Pastor Mark invites you to our Esther sermon series

Christian preachers have treated the Bible book of Esther as cats treat water and Superman treats kryptonite.

Zero commentaries on the book were published in the first seven centuries of the Christian church. As far as we can tell, John Calvin never preached from Esther, and Martin Luther despised it, saying, “I am so great an enemy to the second book of Maccabees, and to Esther, that I wish they had not come to us at all, for they have too many heathen unnaturalities.” Very few preachers in the history of the church and more recent years have touched the book. Occasionally a preacher will do a handful of messages from the book, but rarely if ever has a well-known preacher preached through the entire book. The best commentary on the book goes so far as to recommend that the entire book of Esther not be taught.

So, what do you think I want to do? Of course, preach through all of Esther verse by verse! After all, 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Certainly, “all” must include Esther. 

This may be the most head-scratching, jaw-dropping, heart-changing sermon series we’ve ever done at Mars Hill. The book of Esther never mentions God, no one prays, no miracles happen, and the book is never even mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. It is as if God was on vacation during the time of Esther. The hero of the book is a Jewish young woman who hides her identity. And she’s not just any woman, but an orphaned girl who grew up to be so beautiful that the great King Xerxes (who is featured to this day in the movie 300 and video game Assassins Creed II) chooses her as the winner of Persia’s version of The Bachelor.

Despite all this, Esther is instrumental in saving the Jews from certain genocide and succeeds in having all of her enemies destroyed in a bloodbath. It’s not exactly the type of story you read your kids at night. No one comes off looking good, and everyone has a hidden agenda.

Yet, isn’t this what life is like most of the time? Doesn’t it seem as if God is absent and evil abounds? Don’t good things happen despite impure motives? Don’t God’s plans move forward despite us?

Perhaps the ancient story of Esther is more timely than ever. A single woman, who is barely spiritual sleeping with a bad guy due in part to the fact she has no family to lean on, meets God, is transformed, and is used by God to save others.

Through the story, we see life as we know it: God’s perfect work through imperfect people. In the end, the saving of the Jews is not about the virtue of the individuals in Esther, but completely about the providence of God and his ability to accomplish his will, no matter the imperfectness of his people.

God is ultimately the hero in Esther, and though he is not seen at first glance, those who look in faith will find him silhouetted throughout the entire story.