Jesus has a Greater Plan
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Today we’re continuing our series on a book of the bible called Esther, it’s about God’s hidden work in our imperfect world, and today we’re gonna talk about how life doesn’t always go the way we plan...Your life, my life doesn’t always go the way we plan...Some of you planned to be married by now, but you’re not. Some of you planned to have kids by now, but there’s infertility issues. Some of you planned to be further in your career by now, making more money than you are, but you feel stagnant in your career and keep thinking the grass might be greener with another job. Everybody experiences this in life...Everybody experiences moments where it feels like life isn’t going the way we planned.
Now when this happens it can feel like life’s unfair, evil, and uncertain. It can feel like life’s unfair, when other people prosper more than you, or when you do good things but bad things seem to keep happening to you. It can feel like life’s evil or that evil’s winning, when evil things happen to you. It can feel like life’s uncertain, when our plans fall apart and we don’t know what the future holds. The worst part is sometimes God can feel silently absent in these situations and we’re left wondering if He’s gonna do anything about the chaotic mess of our lives. When life isn’t going the way we planned, it can feel like life’s unfair, evil, and uncertain, but today we’re gonna see God’s not silent in these realities, He’s still at work these realities. God’s still at work in the unfair, the evil, and the uncertain times of our lives, so let’s turn to Esther 2:19 and get into it. It’s Esther 2:19-3:15, located in the FRONT quarter part of your bible. The title of today’s message is Jesus Has A Greater Plan, and here’s the big idea. You can plan your way through life, but only one plan is certain. Jesus has a greater plan...You can plan your way through life, but only one plan is certain. Jesus has a greater, more certain plan.
Context:
Here’s your context. In Esther ch. 1 we learn King Ahasuerus, also known as King Xerxes, is one of the most powerful men in history and he’s leading the Persian Empire which is the largest empire in history. But as powerful as Xerxes was, his power proved powerless over his wife. His wife Queen Vashti refused to give into his demands, he gets angry, removes her as queen, and about a year later in ch. 2 he searches for another queen. He throws the largest Bachelor series in history, it lasts an entire year, and he forces women to be a part of it whether they want to or not. So he’s not a nice bachelor, he’s an evil bachelor, and he gives the final rose to a beautiful Jewish girl named Esther. She gets the final rose, becomes queen of Persia, and the events that follow are unfair, evil, and uncertain. But God’s still working in all these realities, so let’s check it out.
The Word:
Esther 2:19 states this, “Now when the virgins were gathered together the second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.” Okay so last week in ch. 2 we learned Esther’s parents died when she was young, and her older cousin Mordecai adopts her and raises her like a daughter. Now Mordecai tells her not to tell anyone she’s Jewish, and we don’t know why he does this. Maybe it’s for strategic heroic reasons, maybe it’s for cowardice reasons. The truth is we don’t know, so we shouldn’t assume he’s a hero or coward for doing this. Christians especially need to be careful of this because they treat Mordecai and Esther as heroes to look up to, but at this point there’s a lot of things they shouldn’t be doing as Jews. I mean Mordecai shouldn’t be telling Esther to hide her faith, which being the wife of Xerxes meant having to eat non-kosher foods, participate in non-Jewish practices, doing some non-Jewish things. Esther also shouldn’t be married to a guy who doesn’t worship God, and wants to be worshiped as a god. Is this a difficult situation? Yes, it is. Are there some admirable things about them? Yes, there are. But we still shouldn’t treat them as heroes OR as cowards. The author gives us a lot of grey, a lot of situations where we don’t know why they make the decisions they make. It’s because they’re not the point of the book. The point isn’t that they’re heroes or cowards, it’s that God’s still at work in their lives and lives of those He loves, even in the difficulties of life. Mordecai and Esther are in a very difficult situation, and for whatever reason Mordecai tells Esther to conceal their faith, and she does.
Vs. 21, “In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate...” Notice this is the 2nd time the text states Mordecai’s “sitting at the king’s gate.” That’s important because the king’s gate is where most of the king’s business and justice took place. So this means Mordecai most likely had a government position in the Persian Empire. In fact archaeologists found the Persian treasury records for this period, and the records mention a government official named Mordecai. So the Persian treasury records agree with what we’re studying here in the biblical records, which is that Mordecai had some sort of a government position, allowing him to sit at the kings gate and to have frequent access to Queen Esther. It’s also why he’s close enough to hear two of Xerxes personal bodyguards planning to assassinate Xerxes, which is what happens next.
Again vs. 21, “In those days, as Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, became angry and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.” That’s an assassinate plan to kill Xerxes. It’s a plan developed by two of Xerxes most trusted bodyguards. The text says they guarded the threshold, meaning his bedroom, which is one of the highest positions of trust for Xerxes, because he had to trust these guys to watch his back while he sleeps. But instead they’re planning to assassinate him, and Mordecai hears their plan. Now if you’re Mordecai, what do you do? Do you stop them, ignore them, or join them?...Do you stop them, ignore them, or join them?...Personally I think I’d try joining them. If an evil guy like Xerxes forcefully took my daughter and I had the chance to get her back, I’m going Ninjago on that guy!...I’m going William Wallace Braveheart on that mug!.. I’m not saying it’s the right decision, I’m just saying it’s probably what I’d do. What would you do?...Would you try stopping them, ignoring them, or joining them? Here’s what Mordecai does.
