Epaggelia

Esther Chapter 1. About 580 years before Christ came, this passage was written by God’s Spirit, and does not speak of God at all. God takes a little orphan girl and turns her into a royal beauty queen that would offer her own life to save thousands of God’s people and never takes an ounce of credit for it. Herein lay the attitude of Christ! Philippians 2:5-8. Unbeknownst to the most powerful man in the world, God would use two little known women to make the days of Ahasuerus famous forever, instead of his own riches and powerful deeds. Jesus believed this letter was written by God. When Jesus said, “nomos” in Luke 16:17, it included all the Old Testament, Esther too. Esther was written in the Scriptures of Jesus, approximately 580 years before he was born. It is set in ancient Iran, then called Persia and most (but not all) of God’s people in Persia have not returned to Israel to re-build the Temple, like they could have, but have stayed in a foreign land (Ezra 4:1-6) Yet God is silently working behind the scenes of the world’s super power on the globe. He also worked for the faith of foreigners in the days of Jonah in Assyria, modern day Iraq. The King, Ahasuerus (better known by modern historians as Xerxes) throws a huge public party, probably as a show of power and a rally to announce revenge on the Greeks and go to war against them in 481BC, because prior in 490BC, his father King Darius had been defeated by them. The huge party was held in the northern capital of Persia, the city of Susa, and is indicative of this happening in the summer, as the temperature in the southern capital of Babylon was too high in the summer, so the grand rally to war could have been held up north in Susa.

We know absolutely nothing about Queen Vashti, whose stubborn will, caused the whole sequence of events to get all 127 provinces’ attention. The drunken King’s immaturity was shown in allowing her pride to get the best of his better judgment. If the party was a rally cry for war, Vashti might have been making an implied objection to it by refusing to parade her beauty in obedience to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes). His enacting the irrevocable law for the entire Persian Empire that affected the personal lives of every family, is not a wise move, being solely based on fear of calming domestic violence. The best motives for enacting new laws, is firstly to stabilize economies, secondly to punish evildoers (taxes & justice) This problem is a lesson with a current message for us in learning that God is active behind the scenes of world affairs. No matter how we think powerful men act a fool publicly, God is working to prepare people like Mordecai and Esther for the best interest of His choice people, Romans 8:27-28. The root problem for King Ahasuerus is the origin of his solution in the face of his drunken rage. The wise men and princes of v13-14 are expert in ancient astronomy and empirical Persian law, but they are not wise in the morality & ethics of Daniel & Ezra, who lived only a few years before and during this event. Do you ever feel like you are stuck in an ungodly position with no way of helping the church, or anyone interested in God’s truths? Be assured by this passage, that God is working even when he is silent and your situation seems hopeless. Esther is a spiritual woman living in what seemed to be a god-forsaken culture, she knew the value of fasting and asked others to do the same, so that God’s blessings & strength would be on her and her fellow Jews, in her work. (4:16)

