Good Friday and Purim (Part 1)

Today, Good Friday 2005, finds a unique confluence on the calendar. Not only is this day the Christian holiday of Good Friday, when Christians celebrate the atoning sacrifice of the God-man Jesus Christ on the cross, but it is also the Jewish holiday of Purim. Now, I have learned that I cannot assume people know what Purim is, so I'll explain.

In the book of Esther we see anti-Semitism rear its ugly head. A Persian by the name of Haman was irate because some Jew by the name of Mordecai would not bow to him or give him honor. This same Mordecai had a niece who was pleasing to the eye, especially to the eye of Xerxes, the Persian emperor. Her Jewish name was Hadassah; her Persian name was Esther (after the goddess Ishtar; yes, Madonna in her Kaballah glory chose the pagan name of her idol!). Hence we have the story of Esther in our Bible.

Anyway, back to Mordecai. He devised a scheme to get the king to issue a verdict that the Jews all be killed. Not very nice; unfortunately, this has happened frequently in world history. So a date was determined. And how was that date determined? By lot, that is, a die (or dice) was cast. The Hebrew word for a die is pur. Esther 3 records for us the details:

After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. All the royal officials at the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.

Then the royal officials at the king's gate asked Mordecai, "Why do you disobey the king's command?" Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai's behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, they cast the pur (that is, the lot) in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on [a] the twelfth month, the month of Adar.

The copyright of the article Good Friday and Purim (Part 1) in Lutheranism is owned by John L. Hoh, Jr.. Permission to republish Good Friday and Purim (Part 1) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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