Vs. 22, “And this came to the knowledge of Mordecai, and he told it to Queen Esther, and Esther told the king in the name of Mordecai.” He tries stopping them. Mordecai tries stopping them from assassinating Xerxes life, and Esther tries stopping it too. I mean she’s presented with the same options as Mordecai, she can stop them, ignore them, or join them, and she chooses to stop them. Again there’s some grey here, we don’t know why they do this, all we know is they decide to do a good thing for a bad man. They stop the assassination attempt on Xerxes life.
Vs. 23, “When the affair was investigated and found to be so, the men were both hanged on the gallows. And it was recorded in the book of the chronicles in the presence of the king.” Now historically Xerxes ends up being killed by one of his officials and the captain of his guard, but this attempt fails and both bodyguards are hanged on the gallows. It’s not country western gallows with a rope, it’s Persian gallows where they’d take a wooden pole and impale or crucify them. The Persians were very big on punishing disloyalty, but they were also big on rewarding loyalty. So the expectation here is that Mordecai will be heavily rewarded for his loyalty, but he isn’t. Xerxes does absolutely nothing to reward him, and listen to what he does instead.
Ch. 3:1, “After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials who were with him.” So Xerxes does absolutely nothing for Mordecai, and promotes some other guy named Haman the Agagite instead. It’s unfair isn’t it? I mean Mordecai does a good thing for a bad guy and gets absolutely nothing for it. It’s unfair! Yet isn’t this what happens to you sometimes? You do a good thing for somebody, your family, your friends, your employer at work, but somebody else gets the reward, gets the promotion. You do a good thing, but bad things still happen to you. Bad things still happen to you, busting your karmic bubble, leaving you asking why? “Why’s this happen to me? Why didn’t I get a reward? Why didn’t God bless me for doing the right thing? It just isn’t fair.” Life can sometimes feel so unfair, like Mordecai’s situation. He saves the Kings life, but somebody else gets the reward, the promotion, and it’s about to get worse for Mordecai.
Vs. 2, “And all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage.” Now this is where things get even worse for Mordecai, because scholars believe there’s 2 possible reasons he won’t bow. The 1st is because they think Haman’s asking to be worshipped like a god, which a Jew can’t do. A Jew can bow to show respect to government officials, but they can’t bow to worship them like a god. So it’s possible he won’t bow because Haman’s asking to be worshiped like a god, but it’s not the most likely reason, because if he has an issue with this he’d also have an issue with bowing for Xerxes. He wouldn’t have lasted long in the Persian Empire not bowing to Xerxes, especially as one of Xerxes government officials.
So the most likely reason he won’t bow is the 2nd reason, it’s because of a racial family feud between him and Haman. It’s why the author mentions in vs. 1 that Haman’s an Agagite, he also mentions it in ch’s 8 and 9. There’s a lot of history behind this, over 900 yrs of history, 900 yrs of a racial family feud between the Agagites and the Jews. See over 900 yrs before Esther takes place, God saves the Jews from Egyptian slavery, establishes them as a nation, and the first people to try to attack and destroy the Jews are the Amalekites. Then roughly 400 yrs later the Jews finally defeat the Amalekites, God tells King Saul to kill the Amalekite king, but he doesn’t do it. So the Jewish prophet Samuel kills the Amalekite king, and guess who that king was? It’s King Agag, one of Haman’s great grandpas...You seeing the tension here?...Mordecai lost some family members, Haman lost some family members, and it’s been a several hundred years since these families fought, but they haven’t forgotten their tribal feud. Mordecai won’t bow to a guy whose family lineage has been trying to destroy the Jews for hundreds of years. Can you imagine being Mordecai? You do a good thing but get nothing for it, and now your worse enemy gets a promotion over you and expects you to bow before him. It’s all unfair, but it’s also about to get dark. It’s about to get very dark for Mordecai, because that 900 yr old racial family feud’s about to spark again. Mordecai’s unwillingness to bow, is the ember that sparks Haman’s furious fire.
Vs. 3, “Then the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate said to Mordecai, ‘Why do you transgress the king’s command?’ 4 And when they spoke to him day after day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether Mordecai’s words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman was filled with fury.” He’s filled with fury. Mordecai finally reveals he’s a Jew, and Haman unleashes his furious fire not just on Mordecai, but on all the Jews.
Vs. 6, “But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.” You seeing how dark and evil this is? You seeing how dark and evil Haman is? Let’s skip down to vs. 13 so you can see just how dark and evil this gets. You can read vs. 7-12 on your own, it’s basically Haman telling Xerxes his plan, and Xerxes gives him the authority to accomplish his plan. But listen to how dark and evil Haman is.
