Jesus is a Greater King
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
INTRO:
Today we’re starting a new series on a book of the bible called Esther, and it’s about God’s hidden work, in our imperfect world. One of the things that’s fascinating about the book of Esther is it never mentions God. There’s 66 books in the bible, and 2 of those 66 never mention God. It’s the Song of Solomon and Esther. There’s a king referenced over 175 times in Esther, but God’s not even mentioned once. Why would God do that?...Why would God allow a book that never mentions His name, to be in the Bible?...It’s to show us He’s still at work in our lives, even when it feels like He isn’t, even when His name and presence feels absent. Esther’s a book about the reality of life, which is that sometimes God feels absent.
Everybody has moments in life where it feels like God’s absent. In fact most atheists I know didn’t become atheists because of logical reasons, it was because of experiential reasons. It’s because they went through a tragic experience in life and felt God was absent. It happens to Christians too. Even Christians go through tragic experiences in life where it feels like God’s absent, and some of you sitting here today might be going through that right now. You come to church, pray, read your bible, yet God seems silent. The bible doesn’t hide this reality, it tells the truth about this reality. Esther tells the truth that sometimes God feels absent in our lives. But it also tells another truth which is God’s still at work in our lives, even when we can’t see it. In the book of Esther we’ll learn that God’s name is absent, but His presence is never absent. So let’s turn to Esther 1:1-9 and get into it. It’s Esther 1:1-9, located in the front quarter part of your bible. The title of today’s message is Jesus Is A Greater King, and here’s the big idea. We sometimes want to be our own kings and queens, but Jesus is a greater King...We sometimes want to be our own kings and queens, but Jesus is a greater King. He’s a greater king who’s still at work in our lives, even when we don’t see it.
CONTEXT:
Here’s your context. Esther was written around 470 B.C., during the rise of the great Persian Empire. Historically we know the Jews were living in Babylonian exile for 70 yrs until Persian King Cyrus defeated the Babylonians in 539 B.C. A year later Cyrus issued a decree that allowed the Jews to go back to Jerusalem if they wanted. Some went back, but some stayed in Persia because they either feared the journey back, or they were already settled in Persia and were experiencing great freedom under the Persian Empire. The events taking place in Esther are happening in Susa, which is one of Persia’s 4 capital cities. Let’s check out what happens.
THE WORD:
Esther 1:1-9 states this, “Now in the days of Ahasuerus...” That’s the king that’s referenced over 175 times in Esther. He’s a Persian king who’s better known by the name Greek historians gave him which is King Xerxes. It’s the same King Xerxes in the movie 300, who battled against 300 Spartans that were P90Xing it...It’s the same King Xerxes who fought King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans in the historical Battle of Thermopylae. King Xerxes was King of Persia from 486-465 B.C., and at this point in history he’s in his mid 30’s. He’s a man who’s inherited a lot of wealth, and he has a massive kingdom which the text mentions next.
Again vs. 1, “Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces...” That’s how massive Xerxes kingdom was. He reigned from India to Ethiopia, over 127 provinces, dominating the entire Middle Eastern world. Historians debate over the exact size of the Persian Empire, they debate over what provinces meant back then. But what they don’t debate over is that the Persian Empire was a massive world power. In fact the Persian Empire is known as the largest empire in history, and they ruled over 44% of the world’s population. The 2nd largest empire in history was the Babylonian Empire, and like I said they were defeated by Persian King Cyrus. Now Xerxes father was King Darius who ruled Persia for roughly 36 yrs. Darius lost a major battle against the Greeks at the Battle of Marathon, which is where we get our 26 mile marathon from. It comes from the Battle of Marathon where a Greek solider ran 26 miles to Athens to tell people they won against the Persians. Darius was furious and wanted revenge, but he died before he could have it. So Xerxes seeks revenge on his father’s behalf, and this is where battles like 300 start happening. He keeps fighting against the Greeks throughout his reign, until eventually Alexander the Great defeats the Persian Empire for good.
Now why am I telling you all this history?..It’s because I want you to see the bible is rooted in history...It’s deeply rooted in history...It consists of real people, with real names, real recorded events in history like the reign of King Xerxes and the Persian Empire. The bible’s deeply rooted in history, and what we’ll see as we study the historical events of Esther, is God’s at work in all this history. God’s been at work all over the world, including pagan nations like the Persian Empire. But at this point in Esther, we know Xerxes is the most powerful man on earth, leading the largest kingdom in history. At this point in history, nobody’s as powerful as Xerxes.
