For Reading and Meditation:
Esther 6:4-14
Haman awakens with a tremendous sense of optimism and well-being. "Today," he muses, "the king will most probably give me a great honor and then I shall be in a position to rid myself forever of the man I most hate - Mordecai the Jew." Having given his carpenters orders to build a gallows, on which he plans to hang Mordecai, he makes his way to the palace. He arrives there just at the moment when the king is looking for someone to advise him on what kind of a reward to give to Mordecai for uncovering the plot to assassinate him. King Xerxes says to Haman: "What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?" (v. 6). Haman, believing this to be a reference to himself, suggests: "Let him be king for a day. Let the royal robes be brought – let him ride the king's horse and let him wear a golden crown." "Excellent," says the king, "go at once and do everything you propose for Mordecai the Jew." Can you imagine Haman's feelings as, in obedience to the king's command, he has to go to Mordecai, assist him to mount the king's horse, and then lead him through the city, calling on all to respect the man whom the king has decided to honor? Shamed and humiliated, Haman returns to his home, morally and politically defeated. There his advisers pronounce the significant words of our text for today. These are indeed solemn and powerful words, and they have as much force today as they did then. Those who seek to completely destroy the people called the Jews must first destroy God.
Father, this is not only true of Your people, the Jews, it is also true of Your redeemed people, the Church. To destroy me the devil would first have to destroy You. This means I am undefeatable and indestructible. Blessed be Your wonderful Name. Amen.