The Jews Had Joy, Gladness, A Feast And A Holiday

The Jews Had Joy, Gladness, A Feast And A Holiday 

Esther 8:15-17 NKJV

[15] So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. [16] The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor. [17] And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them.

      Mordecai played an indispensable and multifaceted role in the deliverance of the Jews in Shushan. He acted as a guardian, a moral compass, a strategist, and an agent of divine providence. His actions, both public and private, set in motion the chain of events that saved his people from annihilation. A similar person may be found in the pages of our contemporary history. One of the fitting contemporary equivalents is Raoul Wallenberg.

Wallenberg is a strong parallel to Mordecai As an "Insider" with access to power: Like Mordecai, who was in a position to communicate with the queen, Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat stationed in Budapest during World War II. This official position gave him access to powerful people and the authority to issue official documents. Wallenberg was not Jewish, but he was driven by a deep moral conviction to save the Jews of Hungary from the Holocaust. He saw the suffering and refused to stand by idly.

    Wallenberg's genius was in creating a new legal framework for survival. He issued thousands of "protective passports" (Schutz-Pässe) that falsely identified Jews as Swedish citizens awaiting repatriation. This was a brilliant, creative strategy to circumvent Nazi authority and provide a tangible, life-saving document. He also established "safe houses" that were technically Swedish territory, sheltering Jews from deportation. As a risk-taker: Wallenberg was not just a bureaucrat; he was a fearless and hands-on rescuer. He would personally intervene in deportations, pulling people off trains and confronting armed guards. He was putting his life at risk daily, much like Mordecai when he publicly mourned and called on Esther to act.

    A more well-known figure, Schindler was a German industrialist who, through his factory, provided "essential" work for over a thousand Jews, saving them from the concentration camps. While he was not an advocate from the inside in the same way, he used his position of power and wealth to devise a practical, life-saving strategy

    Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker, who worked with the Polish underground,  smuggled over 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto. She was an "insider" to the ghetto, but more of a covert operative than a public official. She acted as a guardian and a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable, much like Mordecai's care for Esther. There are people around us in our communities whose heart beat like Mordecai or Esther. Whenever there's someone like this, there will be joy, Gladness and a feast.

     We can make an attempt to find out ways Mordecai was an equivalent of Christ to us in contemporary times. Titus 2:13. He is the saviour whose mission was to "save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Today appropriate that opportunity and let joy and gladness flow in our hearts. Good morning.