Vs. 13, “Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.” That’s how dark and evil Haman is. He doesn’t just want to kill Mordecai, he wants to destroy, kill, annihilate all the Jews. He wants to kill even the elderly, and the women and children. It’s a mass genocide like the Holocaust, Rwanda, Kosovo, and Sudan. It’s a very chilling reality of just how dark and evil the human heart can get. Esther’s a real story, dealing with real life issues, and for Mordecai this isn’t just about things being unfair anymore. It’s about things being unfair and evil. I mean it seems like God’s allowing evil to win here, the very evil that tried destroying the Jews 900 yrs earlier. It seems like God’s doing nothing, He’s allowing evil to win, and once again we can relate with this because it sometimes feels like evil’s winning in our world. Every time we hear of a mass genocide, a 911 bombing, an ISIS torture, or a mass shooting it feels like evil’s winning. It feels like God’s silently absent, and letting evil win. What’s happening to Mordecai and the Jews still happens to us today. It sometimes feels like life’s unfair, that evil’s winning, and here comes the uncertainty. Here comes the uncertainty for Mordecai and the Jews.
Vs. 14, “A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. 15 The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.” They’re thrown into confusion, meaning the Persian citizens don’t agree with Haman, they don’t share his hatred for the Jews. They care about the Jews being killed, they care about them being gone. City Awakening would your non-Christian neighbor care if you were gone?...Would your non-Christian neighbor care if you were gone?...May we love the few so we can love the many. May we love a few neighbors so well, that they’d care if Christians, if the followers of Jesus were gone...It’s a very confusing time for the Persians, and it’s a very scary, uncertain time for the Jews. Ch. 3 leaves us with an uncertain cliff hanger, it’s will the Jews survive? Will Mordecai, Esther, and the Jews survive?
So things go from being unfair, to evil, to uncertain, and once again we can relate. We can relate because sometimes life feels like a cliff hanger, like you’re stuck in ch. 3, and you’re uncertain how things are gonna turn out in the situations you’re in. The author of Esther wants us to relate with Mordecai and Esther wondering what God’s doing in the unfair, evil, and uncertain times of life. The author wants us to relate so we can learn to trust God’s still working in these realities. How do we know God’s still working in these realities? Because we know the Jews survive since they’re still alive today, and because we can read the end of the story. We can read the end of the story and learn that Mordecai eventually gets a promotion, Haman’s evil plan fails, and God’s people survive. We know things will turn out fine in the end, because we can read the end. But you can’t see the end of the story, when you’re in the story...You can’t see the end of YOUR story, because you’re in the story. So the question Mordecai, Esther, and the Jews need to ask, is the same question we need to ask. It’s will we trust and depend on God in the unfair, evil, uncertain times of our lives?...Will we trust and depend on God, in the ch. 3 times of our lives?...
The Big Idea:
Let’s have the worship team come up, and get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. You can plan your way through life, but only one plan is certain. Jesus has a greater plan...Jesus has a greater plan, a more certain plan for your life...Look your life’s a lot like a painting, you can only see it happening one stroke at a time. But once the final stroke is made, you realize each stroke had a purpose, and can see the beauty of the entire picture. The Jews can only see the stroke of ch. 3, just like you can only see the stroke of your ch. 3. But God made sure it turned out fine for them in the end, and we can be certain it’ll turn out fine for us if we put our trust in Jesus.
See the good news we have in Jesus, is he’s our master painter whose nail pierced hands can guide us in the unfair, evil, uncertain, ch. 3 times of our lives. He’s our master painter who came to give us the certainty, that it’ll all turn out fine for anyone who puts their trust in him. Jesus’ plan was to live, die, and rise again for the forgiveness of our sins, and he fulfilled that plan when he died on the cross. He fulfilled that plan and rose from the dead on the 3rd day to prove it’s all true, to prove it’ll all be fine in the end, even after the sting of death. Jesus proved his day 3, is more powerful than your ch. 3!...His day 3, is more powerful than your ch. 3...and his future plan, his final painter’s stroke is to return to conquer Satan, sin, sickness, suffering, and sadness forever. Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore...” Jesus has a greater plan, a more certain plan for your life. He proved it when he rose from the dead, and if you put your trust in Jesus, you can be certain it’ll all turn out fine in the end. So trust and depend on Jesus, he’s your master painter whose hand can guide you in the unfair, evil, uncertain, ch. 3 times of your life. He’s your master painter who’s day 3, is more powerful than your ch. 3...If you’re wrestling with trusting Jesus and want somebody to pray for you in your ch. 3, or if you want to know how to have a relationship with Jesus. We’ll have people in the back left of the room ready to pray for you. You can go back there any time during the last song. City Awakening let’s stand and worship Jesus as an act of faith, trust, and dependency on him. Let’s stand and worship him, for giving us the certainty, that it’ll all turn out fine in the end.