 9:20-22)
Mordecai witnessed these spontaneous parties and wrote letters to all the Jews encouraging them to celebrate these two days in Adar as a way to remember when things looked completely hopeless the world was turned upside down and they not only survived but thrived.
Instead of fasting, these would be annual days of feasting, including giving portions of food to each other and donations to the poor.
Instead of sorrow and mourning, these would be days filled with joy and dancing.
Have you ever really thought you were going to die? That there was no way out and this was it for you?
All the People Say Amen
“So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. But when the plot came to the king’s attention, he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews—nor should the memory of these days die out among their descendants.” (Esther 9:23-28)
When the people received Mordecai’s letter they all said “Amen!” The days would be called “Purim,” because Haman rolled the dice (lots/pur) to decide what day to exterminate the Jewish people.
It’s interesting. This Jewish holiday is the only not ordained directly from God but arose out of the people’s own celebrations after being delivered from Haman’s edict.
An annual custom was established and these Jews would teach their children what Purim meant. It was all about remembering.
Queen Esther Confirms Purim
"So Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter concerning Purim. And Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of Xerxes’ kingdom—words of goodwill and assurance— to establish these days of Purim at their designated times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had established for themselves and their descendants in regard to their times of fasting and lamentation. Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records.” (Esther 9:29-32)
No longer hiding her Jewishness, Esther is described as the daughter of Abihail. She is a Persian queen but also the queen of the Jewish people living in Persia.
With the full authority of the royal crown, her and Mordecai, write a letter establishing the details of Purim and her decree confirmed the holiday, which was recorded in the chronicles.
Postscript
The author adds a small postscript to the book:
“King Xerxes imposed tribute throughout the empire, to its distant shores. And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.” (Esther 10:1-3)
Although we’ve witnessed all these great reversals in this book, in the end, the Persian empire was still in power and Xerxes seems to have gotten off scot free.
He’s still great and imposing taxes but the first readers would have already known that Xerxes was dead, killed in assassination plot.
Mordecai is the focus of the postscript, not Xerxes.
The author tells us that:
He was second in command to King Xerxes. How did that happen? How did he go from being a scribe weeping in sackcloth and ashes to the king’s right hand man? Only God!
He was respected by Persians and Jews alike
Why? Because unlike Xerxes he was not concerned with himself but with others. He worked for the good of his people and was an outspoken advocate for all the Jews.
And, like that, the book is over!
Let’s see what we can learn. Here are some applications.
Applications
Remember even though God may be silent He’s still sovereign
Esther is the only one of two books of the Bible that don’t mention God. (Song of Solomon). In Esther although God is not named, we see God’s fingerprints all over the story.
Theologians call this “providence.”
Tony Evans described providence this way:
“There are many times in our lives when God is nowhere to be found. There are many times when we look for God, but He cannot be located. There are many times when it seems like God is letting things happen to you and me that He wouldn’t allow if He loved us and cared about us. But there is a term for God’s invisibility, when He cannot be located. That term is His providence, His unseen hand at work.”
As we have seen throughout this sermon series, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life and you may be aware of three of them.” John Piper
And what often looks like coincidences is really just God’s way of remaining anonymous.
Vance Havner tells the story of a town in Alabama that was about to have a bumper crop of cotton when the boll weevil came and reeked destruction.
Farmer’s are resourceful and started planting peanuts, a crop that boll weevils wouldn’t eat.
Soon all the farmers in the area started planting peanuts and the crops were astounding. That part of Alabama became prosperous due in large part to the boll weevil.
The people of Enterprise, Alabama understood the importance of the boll weevil and actually erected a monument to the nasty little bug.
Mark Dever wrote:
“Esther is one of the longest sustained mediations of the sovereignty and providence of God. It is really just one long narrative illustration of Romans 8:28:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
You may be in a season of waiting or one in which God seems silent. Have faith. God is at work, behind the scenes, subtly, quietly, working out His will for His glory and your good.
Charles Spurgeon famously wrote:
“God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.”
Will you trust Him and know that even when we don’t see it He’s working?
