Who's tan, rested, and ready for another full week of saintly action? That was rhetorical. Of course you're tan. Today we have an intriguing Biblical matchup between Esther and Lazarus. Courageous queen vs. friend of Jesus. Who will advance? That's up to you.
After a depressing weekend without any voting, you may have forgotten what transpired on Friday. Edith Cavell, yet another one of the 2018 Cinderellas, took down theological heavyweight John Wesley 68% to 32%. She'll face Anna Alexander in what should be a lively Saintly Sixteen matchup.
It's hard to believe we're exactly halfway through the first round. But it's true. Eight matchups down, eight matchups to go before it's on to the the next round. Hang on to your halos!
Esther
Esther, a saint from the Hebrew Bible, lived between 520-450 BCE, in the Persian Empire. She was an orphan raised by her devout cousin Mordecai. King Ahasuerus was king of Persia, but he was not known for being a nice guy. When we first meet him, he summons his wife Vashti to appear before a room of visiting dignitaries. When she refuses to appear, he orders her to be killed. Yikes.
To replace Vashti, the king holds an ancient beauty pageant: Women from all over the empire are summoned so that he may choose his favorite. Esther is declared the most beautiful in the kingdom and becomes queen—but she has not told anyone at the court, including the king, that she is Jewish.
Meanwhile, Haman, the king’s chief advisor, is struggling with some major ego issues. Because he believes Mordecai slighted him on the street, Haman convinces the king to order the murder of all Jews in the kingdom.
Mordecai informs Esther, urging her to do something. So Esther concocts a plan. In Persia, a law forbade entering the king’s presence unless he sent for you, under penalty of death. Esther asks the Persian Jews to pray and fast with her. Then, she gets dressed up and goes before the king—unrequested—and risks her own life.
Thankfully, the king has pity on her and grants her an audience. She takes the opportunity to invite the king and Haman to dine with her that evening. That dinner party goes so well that she suggests a second dinner party the next evening. The second night, after dinner is winding down, and everyone is in a good mood, Esther seizes the opportunity to come out as Jewish and announces that if Haman is to kill all the Jews in the land, then that would include her. MIC. DROP.
The king immediately decrees that Haman should be executed. He stipulates that the Jews will now be allowed to fight in their own defense on the day of the proposed mass execution. And so Esther saves the Jews of Persia.
Esther’s story has come to be seen as emblematic of how a minority can wield power within a majority culture. She negotiates power imbalances and exercises her privilege on behalf of her people and in the service of God. Through her story, she is wholly herself and still protects her people.
Collect for Esther
O God of the dispossessed, kindle in us the confidence and certainty of Esther, that we may hold fast to who we are, and seek to do your will, even in the most difficult of circumstances, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany (also Lazarus of the Four Days, referring to the time he was dead for four days) is intimately connected with the life of Jesus.
According to the New Testament witness, Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were some of Jesus’ closest friends. The eleventh chapter of John’s Gospel recounts Jesus’ deep grief over the death of Lazarus, and the subsequent miracle of his resurrection.
Like many biblical figures, Lazarus only makes a brief appearance in the text itself, but numerous extra-biblical traditions have been handed down and provide deeper detail. According to John 12, Lazarus’s resurrection garnered a great deal of attention, both from those who were inspired by the story and from those who were threatened by it. Later tradition suggests that Lazarus fled Judea for someplace safer, perhaps in response to threats upon his life.
Two theories developed about Lazarus’s flight from Judea; a more recent tradition tells of his travels to Marseille, France, while an older tradition tells of him settling in Cyprus. In both traditions, Lazarus lived for another three decades and continued to witness to the work and message of Jesus.
Although there are few details of Lazarus’s personality, it is not hard to imagine that his death and resurrection must have profoundly changed him. According to one story, seeing death made him very somber, and he smiled only once in his remaining thirty years.
Some scholars have suggested that Lazarus is the unnamed “Beloved Disciple” of John’s Gospel, a view that adds even more poignancy to the scene of Jesus’ grief outside the tomb of Lazarus.
In Western traditions, the witness of Lazarus is remembered, along with his sisters, on July 29. In the Orthodox church, the day before Palm Sunday is known as Lazarus Saturday—a foretaste of the joy of Easter Sunday as the church prepares for Holy Week.
Collect for Lazarus
Generous God, whose Son Jesus Christ enjoyed the friendship and hospitality of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus of Bethany: Open our hearts to love you, our ears to hear you, and our hands to welcome and serve you in others, through Jesus Christ our risen Lord; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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215 comments on “Esther vs. Lazarus of Bethany”
I like how Esther's bio doesn't end with her getting killed. The author was funny.