When Christ drew from his last ounces of strength, it was to speak the truth for us, before His Father, not before His enemies. God enthroned on high was abhorred at sin being used to torture His Son to death and it is recorded that there was “….Darkness over the whole land…” Luke 23:44.
Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? Matthew 27:46 & Psalm 22:1. Feeling forsaken, yet still being God is a perplexing idea for every mortal. But Jesus was not just mortal, he knows better than all of us, what deep mixed emotions are. His despairing loneliness was triggered by the 3 hours of darkness which surprised everyone. No astrologer predicted this phenomena and the documented letter between Thallus and his readers, from 50-160AD, in Egypt to Italy is evidence of this miracle of darkness. People witnessed the impossible, because the Passover is always during a full moon, making it impossible for an eclipse. The darkness was miraculous and Jesus understood it as being His Father’s absence, because God is light, 1st Jn. 1:5, when He withdraws, we are left with TOTAL darkness. The last time the world felt this was in Egypt, when He was demonstrating His power over evil Pharaoh. Even though the world at times can be very dark and our lives can be full of evil, never forget that when God made it dark in Egypt, the Israelites still had a little light for 3 days.
I Thirst ! Jn. 19:28. This is said as He was dying, not before He was actually crucified, (Mt. 27:34). Before He was crucified he refused vinegar, when he tasted that gall (a natural anesthetic ) was in it. But before He dies His mental faculties are quickly coming to an end. His humanity is raw and his thirst is uncontrollable. Dehydration from his scourging and beating the night before is now taking full affect. Spiritually, there is now no more for Jesus to give humanity, at one time, Jesus could proclaim in the Temple courtyard, “If anyone thirsts, Let him come to me and drink freely” but for now this is impossible, He has done all He can for us. Jn. 7:37-38, 4:12-14, 6:35. Jesus re-affirms His claim to quench our thirst today in Revelation 7:16-17 & 21:6. The resurrection enables Jesus to keep all his promises.
Father, into your hands I entrust My spirit. Luke 23:46 & Psalm 31:5. Jesus was an example to every one till the very end. What have we entrusted to God? Jesus entrusted his body, soul, spirit and mind, this is the epitomy of loving God with your everything, Remember His teaching on the Shema, Mk. 12:30 & Lk. 10:27. If we love Him, we will entrust everything to Him so that we can obey Him, John 14:15. If we don’t trust someone, we will not obey them. Whatever has been entrusted to us from God, is only accomplished in our life, if we believe God is able to guard it all our life, 2nd Tim. 1:11-12
It Is Finished ! John 19:30. Even in his death, He exhibited control. “He gave up His Spirit”, no one took it from Him when they wanted to, John 10:18 states that He will lay his life down, this means that He will not die when others want to kill him, but only when He has suffered enough, He was in control of the timing. Not even the soldiers could take it from Him with a spear. He should be in control of our daily life. When His Spirit left this earth, He left to tear the Temple Veil from top to bottom for every Priest to know that now, the holiness of God was accessible to all Priests, and that Jesus in God’s view was now the High Priest, Mk. 15:37-38. His job of Redeemer was finished, now He is beginning the job of intercession for everyone that accepts the price of His life-giving blood. Hebrews 9:7-12.

The words of Jesus while on a cross, are held higher in many peoples hearts than any other words ever recorded from his lips. Why? Because they were spoken while proving agonizing love for our hearts. Here is a few thoughts on what is so precious.

“…crucified with them, two robbers, one on the right and the other on the left… with Jesus in the middle”, Luke 23:33 & John 19:18.

“Father forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing”, Lk. 23:34.
These intercessory words of Jesus show the godly attitude he could exhibit while suffering excruciating pain, but these words alone do not accomplish forgiveness, they merely make the request for The Father to forgive his enemies when and if, they learn about who they are actually crucifying and show remorse for their evil. Isaiah prophesied intercession for the rebels against God, Isa. 53:12. Jesus made it very clear that forgiveness is only assured and obtained, after repentance takes place, Luke 17:1-4. The reason Stephen could show the same attitude and make the same request while being stoned, is because His Lord, practiced what He preached even when being put to death, Matthew 5:44, Acts 7:59-60. It was only a few weeks between His crucifixion and Peter’s first gospel sermon, where we see many of His enemies confess, repent and are THEN given the privileged service of baptism wherein lay the venue for forgiveness, Acts 2:36-39. Can we, like Stephen desire our enemies forgiveness and make intercessory prayer like Jesus? When we do it, our discipleship is genuine.

“Truly I say to you, Today you will be with me in Paradise”, Lk. 23:43.
Both of the two criminals, indeed mocked Jesus, but one repented of his attitude and showed faith. Remember to actually speak while hanging from nails in your wrists takes great effort. To go through these agonizing words in expressing your faith, is much more than any immersed sinner went through to obtain forgiveness. To make confession and pray for help to Jesus, when everyone else was against Him, is a BIG step of faith. This unnamed criminal was instantly and fully forgiven for all his sins, just like many people who Jesus pronounced forgiven during his ministry, Lk. 5:20-23, 7:48. He could do this without the necessity of baptism, because His own baptism (the Baptism of Christ) was not authoritatively initiated until after his actual resurrection. The journey of Christ and the criminal into Paradise that day was part of the joy which was set before Jesus, Heb. 12:2. The repentant words of the criminal gave Jesus incentive to refuse the vinegar mixed with gall/myrrh enduring the full effects of pain, ensuing his death. God The Father gave Christ the Son an actual victory while undergoing defeat at the hands of Satan’s minions cruelly killing Him. Throughout history there are several eyewitness accounts of martyrs catching glimpses of glory while being tortured and meeting death. Stephen experienced this phenomena, Acts 7:56. Many of us go through trials for our faith and even some of us experience some type of persecution, but rarely do Christians today suffer a physical loss of blood, Heb. 12:4. However, if we ever do, and our physical life is on the line, do we believe God leaves us or accompanies us?

