The king announces to glory-seeking Haman that the person who deserves honor is Mordecai.

Esther 6:10-11

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“Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.” So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!” Esther 6:10-11

At this point, Mordecai is a pawn in the war of wits between two narcissists, Haman and king Ahasuerus, one a king and the other a bishop on the chessboard. They exploit human beings as mere tools to gain power or triumph over a more prominent threat to their power, glory, and public image. According to the Ten Commandments, Mordecai showed humility and loyalty to King Ahasuerus, not challenging his power or ego. However, Mordecai did not bow down to Haman, who was enraged by this defiance. Haman sought to kill Mordecai, but the king wanted him alive.

Instead of being honored as he expected, Haman faced a devastating and humiliating defeat when the king declared that Mordecai deserved the honor, not him. Haman would have felt extremely crushed being commanded to dress Mordecai in the king’s royal robe and to mount him on the king’s royal horse. Adding to the humiliation, Haman had to personally parade Haman around in plain view of everyone saying, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!” Haman was humbled to the role of having to serve Mordecai as Mordecai was bestowed with the king’s royal honors.

“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12 We humble ourselves by putting aside the ambition for power, recognition, authority, wealth, and prestige. We humble the carnal desires of the beast within human nature. When the carnal desires are humbled then God exalts us in the spirit through Jesus Christ who puts sin in remission. In the new heaven and earth, we will reign eternally with Jesus Christ in the New Jerusalem.

The relationship between Haman and Mordecai is similar to the relationship between the Jewish people and Christianity. For example, Haman despised Mordecai, but Mordecai was honored above him in the same way that the Jewish people scorned Jesus Christ, but He became head over them. The Jewish people also looked down on us Gentiles, but now we are dressed in God’s royal robes through Jesus Christ and have become His children instead of the Jewish people.

As our Lord Jesus Christ has said, “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 8:11-12 We, who believe in Jesus, will join Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the New Jerusalem. The “sons of the kingdom” are the Jewish people who deny Jesus as their Lord and they will be cast out into outer darkness.

A humble attitude towards the Jewish people today is what the Holy Spirit inspires in the followers of Jesus Christ, “…do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.” Romans 11:18 A simple way to recall that Christianity sprouted from the root of the Jewish people is that Jesus Christ was Jewish, belonging to the tribe of Judah. He is the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit in Mary, a Jewish woman who also belonged to the tribe of Judah. As Christians, we could say that we have been adopted into the tribe of Judah through Jesus Christ.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1