Apparently the king had a drinking problem. Again he is drinking when Esther makes her
appeal to him concerning her people, just as he has now been on at least three
other occasions. Haman is caught with
the queen and even though he is begging for his life to be spared, the king
presumes that there is something more in Haman's mind. Here the story is reminiscent of Joseph's
problem in Genesis where he is falsely accused of molesting his master's wife
(although the master must have either trusted Joseph or mis-trusted his wife as
Joseph was only put into prison). The king's
decision in the matter is that Haman must die, hoisted on his own petard.
Teachers sat to teach, Jesus didn't sit in the congregation,
they remained standing to hear the teacher, the opposite of our custom. The congregation expectantly awaited Jesus'
message on this portion of Isaiah and were initially quite pleased when He proclaimed
that it was fulfilled this day, the local boy was doing well. Then, Jesus turns it on them and says that He
is actually not accepted in His hometown and points to Old Testament prophets,
Elijah and Elisha, and the reality that they were less well accepted in Israel
than among the Gentiles. This is too
much, He is lifting up the outsiders to the covenant against them and they
apparently decided to kill Jesus for this teaching that began with praise for
the gracious words that were coming from His mouth. Jesus passes through the mob, however.
Itinerant Jewish exorcists?
These sons of Sceva see the miracles being done in the name of Jesus by
Paul and assume that there is some magic in the
Name of Jesus so try it out on some demons and end up fleeing naked from
the demons. These men have no power
because they do not believe in Jesus themselves, they have second-hand
knowledge of Jesus and that isn't good enough.
Some preachers today teach that the Name of Jesus is a sort of
incantation that if we pray in His Name then God is bound to do that
thing. The Name is precious and powerful
but only for those who use it aright and with great reverence and
humility. We need have no fear if we
stand in Him but the Name is not a magic word.
These men find themselves, like Haman, ruined by their own abuses.
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