“Son, behold your mother…Woman, behold your son” John 19:26-27
All of Christ’s disciples are appointed to be protectors of the helpless. But of course John was appointed protector of Mary, who would truly be helpless as a widow with no eldest son. Why didn’t Jesus assume one of his younger brothers or sisters would take care of Mary, such as James? Mt. 13:55-56 Because Jesus knows the future, that John would be the only apostle which would live the longest in order to see Mary into her old age and take care of her. Even in the darkest moments of confusion, when everything in your life is going wrong, Jesus exercises control, and covers everyone’s needs FOREVER. Even when He can’t explain the WHY of life’s troubles WHEN we want it explained. He still has the answer and gives it with perfect timing.

Jesus knew about the scourging as well as the crucifixion before it happened, Matthew 20:18-19. The obvious pursuit of Pilate to enforce his authority in pronouncing Jesus innocent is best seen in commanding the scourge. Pilate had no idea how much the Sanhedrin hated Jesus, neither did Pilate understand the power of Jesus. From The Jews point of view, Flogging is truly senseless suffering which would accomplish nothing but more pain. But from The Lord’s perspective, this is the whole point of bearing the consequences of sin. The Cross accomplished an end to the job of sacrificing.
We have no idea how much our sins weigh. We think it is the immediate consequence, but we are too short-sighted to see what other pain or problems are caused from our sin. An obvious example is the teenager who causes an accident while drinking. The future problems are insurmountable in anyone’s estimation of the future. Does that teenager really want to pay for all the weight of his sinful action from one night of foolishness? No court or jail could truly make him, because no person alive can see the future problems that will arise from his crime. Yet we continue struggling with sin that lives in us, Romans 7:18-25. Only Jesus is able to bear the full weight of all our sins, and scourging was one of the many ways, Jesus demonstrated his ability to suffer and yet win. It is only his victory over sin that gives us hope. This is why Jesus was ‘passionate’ about winning over the battle of sin & death. For this is the joy that was set before Him, Heb. 12:1-3 & 2:9-11.
Without Jesus bearing the consequences of all our sins, The Father could never justify forgiving us. Forgiving us would never be the right thing to do, unless the wrongs were put right by God The Father. No matter how much we suffer for our own sin, it doesn’t correct the wrong we have done. That is why the word forGIVEness has the word GIVE in it. God gives up the right to take vengeance on us when he forgives us, and He can only do that, when looking at the blood of Christ on our heart, Hebrews 10:22. Read Ephesians 1:7 & Matthew 26:28. What is truly amazing about the suffering of Christ is that His Spirit still feels our pain. Christ suffered more than even his enemies wanted him to. Paul teaches us that Christ’s sufferings are still ongoing in Colossians 1:24, because our Christian living brings us into suffering, 1st Peter 2:20-21, and since His Spirit is with us, He does more than just see the sin committed against us, He feels it. The world sins against us, and we sin against each other. Therefore when Christians suffer because of sin, Christ’s Spirit is present and is suffering with us. We must thank Him daily for tolerating the violent abuse against His Son for our sake.

