For Such a Time as This

A young queen stands at the edge of the royal court. Beyond the doorway sits the king. If she steps forward without being called, she could be dead before she reaches him. She takes a breath. And she steps forward.

Esther has been queen of Persia for some years now. Still, nobody at court knows that she is Jewish. Her cousin Mordecai, who raised her, sits at the king's gate. Then King Ahasuerus promotes a man named Haman above all his other officials. The king commands everyone at the gate to bow down to Haman. And everyone does. Everyone except Mordecai. Day after day the servants ask him why. Mordecai tells them he is a Jew. So they tell Haman.

Haman is furious. But punishing one man is not enough for him. He decides to destroy all of Mordecai's people, every Jew in the whole empire. To pick the day, his people cast lots, called pur. The lot falls on a date nearly a year away, in the month of Adar. Then Haman goes to the king. There is a certain people, he says, scattered through your provinces. Their laws are different, and they don't keep yours. It isn't worth letting them live. He even offers ten thousand talents of silver for the treasury. The king pulls off his signet ring and hands it over. Do what you like. Letters race out to every province. The king and Haman sit down to drink. But the city of Susa is thrown into confusion.

When Mordecai hears, he tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth and ashes, and walks through the city crying out loud and bitter. In every province Jews fast and weep. Esther hears that Mordecai is in mourning, and she sends her servant Hathach to find out why. Mordecai sends back a copy of the decree and a message. Go to the king. Plead for your people. Esther's reply comes back. Everyone knows the law. Anyone who goes to the king in the inner court without being called is put to death, unless the king holds out his golden sceptre. And the king has not called for me in thirty days.

Mordecai's answer is one of the most famous messages in the Bible. Don't think that in the king's house you will escape when all the other Jews do not. If you keep silent now, help will come from somewhere else. But you and your father's family will perish. “And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther makes her choice. Gather all the Jews in Susa. Fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast too. Then I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. “And if I perish, I perish.”

On the third day Esther puts on her royal robes and stands in the inner court. The king looks up from his throne. And he holds out the golden sceptre. She comes near and touches its tip. What is it, Queen Esther? he asks. Whatever you want, even half my kingdom, it's yours. But Esther doesn't rush. She invites the king and Haman to a banquet. At the banquet, the king asks again. She invites them to a second banquet tomorrow. Haman leaves walking on air, until he passes Mordecai at the gate, who will not even stand. At home he boasts of his riches and his honours. Yet none of it satisfies him, he says, while Mordecai sits at the gate. So his wife and friends suggest a tall gallows for Mordecai. Haman likes the idea. He has it built.

Esther's fear was real. Persian kings were kept at a careful distance from their subjects. The Greek historian Herodotus tells how the seven nobles who helped King Darius take the throne were given a special privilege: they could enter the palace without being announced. That this counted as a rare honour tells you how closely everyone else's access to the king was guarded. Esther was the queen. Even she could not simply walk in.

For Such a Time as This. You'll find it in the book of Esther, chapters 3 to 5. Esther did not feel brave. She fasted, she asked others to stand with her, and then she went anyway. So here's the question to carry with you. Is there something right you know you should do, that you have been too afraid to start?