S240P3 – Loaded statements: Esther
Est. 4:15-16
Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
When Ever and Adam sinned, they invited death into this world. That is the reason for the sin, evil and imperfection that exists inside and among us today. Paradise was lost, and perfection was shattered. Luckily for us, the Father already had in place a plan for the Son to redeem not only humanity but all creation. Jesus Christ would have to defeat sin and death so that they would be no more. While on Earth, He exhibited authority over all kinds of spiritual evil, but the end of his work would be much more. For eternal victory over death, Jesus would have to defeat the power behind it by an act great enough to satisfy death’s demand. The only way that He could defeat death was to face it head on and die.
Esther was about to put herself in a position that would require her to face death. She chose to do this because her people were targeted for annihilation, and this was her way to try and save them. She put one life on the line in order to save the lives of a multitude. Interestingly, the way that she and her people prepared for this event also challenged their mortality. Esther asked them to join her in a fast that required them to skip all food and water for three days. While the human body can last for two or three weeks without food, water is a different story. Particularly for a desert people, this challenge might have seemed deadly to some. It turns out that they all chose to face death in order to defeat death. They were willing to give up their lives in order to save them.
Here is the thing about the story of Esther and her people praying to be spared. The first option they had was to allow Haman to take their lives from them. The second option was to voluntary walk into a deadly position in faith in order to show God how much they valued life. It might seem a little backwards, but all this makes perfect sense. No one can defeat his enemy without first facing that enemy. In order to defeat death and preserve their lives, they had to face death. That was the request of their queen, and it was a wise one. The power of her act came from the collective attitude of sacrifice, not just hers. Father, teach us what it means to sacrifice in battle and what it takes to defeat the enemies we face.