Bernard Gabbott - Sunday, 14 February 2021
What I love about Jesus is... He is alive
Scripture References: Mark 16:1-8, Psalms 16:1-11, Isaiah 53:10-12
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CloseScripture References: Mark 16:1-8, Psalms 16:1-11, Isaiah 53:10-12
Related Topics: Jesus | More Messages from Bernard Gabbott | Download Audio
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Those who know your name will trust in you! | Ralph Wood | Sunday, 17 January 2010 | Listen | ||
Where do you put your trust? | Ralph Wood | Sunday, 10 January 2010 | Listen | ||
Who do you follow? | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 3 January 2010 | Listen | ||
The Best Man and the Bridegroom | Daniel Wood | Sunday, 13 December 2009 | Listen | ||
I wanna know what love is! | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 6 December 2009 | Listen | ||
Praying with the end in sight | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 29 November 2009 | Listen | ||
Blind? Deaf? Surely not me? | Richard Luckensmeyer | Sunday, 22 November 2009 | Listen |
We love a turning point. Whether it is a story or a football game. Hope dawning at the darkest time. Where is the great turning point in Esther? It could be our memory verse, when Esther is persuaded by Mordecai to act to save her people. It could be when the king looks with favour upon Esther and holds out the golden scepter to her. It could be when Haman is forced to lead Mordecai through the city mounted on the king’s horse and proclaims that he is the man the king delights to honour. They are major events in the story of Esther. They are turning points of a sort. But the writer of Esther points us to another event. That looks so trivial.
Esther is such an exciting story! There are evil plots. There are interesting yet flawed characters. There is risk and sacrifice. There is heroism and villainy. Today, we are introduced to the villain of the plot, and what an evil scheming villain he is! He spins lies and concocts murderous plans to do away with the Jews, God’s covenant people. How will the people respond? Will he get away with his evil plan? Will God, who is not mentioned at all, intervene to protect His people, to live up to the promises He made to Abraham, the people at Mt Sinai, and to David?
There is so much that sounds familiar in these first two chapters of Esther: the world is dominated by loud and brash and imposing and degraded power, the people of God are small and struggling and faced with ambiguous decisions and actions and God seems so far away he is almost absent (at least to our minds and hearts). As we read this book, we will need God’s revelation to help us navigate its strangeness, its ambiguity, and its confrontational narrative. In this, we have the key to the book—the lack of God’s name in letters does not mean the lack of God’s presence.
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