Vs. 2, “In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel.” That’s his palace. The “citadel” was his palace. He actually had 2 palaces, one for summer and one for winter, so he could have good weather year round. I keep asking the Lord for a cabin in the mountains, but it hasn’t happened yet. Xerxes has not 1, but 2 palaces, and it says he sits on a royal throne. His throne was a big deal to him. It was high and exalted giving the impression he ruled like a god. If you walked on the rug in front of his throne, you’d be killed. If you walked in front of his throne you had to bow in worship and adoration of him because he expected to be worshiped like a god. He loved his throne so much, that he’d have it carried into battle so he could sit exalted over his enemies, as he watched his army defeat his enemies. Ancient sources say he had over a million soldiers at the time, and his special forces were called the Immortals. They’re the guys in the movie 300 wearing masks. The Immortals were hand selected as kids and started training at 5 yrs old. If an Immortal was hurt or killed in battle, they’d immediately remove them giving the illusion they couldn’t be killed. They were Xerxes personal bodyguards, and he had 10,000 of them. People like Floyd Mayweather and music artists flex the size of their posse’s, but if Xerxes flexes, he has 10,000 Immortals at his side. Xerxes was viewed as a god, his special forces were viewed as Immortal, and he’s about to flex for a military battle.
Vs. 3, “In the third year of his reign he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, 4 while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days.” He flexes...He flexes, he shows his “royal glory” and “greatness.” How does he do it? By throwing an all-inclusive party for his leaders and military. Persian kings were known for doing this, especially just before going to war. They’d create a strategic war plan, and visually show they had the wealth and power to carry out that plan. It’s similar to what North Korea does sometimes when they try to flex their military power, except Xerxes had much more wealth and power. He’s throwing an all-inclusive party that lasts 180 days, it lasts 6 months. It’s crazy! He must’ve been an extrovert, because an introvert’s ready to take a nap after a 6 person game night...But Xerxes is throwing a 6 month party with thousands of people. Can you imagine all the food, drinks, entertainment, and preparations it took to pull this off? We barely pull off a Thanksgiving feast, yet he’s pulling off a 6 month feast at the snap of a finger. That’s how much wealth and power he had ruling 44% of the world. He’s flexing that wealth and power to show they have what it takes to beat the Greeks, and because he wants to be viewed as a god. The text says he wants to show his royal glory and greatness. He wants to be worshiped for his glory and greatness as a god, so he flexes with a 6 month all-inclusive party.
Vs. 5, “And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.” So at the end of the 6 month party, he opens the party up to other people, including the poor. It’s a chance for them to see his glory and greatness too. It’s like walking into The Biltmore Estate in Ashville. You walk in and you’re like “Wow! Look at that! I wish I had an oven like that, a throne like that, a view from the balcony like that.” We get all excited over these things, and Xerxes wants them to get excited over him. He isn’t doing any of this to be nice, he’s doing it to flex his glory and greatness so he’ll be praised. He’s giving them a little glimpse, a little tour of what it’s like to live at the highest level, in the largest empire in history.
Vs. 6, “There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rods and marble pillars...” The mention of “purple” further shows the wealth Xerxes had, because purple was the most expensive and rarest color to find. It was a color only the affluent could afford, and Xerxes has his entire palace covered in fine purple linens, placed on silver curtain rods. Not metal rods like we have, it’s 100% silver rods. He also had marble pillars holding the palace walls up, which is expensive even for us today.
Again vs. 6, “and also couches of gold and silver...” Dude has couches made of gold and silver! He just mic dropped every MTV crib episode there ever was!...Who makes couches out of gold and silver?...Imagine being the guys who had to move those things for the party. You know somebody called in sick that day. I’m not tweaking my back moving those things.
Vs. 6 continues, “couches of gold and silver, on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious stones.” So his gold and silver couches are sitting on “a mosaic pavement,” made of precious jewels, pearls, and stones. All of this is pocket change to Xerxes, and he purposely designed his palace in such a way that people would be in awe over its beauty. He designed it in such a way, that nobody could ever doubt his wealth and power.
Vs. 7, “Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.” Even his dishes are made of gold. He has so much gold he’s like, “What do I do with it all? Help the poor?...No...Help put it towards research to cure diseases?...No...I think I’ll build some couches and dishes out of gold.” Those things must’ve been heavy for the bussers and waiters to carry around. You know somebody else was calling in sick for that too...But it also says he’s lavishing them with royal wine, not box wine, but royal wine. It’s not happy hour, it’s happy week, with an open bar of the best wine.
Vs. 8, “And drinking was according to this edict: ‘There is no compulsion.’ For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired.” There was a rule that if the King drank, then you had to drink. But for the next week Xerxes is lifting that rule, he makes an edict that there is no compulsion to drink. He also tells them they can do whatever they want, which isn’t a good combo. Get drunk and do whatever you want. That’s not a good combo.
Vs. 9, “Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus.” So Queen Vashti is having a separate party with the women, and Vashti was originally married to Xerxes brother, until Xerxes stole her from him. He also married his niece, his brother’s daughter, and numerous other women. He was a very wealthy, powerful, greedy, narcissistic king who desired to be god. In fact archaeologists once found an inscription where Xerxes said this, “I am Xerxes, the great king. The only king, the king of all countries which speak all kinds of languages, the king of this entire big and far-reaching earth.” He was a wealthy, powerful, greedy, narcissistic king who desired to be god. Now I think there’s 2 things we can take away from all this, 2 things we can take away from these first 9 verses of Esther.
