The justice of God and the comfort of the cross (6:12-7:10)

II was living in Northern Ireland at the time of the Omagh bombing, in 1998.  Twenty-nine people were killed, including a woman pregnant with twins, by the so-called ‘Real IRA’.  I remember being struck by how angry the relatives felt as no-one was brought to justice for this crime.  At the time I didn’t actually know what to think about their protests.  I thought that maybe they should have simply forgiven and moved on.  But I have come to the conclusion that they were right.  They wanted justice to be done, and they wanted it to be seen to be done.  

But the thought of God’s justice may also scare you.  ‘What about the evil that I see in my life?’  ‘What about all the wrong things that I have done?’  ‘If God is a God of exact justice then what hope is there for me?’  These questions are why we must finish this sermon by looking at the cross.  We are going to look at ‘the justice of God and the comfort of the cross.’

We must not ignore the warning to repent (6:12-13)

Having paraded Mordecai through the streets crying ‘this is what the king does to the one in whom is his delight’ Haman hurried home, mourning and with his head covered.  He tells his wife and advisors what had happened.  Then they warn him, ‘If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but surely fall before him.’

In the Old Testament, God had a special relationship with the Jews.  From them came the Messiah, Jesus.  Now anyone who trusts in Jesus is one of his people, and only those who trust in Jesus are his people. If you resist the God revealed through Jesus Christ, you will surely fall before him. 

Having being warned, Haman should have stopped in his tracks, repented and sought God’s mercy.  But his heart was set as flint against all that was holy.

God will bring down the proud (7:1-7)

The book of Esther illustrates a principle that Mary sings about in the song we call the Magnificat: ‘God has brought down the mighty from their throne and exalted those who are humble in heart’ (Luke 1:52). 

Tragically there is nothing more proud that to say, ‘but God will accept me because I am a good person.’  It is a proud and arrogant thing to deny your need of God’s mercy, and it will inevitably lead to your ruin! 

As Haman’s friends warn him about the foolishness of setting himself against those who belong to God, the king’s eunuchs arrive to escort him to the banquet that Esther has prepared.   

Again, King Xerxes enquires about the queen’s request.  Xerxes must have been shocked when she responded.  Esther exclaims, ‘Grant my life and spare my people.’  Xerxes likes his queen.  How could her life be in danger?  How could her people be in danger?  Remember that Esther hadn’t told him that she was a Jew, Haman had not told the king who the people he wanted annihilated were, and King Xerxes had been so irresponsible that he had not made any enquires as to Haman’s edict but had simply handed over his signet ring and said, ‘do as you please’.

‘Who dared to do such a thing?’ asks King Xerxes.

‘The advisory and enemy is the vile Haman,’ Esther responds.

King Xerxes leaves for the palace garden in a rage.  Interestingly, for the first time in the story Xerxes is said to be without his wine!

Haman knows that the king has already decided his fate.  His only hope is to get Queen Esther to change his mind.  So the man that had plotted to kill the all Jews, because one Jew would not bow down before him, is now bowing down before a Jew pleading for his life.  The great reversal has taken place.  God has brought the mighty down and is going to exalt the humble.

God will see that justice is done (7:8-10)

Persian court etiquette demanded that you keep a discrete distance between any man and the queen’s wife.  However, Haman has gone over to the couch on which Esther is reclining.  It seems that he falls onto her just as Xerxes re-enters the room.  It looks like he is molesting or assaulting her.  So they covered Haman’s face.  One of the servants, who mustn’t have liked him too much, pointed out there is a large seventy-five foot gallows just after being built.  Haman ends up being hung on the very construction that he had prepared for Mordecai.  It is strict justice, but no-one could deny that it was fair. 

When we look around us and see so much injustice; when there are so much that does not seem to be set right; when evil seems to triumph for a time; when you pray for Christian brothers and sisters that are languishing in prisons of intolerant regimes; when the guilty walk free; when those who commit atrocities are not brought to justice; when the world’s leaders seem corrupt, don’t forget that there is coming a day of judgement and vindication!

Haman’s wife was right.  Set yourself up against the one true and living God and you will fall.  The prophet Obadiah proclaims, ‘for the day of the Lord is near upon all nations.  As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head’ (Obadiah 15).  We can say with Abraham, ‘I know that the judge of the world will do what is right’ (Genesis 18:25).  There will be no calls for an appeal court on the Day of Judgement.

Conclusion

But, what about my deeds?  What about your deeds?  Shall they return on our own heads?  I want a God of justice, but I am scared of a God of justice!  Thank God this God of justice offers us mercy.

God says, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but would rather that they repent and live’ (Ezekiel 33:11).  In love he sent his Son to take the punishment that our sin deserves.  At the cross wrath and mercy meet!  The apostle Paul writes, ‘None is righteous not one … all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus … this was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus’ (Romans 3).

It might be hard for you to admit that you deserve God’s judgement.  We have spent most of our lives trying to prove that we are worthy and good.  ‘Most people will admit they make mistakes and are not perfect but far fewer will go from there to admit that their “mistakes” make them unworthy of eternal life and worthy of utter condemnation’ (Greear).  But you have nothing to fear if you turn to Jesus in repentance.  You can be honest about your sin and secure in the fact that Jesus promises that he will never drive away anyone who comes to him.  You can have the joy of knowing your past failures have been washed away and that Jesus’ blood will forgive you of future failings.  And that Jesus is not returning to be your judge but to embrace you as the most loving of brothers.