Thank you, Clara! 🙂
To be correct, Lazarus was not resurrected, he was reanimated. Jesus is the only person to date to have been resurrected. This has nothing to do with why I voted for Esther! She risked it all so that God's people would have a future. Hers is an amazing story of courage and loyalty, and the force of a strong and faithful woman to do make change happen.
For what it's worth, the word that Jesus uses to talk about raising Lazarus is ἀνίστημι. That's the same word used several times to talk about Jesus rising from the dead . I'm not sure there's a distinction, or a reason to avoid using the word "resurrection" in English to talk about Lazarus. (It's also the same word used to talk about various people rising up after sitting down, and so on.)
Theologically, Resurrection means something more/other than just being brought back to life. It means transformation in a sense which we have not seen except in Jesus when God raised him from the dead - the firstborn of the new creation, in a body that does not die. Lazarus died again. Jesus, on the other hand, did not. (I was ordained in the Presbyterian church, btw.) This could be a long and interesting discussion but my point is theological definition/use of the term which initially came from a Greek word - because someone would have to have invented a new word to name what God did in raising Jesus from the dead, and what we anticipate happening to us. What it is exactly, I don't know, but I am certain it's not resuscitation of this earthly body!
Very well said. Thank you.
Love that book-- especially perhaps the little midrash about how his people began the tradition of having Chinese food on his birthday!!!
Matthew, thank you for this reflection. I too liked the part about weeping being the language of grief and the part about experiencing previous losses amidst a fresh loss. I thought it was very insightful.
It seems I am always casting my vote for the "loser" this season and again I'm voting for a man. All I could think of when I saw his name was that this was Jesus' dear friend and upon learning that Lazarus had died, "Jesus wept". How could I not vote for him? This man was so precious to our Saviour that He defied nature to bring him back to life. Lazarus for me!
Again, it's easy to see why Esther is killing Lazarus a second time. I've been reading Kazantzakis's _Last temptation of Christ_, and Nikos makes the point in there that Lazarus was really a pretty horrible mess after being "resurrected." "He's been dead three days and he stinks." He was a rotten, putrid zombie that nobody wanted to be near, and one gets the impression that he didn't really like being resurrected. The Zealots were among those who were threatened by it, and (per Nikos) they murdered him a few weeks later. Contrary to popular opinion, it was not one of Jesus's better miracles. I'm far more impressed by changing water into wine.
I voted Esther for her courage and in honor of my Yiddish singing group.
Queen Esther got a MIC DROP. Love it!
as much as I love Esther.... because my first name is Martha, and my mother was a Mary, and my grandmother was a Ruth.... I just feel I have to vote for Lazarus. I know it is arbitrary....
What happens to Lazarus is so important that it is one of the Scrutinies studied while becoming Catholic. I think it was often studied for Episcopalians s also, but not sure if it is still used. What can be more important than rising from the dead?
It seems that every year the SEC gets criticized for including Old Testament figures in the tournament. Historical divisions were irrelevant when the writer of Hebrews constructed the "hall of fame" in chapter 11. Paul considered Abraham to be a "paradigm" of faithful living. Of course we view their faith as incomplete, but their lives are remembered as champions for God, and their perseverance is particularly remarkable in the light of their living without the full benefits of the indwelling spirit of God!
Esther got my vote. The best sermon I have heard in my 80 years was preached by Bishop Barbara Harris at the ECW gathering at the Eucharist at General Convention in 1991. She talked about Esther's bravery and her willingness "to go to the king." That use of the story of Esther has encouraged me personally.
My vote is for Esther whose actions inspired this collect I wrote early last year.
Give us strength O God of Esther who has called us for such a time as this. Enable us to contend against the spiritual forces of evil and the cosmic powers over this present darkness. Give us the grace to make no peace with oppression, and the spirit to think and to do that which sets at liberty those who are oppressed, that our society may be cleansed and strengthened. This we ask through Him who humbled Himself to share our humanity, Thy son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
I voted for Lazarus because he was resuscitated, not because he was resurrected, which he wasn’t.
Could you elaborate on that?
(See my note above!)
I voted for Esther because of her bravery and because I've always loved her story. I also wanted to vote for Lazarus, and I'm glad that all these saints already have their halos. Just curious though--was Vashti killed? I always thought she was banished. What am I missing?
In Esther 1:19 it does seem Vashti was only banished from being in the presence of the King. It doesn't say if she was banished in any other way (i.e. made homeless or even stateless). There is nowhere in Esther that it says Vashti was killed, replaced yes, killed no. Vashti is not mentioned else where in the Canon of Scripture (I didn't look in the Apocrypha though.)
I wonder how my Jew Christians think , I enjoy us all