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Esther 8:16 "The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor."

 

Things had been looking pretty bad for the Jews prior to this, when Haman had the king's ear. Haman had lied about the Jews to King Artaxerxes, and the king had given him leave to destroy them (Esther 3:8-11). Haman had sent letters in the king's name to every province under Artaxerxes' command, ordering the annihilation of every Jewish man woman and child on one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. (Esther 3:13). But due to Esther's brave actions, Artaxerxes was alerted to the truth about the Jews and he stopped the planned slaughter, praising the Jews in the letter he sent to his kingdom to counter Haman's order. This is what gave the Jews light and gladness and joy and honor.

 

Joy is never so joyful as when we have been through a period of darkness. That is why Christmas is so joyful, "the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light" (Matthew 4:16). When all seems lost, but then everything turns around, we feel the joy of our release so intensely. These turnarounds don't come out of the blue, though, they come from God, and, because the world is fallen, they require sacrifice. Queen Esther fasted and prayed for three days in great distress before she gathered herself to face the king and risk his displeasure with her and her people. Her sacrifice and prayer helped make God's plan for this joyful outcome possible. Jesus' birth required the Father to send His only Son into a world that would mistreat Him terribly, and the Son to humbly accept becoming human and eventually dying for our sake. The darkness in which humanity had been living was only dispersed because of God's sacrifice for us.

 

This is true over and over again in salvation history. We are living in a fallen world, so we will experience times of great distress, but we are loved by the Creator of this world to the point that He was willing to die for us. The scales have been balanced, even weighed in our favor, but each time of distress comes from some sin that further weighs down the wrong side, so each release from that distress is achieved by a sacrificial act that adds our sacrifice to Christ's, and keeps His balance in place.

 

There is always light at the end of the tunnel, but light requires fuel. Jesus' sacrifice fuels the light of the world, and our individual sacrifices help His light burn through the dark times of our lives.