#1 Times have changed, but human hearts haven’t changed = Times have changed, but human hearts haven’t changed. We need to be careful not to be too quick to judge Xerxes, because we have greedy narcissistic hearts too. I mean if we had Xerxes wealth, we’d use it in greedy narcissistic ways too. In fact we already do. We don’t buy a car for transportation, we buy a car for eye appeal and luxury...We don’t buy a house for shelter, we buy a house for its curb appeal, flooring, good school district, and square footage...We don’t buy a chair to sit in, we buy a nice Lay-Z-Boy to recline in. It’s our throne. I have one in my house, it’s my throne, except on Wednesday nights at small group when my wife sits in it and dethrones me...I’m not angry, I’m just saying I like my chair...My point is we don’t just buy what we need, we buy more than we need. If we open our mini palace doors to 99% of the world, they’d be in awe over our palaces like the people were over Xerxes palace. There’s an interesting site called globalrichlist.com that allows you to enter your salary to see how rich you are compared to the rest of the world, and it gives you interesting stats about your salary. For example if you make $32,400 a year, you’re one of the top 1% wealthiest people in the world, and you’re wealthier than 7.2 billion of the world’s 7.3 billion population. If you make $32,400 a year there’s only about 60 million people wealthier than you. In Zimbabwe it’d take them 31 yrs to earn that salary. With that salary it’d take only 16 minutes of labor to earn a 2 liter of coke, but in Zimbabwe it’d take over 8 hours, an entire day’s worth of labor...If we opened our palace doors to most of the world, that 2 liter in the fridge would be like Xerxes royal wine...My point isn’t to make you feel guilty over getting a coke at lunch, it’s to show you that times have changed, but our human hearts haven’t changed. Deep inside all of us is a desire to be our own kings and queens, to gain more wealth, power, and self-seeking glory, to feed our Xerxes like greed and narcissism. We’re all Xerxes...We’re all just smaller versions of Xerxes. But Jesus is our greater King, which is our 2nd take away.
#2 Jesus is a greater King = Jesus is a greater King!...Xerxes was doing everything he could to flex how big of a man and god he was. But the book of Esther will show us he wasn’t as big of a man and god as he thought he was, because he couldn’t out flex the sovereign plans of God, which would eventually lead to the removal of King Xerxes and the Persian Empire. As we continue reading Esther we’ll learn while Xerxes was enjoying his kingdom, God was working out a plan to remove King Xerxes and his kingdom. God was working out a plan that’d lead us to Jesus, who’s our greater King with a greater Kingdom.
Jesus is our greater King, who unlike Xerxes, didn’t invite us to come and sit around his throne. Instead he got off his throne to come and sit with us.
Jesus is our greater King, who unlike Xerxes, didn’t come flexing his wealth with greedy narcissism. Instead he came to relate with us by coming in poverty and humility.
Jesus is our greater King, who unlike Xerxes, didn’t come flexing his power to fear others into serving him. Instead he came in humility and used his power to serve others.
Jesus is our greater King, who unlike Xerxes, didn’t come with his army to kill thousands of enemies. Instead he came without his army to save billions by dying for his enemies.
Jesus is our greater King, who unlike Xerxes, wasn’t a man who thought he was god over humanity. Instead he’s the only God who became a man to die for the sins of humanity.
Jesus is our greater King, who unlike Xerxes, his Kingship and Lordship didn’t end with death. Instead his Kingship and Lordship still continues today 2000 yrs after his death.
Jesus is our greater King, who unlike Xerxes, his deity didn’t end with death. Instead his deity continues today 2000 yrs after his death.
Look nobody’s still following the kingship and lordship of Xerxes today...Nobody’s still worshiping Xerxes as god today...Yet there’s billions of people still following and worshiping Jesus as King, Lord, Savior, and God 2000 yrs after his death. It’s because on the 3rd day he rose again proving he’s the greater King with a greater eternal Kingdom that’ll never end. Jesus is our greater King, with a greater Kingdom than you, me, and Xerxes. Jesus is our greater King.
BIG IDEA:
Let’s have the worship team come up and get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. We sometimes want to be our own kings and queens, but Jesus is a greater King...We sometimes want to be our own kings and queens, but Jesus is a greater King, who’s still at work in our lives even when we don’t see it...Our mini kingdoms will one day fade away like Xerxes, but Jesus’ Kingdom won’t ever fade away, and so we need to align our hearts and lives with our greater King Jesus whose Kingdom won’t ever fade away. In his physical absence, we need to wait with great anticipation for his return, when he’ll restore his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We need to wait with great anticipation trusting he lived, died, rose again for our sins, and he’s coming back to take us to his eternal Kingdom, where he’ll never be physically absent again.
If you’re wrestling with his physical absence, or you want to have a relationship with King Jesus, we’ll have some people in the back left of the room to pray with you. Feel free to go back there any time you want during the last song. City Awakening let’s stand and worship our King Jesus. Let’s turn our eyes away from the lesser kings, queens, and kingdoms we’ve been worshiping, and worship King Jesus, for being a greater King with a greater Kingdom.