Sermon Text: Matthew 22:1-14
Several hundred years before the time of Christ, in the land of Persia, the Jews had a great feast because a man had been hanged. That man’s name was Haman. Haman was a high-ranking official in Persia with an extremely high view of himself. He expected everyone to bow down when he went down the street. One day a man named Mordechai, a Jew, didn’t bow down. This ticked off Haman, so he tricked the king of Persia into making a decree that all Jews be killed for treason. Yet Mordechai was connected – his cousin Esther was a wife to the king, but no one knew she was a Jew. Esther had the courage to invite the king and Haman to her own banquet, and Haman accepted graciously, certain it was a great honor. Instead, Esther exposed Haman at the banquet, begging the king for mercy for her people. Haman was thrown out of the banquet and hung. That is what led to all the Jews in Persia holding a celebration feast for deliverance from the hands of Haman.
