The irony in Haman's misunderstanding is rich. The king uses the term, "the man whom the king delights to honor" in speaking of
Mordecai and Haman believes this surely refers to himself. He could never have imagined that it was his
arch-enemy about whom the king was speaking.
What a shock it would have been for him to be told to do all the great
honor he prescribed for Mordecai! He and
his counselors now conclude that this won't end well for Haman, it is going to
get worse.
The temptations presented here continue
through Jesus' life and ministry. The
first, to turn stones into bread, is something that seems harmless enough but
the Father has not commanded it and the fast has not been ended. Forty days seems a nice Biblical number but
it is not the Father commanding Jesus to eat.
In John 6 the people want Jesus to feed them for a second day, but He
refuses and the cost is 5000 followers, there Jesus chose the Father's voice
over the people's voice. The second
temptation, the offer of kingdom, is one that appears time and again,
particularly on Palm Sunday when the crowds greet Him with acclaim as He enters
the city for the festival. Jesus refuses
to step into that kingly Messianic role the people want. The final temptation, to test the Father's
love, is heard in Peter's rebuke of Jesus when He spoke of the cross. What was Jesus' retort? "Get behind me Satan." When He heard Peter speaking, He heard
Satan's voice. The only change satan
makes in tactics is to use those who are in God's image to present the
variations on the basic themes.
Paul recognizes that something is missing in these
Christians in Ephesus. They have
received only the baptism of John, they have not even heard there is a Holy
Spirit. How many Christians today are in
that same place? In some churches the
Holy Spirit is hardly mentioned and then He is limited in His role today. In other churches you would conclude that He
was the single most important person of the Trinity. It is important that we have a proper
theology of the Holy Spirit and that we know that we have received Him into our
lives in order that we can know that we are moving in truth and that we are
fulfilling God's plans for our lives, doing those good works that He has
prepared for us to walk in. The church
needs more of the power of the Spirit if we are to be effective in a
poly-theistic world.
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