THE END OF HAMAN In the banquet of Esther, we see a living portrait of the banquet of the cross, in which the true Esther (the church) enjoys salvation from perdition, destruction, and annihilation (4). In it, as well, the true Haman (the devil) falls under her feet in humiliation; and with his face covered, he is taken to the cross, where he loses his dominion, as well as his life. 1. The king and Haman drink wine together 1 2. Esther finds favor in the king’s sight 2 - 4 3. The wicked Haman exposed 5 - 6 4. Haman’s humiliation before Esther 7 - 8 5. Haman crucified 9 – 10 1- THE KING AND HAMAN DRINK WINE: “So the king and Haman went to dine with queen Esther” (1) What is this banquet prepared by Esther for the king and Haman to drink in, but the banquet of the cross, presented by the church to the King; namely to God, who finds pleasure, and smells sweet fragrance in the sacrifice of the Savior. Hence the priest prays saying: [He who raised Himself a well-received sacrifice on the cross for the salvation of our race, as a sweet fragrance smelled by His good Father, at evening time on Calvary (Golgotha) 1] If the divine King rejoiced to drink in the banquet of the cross, and smelt the fragrance of love of His beloved Son; In the same banquet, Haman (the devil) drank the cup of God’s wrath on him and on his evil deeds; … The banquet that brought pleasure to God for His church, destroyed the devil, exposed his deceptions, and took away his dominion. 2- ESTHER FINDS FAVOR IN THE KING’S SIGHT: Having entered to the banquet, and drank from Esther’s love for him, he said to her: “What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half my kingdom, it shall be done” (2). He calls her by her name, and asks her to seek, up to half his kingdom; counting her a partner in his glory. At the same time he calls her “queen”, to remind her of her royal stature, which gives her the right to seek with boldness, to gain the king’s heart, and his glory. These are the same feelings of God toward every soul, He calls her by name, as His own bride, and calls her a queen, “to come boldly to the throne of grace” (Hebrew 4: 16); He requests from her to make him happy by asking from Him, up to half His kingdom. That is why the Lord instigated His disciple, saying: “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16: 24). God longs to hear every soul ask Him, to receive; For He intend to grant her even Himself, to make her a heir who enjoys the fellowship of His glories. Before such exalted divine love, what would the church or the human soul, as a member in the church, ask for? She, like Esther, will not ask for wealth, honor, nor earthly blessings, but will ask for the sake of her salvation, and that of her brethren; saying: “If I have found favor in Your 1 القداس الإلهي: بخور السيد. 52 sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss” (3 -5). Here, Esther is shown as a true mother, who embraces in love all her brethren, works and seeks for their sake. She did stand passively before their calamity, but abased herself, prayed, and strove to the end for the sake of their salvation. For the life in faith would bring man forth outside the ‘ego’, to live with a heart, open wide for all (2 Corinthians 6:11). That was what the apostle proclaimed by saying: “O Corinthians, we have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open…. Now in return for the same (I speak as to my children), you also be open” (2 Corinthians 6: 11, 13). With the same spirit, St. John Chrysostom says: [Nothing could make man like Christ, like his care for his brethren1]; and: [I cannot believe that there is salvation for him who does not work for the sake of his brethren2]; and: [Nothing is as worthless as a Christian who does not care for the salvation of others … Everyone is able to help his neighbor, even with just his good will, if he has nothing to offer…. If you claim to be a Christian, and do nothing to help others, your words would be contradictory, like saying that the sun cannot give light3]. 3- THE WICKED HAMAN EXPOSED: Asking Esther: “’Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such thing?’ Esther said: ‘The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman’. So Haman was terrified before the king and queen” (6). If the first goal of the banquet of the cross, is the salvation of Esther (the church) and her people, it would not be realized except by the exposure of the wicked Haman (the devil), and his loss of all his dominion, to stand terrified before God and the holy church. As according to the apostle Paul: “Having disarmed principalities and powers. He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (in the cross)” (Colossians 2: 15). Speaking about the cross, St. John Chrysostom says: [By it, demons are terrifying no more, but worthless and despised; Death is no more death but going to sleep; as he who fights against us is now underneath our feet4]. 4- HAMAN’S HUMILIATION BEFORE ESTHER: If the cross has exposed the devil, broken down his sting, corrupted the death which he brought over man, and cast him down under the Savior’s feet, he, now, is humiliated before man who reigns without him. This concept became clear in the fall of Haman at the feet of Esther, who was reclining on a bed, as it was the custom in the banquets in the old days. “The king arose in his wrath and went into the palace garden, probably to think what to do next. He returned to the place of the banquet of wine to find Haman fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said: ‘Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?’” (8). The king’s words came to express his inner wrath; and 1 In: Cor. Hom 25. PG 61: 208. 2 De Sacer. 3: 10 PG 48: 686. 3 In Acts hom 20: 4 PG 60: 162. 4 In Matt. Hom 45: 7. 53 was a sign to those attending to him to act … As they left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face to put an end to his life. What the king said: “’Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?’”, proclaims how God sees in the true Haman, namely, the devil, who enters into the heart of the believer to confiscate the soul from God’s hand and bosom;… like Haman who seemed intending to draw Esther from the king’s bosom, and rape her! … God is a jealous God, who would not endure to see the enemy enter into His house, and take away by force His bride from His hands! 5- HAMAN CRUCIFIED: “As the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, ‘Look, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordeccai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman’. Then the king said, ‘Hang him on it’” (8 – 10). So, Haman was justly crucified on the same cross which he has prepared for Mordeccai; As it is said: “The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead” (Proverb 11: 8); “The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the unfaithful for the upright” (Psalm 21: 18); “The nations have sunk in the pit that they have made; in the net that they hid, has their own foot been caught” (Psalm 9: 15, 16); “As you have done, it shall be done to you; your reprisal shall return upon your own head” (Obadiah 15).; and, “With the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matthew 7: 2). The devil exulted in the cross, and provoked his followers to realize it, not perceiving that what he does will return upon his head. As according to St. Jerome: [On the cross, the devil was put to shame, he and all his hosts. Yes, Christ was crucified in flesh, yet, on His cross, He crucified the devil1].
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