2. Remember that Purim points to a promised deliverer
For eight months, the threat of death hung over the Jews. When they got relief from their enemies, spontaneous celebrations broke out all across the empire. This is how the Jewish feast of Purim came to be.
Next year, Friday February 19th starting at sundown, (The Sabbath before Purim) is called Shabbat Zachor - the
Sabbath of Remembering.
Deuteronomy 25:17-19 is read and the story of the Amalekites attacking the Israelites as they came out of Egypt is read and remembered.
Remember that the name Purim comes from “Pur” which is the dice or lots that Haman used to pick the day to destroy the Jews.
Solomon wrote:
“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” (Prov 16:33)
The night before Purim, the Megillah, the scroll of Esther is read.
During this reading at the synagogue, Jews boo, hiss, stomp their feet, and rattle groggers (noisemakers) whenever Haman’s name is mentioned, as a way to blot out his name.
There are four religious duties of Purim:
1.They are required to be happy! They accomplish this by dressing in costume, holding carnival-like celebrations, gathering with family and friends, and eating the traditional hamantaschen treats, triangular fruit-filled cookies, that represent the villain Haman’s three-cornered hat.
2. One Purim morning, Jewish people visit each other and take gifts of food in baskets. This gift is to symbolize the spirit of kinship and love that will help prevent the appearance of any future Hamans.
3. Tradition holds that observant Jews are to give charity to at least two needy people. The intent is to ensure that all Jews are able to experience the joy of Purim.
4. Many Jews fast leading up to the feast of Esther to remember when Esther and all the Jews fasted before she went uninvited to the king.
5. In the afternoon, after attending synagogue, the gather as families and enjoy a huge meal together.
I have a dear friend named Mitch that I went to school school with many moons ago. He is Jewish and was kind enough to send me a description of Purim and how his family celebrates it.
"Jeff, in many ways, the story of Purim and what Haman tried to do to the Jews of Persia is almost a "prequel" to what Hitler actually did to the Jews. In fact, it's similar to many of the challenges and near genocide the we have faced.
But the fact that Esther and Mordechai were the heroes of this story, saved the day and convinced King Xerxes to save the Jews and execute the conspiring Haman is truly a reason to celebrate. While my boys are now grown and my daughter in high school, some of my best years had us going to the synagogue at night on Purim to celebrate with our community. And it truly is a reason to celebrate. In fact, I deem it higher in priority than any other Jewish holiday in our need to express joy and celebration.
We would go to the synagogue at night, kids donned in costumes. Now, while traditionally those costumes are SUPPOSED to be characters from Purim, such as the King, Esther, Haman and Mordechai, these days anything goes (superman, minions, etc etc lol). The community gathers at the synagogue and the rabbi reads from the Megillah (which is the hebrew reading of the story of Purim).
Everyone is equipped with noisemakers and every time the name "Haman" is mentioned, the crowd boos, jeers and uses their noise makers. And afterwards, the younger children parade through the synagogue showing their costumes. People vote for the best costume and a prize is awarded.
Its even acceptable to drink a little liquor given what we are celebrating…
Afterwards, everyone goes into the social hall where a large carnival proceeds to happen. Games, raffles, food and dancing proceed. The traditional food to eat are baked pastries known as Hamentashen. They are three sides pastries, commemorating the triangular shape of Haman's hat.
They actually Mohntaschen, or "poppy seed pockets," were a popular German pastry dating from medieval times. Around the late 1500s, German Jews dubbed them Hamantaschen, or "Haman's pockets."
The play on words references the rumor that the evil Haman's pockets were filled with bribe money. Even now, poppy seeds are only one type of filling. You'll see cherry, peach, prune, and even chocolate chip. They are delicious and an amazing treat to celebrate the holiday.
[Purim in Israel video]
It’s a celebration of hope and confidence in God’s protection of them throughout the years.
In fact, the Nazi’s understood that and outlawed the reading of Esther or of even owning a copy of it. Every time a copy was confiscated, Jewish prisoners would write another one from memory!
Most Jewish people celebrate Purim on the 14th day of Adar which will be February 26-27 in 2021.
