Haman
The king’s aid, Haman, was annoyed that the Jew, Mordecai, would not bow down before him. In his self-importance he plotted the destruction of all the Jews in the kingdom. Learning of the plot, Queen Esther invites the king and Haman to two banquets. Pleased, the king offers Esther whatever she wants, whereupon she tells him that she is a Jew and that her people are in danger because of the actions of one man. Who? “This wicked Haman!” (Esther 7:6). Haman is hanged and arrangements are made for the deliverance of the Jews from those who would annihilate them. Haman thought only of his own honor and it turned into defeat and destruction for him, his household, and his ten sons.
David
King David stayed home instead of going out with his troops to war. He sees Bathsheba, takes advantage of her, and gets her pregnant. He tries to cover up his sin by plotting the death of her husband and marrying her himself. The prophet Nathan comes to David and tells a story of a rich man who took a poor man’s pet lamb to feed a guest. David, not yet realizing the story was about him, says the man deserved to die. Nathan’s response was “You are the man!” (2 Sam. 12:7). David repented, “I have sinned against the Lord” (12:13), though because of his sin the child Bathsheba had borne became sick and died. David’s heart turned back to God, but there were still consequences for his family.
Jesus
John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan river when he saw Jesus coming toward him. “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, 36). John knew that his job of preparing for the Messiah was nearly at its end as Jesus’s years of ministry were beginning. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (3:30).
Roughly three years later, Jesus prepared to enter Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus asks His disciples to go get a donkey. Matthew writes that this took place to fulfill prophecy: “Behold, your King is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden” (Matt. 21:5).
Following the Passover meal, Jesus is arrested. Pilate tries to release Jesus and brings Him before the crowd— “Behold the man! …Behold your King!’” (John 19:5, 14), but the Jews demanded crucifixion. A centurion keeping watch over the crucifixion rightly proclaimed, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54).
Our Response
We have a choice set before us. We can, like Haman, pretend we are the center of the universe, seeking attention and approval, but to do so will lead to our ultimate destruction. Or we can, like David, recognize our sinfulness and repent and turn to God for forgiveness. Our sin may still have consequences, but we will find salvation. Like John the Baptist, we should realize that we are just bit players in the drama of God’s plan for the world. Jesus must be lifted up, and we must bow down before Him. We all deserve death because of our selfish and sinful choices, but through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, we can be forgiven and reconciled to God. Jesus alone can take away the sin of the world.
One day we will all behold His glory. “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him” (Rev. 1:7a). Let us not wait till it is too late to come to Him in humility, submission, and worship.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).