Jesus stood before the Governor, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Pilate asked him. Jesus answered, “You have said it”, and while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He didn’t answer.
(Matthew 27:11-12)

Legally, The Jews had authority in Moses’ law to enforce capital punishment in only three ways: Stoning, Decapitation & Strangling. The Jewish leaders knew that if they executed Jesus in these ways, it would be for blasphemy. In fear of the massive national support Jesus had, the Jewish leaders would not risk turning his death into social upheaval. Jesus knew he was to be crucified, (John 12:32-33), so he was aware of being handed over to Pilate before The Jewish Sanhedrin even did it. Why? Because only the Romans could crucify someone, and to get the Romans to do it, the Jews must charge Jesus of a crime only the Romans would punish as capital. The idea of stoning upon the charge of blaspheming is mute because the Jews knew they had no way of practicing capital punishment in a corner, away from the public’s view and therefore must get concurrence from the Roman authority to execute the death penalty. See Matthew 26:66 & John 18:31. In this context, the stoning of Stephen, a few years later, was simply ‘mob rule’ action, Acts 7:54-60. The Sanhedrin did not, under any circumstances, want the massive supporters of Jesus to be rekindled and grow, and if they were seen to execute Jesus, that is exactly what would happen. Therefore it was essential to get the Romans to do it. Many political rebels were crucified by the Romans. Jesus would submit to this charge of political insurrection for you & me.

The Romans learned crucifixion from the Carthaginians and developed a degree of skill at it. A number of Roman authors (Livy, Cicero & Tacitus) comment on it, and innovations are described in ancient literature. The Tau cross, shaped like our T is most often their description. In this cross the patibulum was placed in a notch at the top of the stipes. There is archeological evidence that it was on this type of cross that Jesus was crucified. There is also evidence that patibulums were simply hoisted upon a tree and the victim’s feet were nailed to the trunk. The victim crucified sags down with more weight on the nails, sending pain shooting along the fingers and up the arms to surge in the cranium, the nails are putting pressure on the main nerves. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He places His weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet. At this point, as the arms fatigue, waves of cramp sweep over the muscles, knotting them in throbbing pain. With these cramps come the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Spasmodically, he is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen. In this state, Jesus could make short sentences, and we have the 7 sayings on the cross in the gospels. A crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. At this point, Psalm 22:14 is fulfilled, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” It is now almost over. The loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level; the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissue; the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. Death is ensued. Our Lord did not die as usual in crucifixion by suffocation, but of heart failure (a broken heart) due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium. How many forms of execution would bring about heart failure? God’s heart is in His work of atonement. Because blood is always at the heart of forgiving of sins, Gen. 3:21. Is our heart cleansed by His blood?

The company of soldiers, the commander, and the Jewish Temple police arrested Jesus and tied Him up. First they led Him to Annas for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was advantageous that one man should die for the people. (John 18:12-14)

The Binding: Jesus was bound and tied for a reason. The nature of sin, is that once we commit it, it enslaves us. The cords of sin are like the cords of rope that tied Isaac to the sacrificial altar Abraham had to build. In this act of obedience God was making a reality of Isaac’s shadow in Jesus, when the soldiers tied him up. What do we feel like when we are bound? Helpless. The burden of sin makes us helpless, and Jesus took on that feeling for us, so that we never really need to suffer from helplessness. We always have help in overcoming the consequences of sin because Jesus suffered, paying the price and giving us strength to overcome our helplessness. Genesis 22:9-14.

The Arrest: When John the cousin of Jesus was arrested, Caiaphas was high priest, Luke 3:2, but now as Jesus is arrested, the son-in-law Caiaphas is side-stepped and his Father-in-law the previous High Priest Annas is being consulted first. Their actions spoke like they were making excuses for the young Caiaphas’ plot of killing Jesus to be given clout from the older Annas. Historically, Annas had 5 sons, all of which took turns being High Priest. The real crime, Jesus must feel is that his “quasi-trial” starting here is really already finding him guilty as charged before the actual trial takes place. They and others had already conspired to kill Lazarus, Jn. 11:49-12:11, now they wanted Jesus dead. He had previously escaped a stoning, so now they would get the Romans to help them and kill him ‘their’ way. The plot is in process and Jesus must feel dread in seeing his execution unfold. Jesus practiced what he preached. The pain of determination in the midst of persecution. “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say to you, do not resist him that is evil: but whoever hits you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man would take you to court, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. Mt. 5:38-40. The hitting of Jesus in the presence of the High Priest was susceptible to a reverse charge against the injurious action, called “the Zuzim”, Jn. 18:23. But his false-accusers had no interest in true justice. “And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to slap him, and to say to him, Prophesy: and the officers received him with smacks of their hands. Mark 14:65. This is to take the weight of sin, and absorb the wrath of God against our sin, he was letting the burden of sin be placed on his face. God prophesied this: “I gave my back to the beaters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off my beard; I hid not my face from humiliation and spitting”. Isaiah 50:6