But in cities that were walled at the time of Joshua, Jerusalem, Hebron, Jericho, they celebrate it a day later and it is known as Shushan Purim.
It is a time of remembering.
Maxine and I were at the Dapper on Friday morning and at 9:00 am Lee stopped everything and we had a moment of silence and then I prayed that we would remember and never forget what happened on that day 19 years before.
Purim not only looks backwards but also forwards towards a deliverer that will ultimately vanquish their enemies and provide real and lasting shalom.
It is about rescue, reversal, remembering,
Rescued at Sea
Maxine and I spent Labor Day with Geoff and Jen Trembly in Iowa. We took the boat about 20 miles upstream on the Mississippi River. It was a gorgeous day and the water was like glass. We explored several inlets and floated for a while just enjoying the great outdoors.
We decided to head back and the engine started making a funny noise and then a loud bang and we were dead in the water in the very middle of the channel!
Geoff called the dry dock and informed them that we needed help. He told me not to worry because its a felony to not help a stranded boat.
Never fear Maxine will save us! She started waving a towel to boats to show that we were in distress. And it worked!
A couple that live on the river approached us and asked if we needed a tow.
Craig towed us all the way back to the dry dock, which probably took an hour!
We needed rescuing. There was absolutely nothing we could do to get back to the dock.
Craig came to our rescue and there was much rejoicing! We were saved.
There was nothing we could do. Well, I guess there was a paddle but only one so we we would have gone in circles.
Something had to happen outside of our own ability.
The Greatest Reversal
When the British were defeated at the battle of Yorktown, they were made to walk between the American and French armies at the feet and lay their weapons down at the feet of Washington.
They literally couldn’t believe that a rag tag army in need of a shower defeated a global super power.
We negotiate the terms of surrender
I see George Washington smile
We escort their men out of Yorktown
They stagger home single file
Tens of thousands of people flood the streets
There are screams and church bells ringing
And as our fallen foes retreat
I hear the drinking song they're singing
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
The world turned upside down
Down, down, down, down
As they marched out of town they sang the old drinking song, “The World Turned Upside Down.”
But that not the day the world turned upside down.
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain
It looked like all was lost and that darkness had won. Even the sky seemed to agree and turned to night in the middle of the day.
The king of glory, the long awaited Messiah, breathed His last while people mocked and jeered at Him.
Satan gloated and strutted. After all this time, he had finally struck the death blow to Jesus’ heel.
But the most stunning reversal in history happened on a hill called Calvary.
Instead of being defeated, Jesus’ death defeated death once and for all.
Instead of being crushed, Jesus’ crushed the heads of His enemies.
Satan didn’t get it. He couldn’t.
Like Esther, Jesus identified with His people. So much so, the second person of the Trinity became a human being.
Like Esther, Jesus mediated for His people. Because He was human he could represent us. All of our sin would be poured out on him on the cross. And the wrath of God against sin would be satisfied in Jesus’ sacrificial death.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)
The very place where everything looked darkest, became the symbol we hang in our churches, wear around our necks and tattoo on our arms - the cross.
And because He was not only human but divine, He didn’t stay dead. Three days later God raised Him from the grave showing that the check for our salvation had cleared!
Death turned into life
Hopelessness into Hope
Mourning into Dancing
Despair into Joy
That’s why we call it Good Friday! That’s what we celebrate on Easter.
And that’s what we particularly remember here at this table.
I so wish we take communion today. It is a beautiful way to remember the deliverance from sin found at the cross.
We all have sinned. Last week, I knocked our coffee table over the the glass top shattered. I could have spent the next three weeks trying to put all the little shards back together again and it still wouldn’t be whole.
That’s a great picture of us. Because of our sin we are shattered and no amount of superglue will be able to put us back together again.
We needed a brand new glass top or in Bible terms we need a new heart. We need to be born again.
That’s why we sing with passion and joy!
Billy Sunday, the early 20th century baseball star turned evangelist, said, “The trouble with most men is that they have just enough religion to make them miserable. If there is not joy in your Christianity, you might have a leak!”
Ending Song: At the Cross (Love Ran Red)