The Charge: Being arrested late on a Thursday night, Jesus had to be brought to a deadly conclusion before dusk Friday evening, the beginning of the Sabbath. Making an arrest at night, especially those involving capital offences were illegal. But illegalities did not deter the Priests, who had no conscience. The speed to have Jesus killed put illegality upon illegality. Perhaps one day, a Jew can explain why the initial verdict of blasphemy was allowed to become a charge of sedition, perverting the Nation and opposing Caesar. The law of Israel concerning capital accusations allowed argument for acquittal to be aired, with the custom of younger members speaking first, so that they would not be easily swayed by more mature members, but that is totally ignored as Jesus is first taken to the murky character of old Annas before any kind of a trial begins. The pain of a false charge must hurt Jesus inwardly, because He was proving to them that He was the truth, the way and the life, in full view of their lies & hate.

Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.” Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. (Mt. 26:47-49)
The experience of betrayal for Jesus was first recorded, when his own physical brothers labeled him as ‘insane’ Jn. 7:5-10, Mk. 3:21. Jesus wasn’t the first King to be betrayed. King David’s life was filled with betrayal, he started his reign wrestling with it, he warns those who had deserted him for Saul: “the God of our fathers look thereon and judge” (1 Chron. 12:17). Later still, the pain of betrayal was to come personally to David by his own son Absalom. To feel the inward piercing of treacherous lies was the consequence of deception God warns us about in the Proverbs 25:9-10. Jesus felt deception before he was beaten, scourged & crucified. If we know the reasons for betrayal, we may avoid committing it ourselves. God pleads, do not grieve His Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30. In the betrayal, God’s Spirit in Jesus must have felt that all was lost & hopeless, John 3:31-34.

Jesus prophetically chose Judas and already knew him to be a thief. Jesus is showing us that foreknowledge is not a weapon or defense against the pain of lies & betrayal. Judas may have wanted the leaders of religious society to recognize his advantageous position, and told them, whoever I “kiss”, He is the One. Consider this possibility, what if Judas believed that Jesus would use God’s power to overcome his captors? This would make Judas look more than knowledgeable. But Jesus knew Judas even better than Judas wanted to be known. A “kiss” made the pain of betrayal personal. 30 pieces of silver from the Priests would be shekels of the sanctuary; this would be equivalent to 120 denarius, which was the average of about three months wages. Today that would be almost $12,000. Judas agreed to identify Jesus for captivity in stealth. This would at first excite Judas enough to go through with his plans. But afterwards of course, he realizes he betrayed Jesus, (Mt. 27:1-4), and offers the money back, he changed his mind, but not his heart. Jesus must have felt cheated, to know that Judas would just throw everything away, for what he had done. The idea of money was in Judas’ mind, but the exact amount was offered by the chief priests. What is amazing is that 30 pieces of silver is equivalent to the price of a good slave, which is exactly what Jesus was to become, enslaved to the burden & consequence of sin, being prophesied of in Zec. 11:12-13, Ex. 21:32. He certainly took on the form of a slave, Php. 2:7-8. So should we! The pain of betrayal is felt in three ways by Jesus. Firstly from his own physical brothers calling him insane, Jn. 7:5-10, Mk. 3:21,31. Secondly by Judas capturing him for the Jews. Thirdly by the Chief Priests in encouraging the people to insist on crucifixion after Pilate had found no fault in him, Ac. 7:52. Most of us would strike back when betrayed, but Jesus only said one remark, “will you betray the Son of Man” (Luke 22:48), To the ears of Judas, the title Son of Man, reminded him of the office of Royalty and Judge, see Daniel 7:13. These words would have been ringing in the ears of Judas to his death. Christ’s identity was worth more than $12,000. Judas did not believe God wanted to forgive him in Jesus, even after prophesy was fulfilled.