April 5, 2025 - Esther 8:15 - Righteousness Rewarded

Esther 8:15,16

"And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour."

God is just to reward righteousness. But what kind of righteousness? When we speak of righteousness, we are referring to that which is to His honor, glory, and satisfaction. Now we know that none of us is righteous in ourselves. "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10–12).

Consider how God the Father purposed that the Lord Jesus Christ should come into the world to earn and establish a righteousness that is equal to Himself. And when Christ laid down His life, He so satisfied God the Father with that righteousness, that upon the completion of His death on the cross, there remained nothing but God's righteousness to impute to the account of every one that God had purposed to save from before the foundation of the world. One time, one place, one Sacrifice, one Righteousness, one Justification, one Reconciliation, one Redemption—by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Did God the Father honor the work of the Lord Jesus Christ? Absolutely! If Christ earned and established that righteousness, then God is faithful to honor what His Son accomplished. And what is His reward? Is it not that He would have every one that the Father gave Him? That’s why Christ said, “And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39).

Esther represents Christ’s Church, and Mordecai represents Christ in His work as Esther’s Head. Every time Haman walked by and Mordecai refused to bow, what was Mordecai doing? He was exercising righteousness as the judge and substitute for His people. He is a type and picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. There were many enemies that our Lord Christ had while He walked on this earth, yet He would not and did not bow to or cater to any. His one purpose was to do the will of His Father. Mordecai, as a type of the LORD Jesus Christ, fulfilled God's righteousness. His one purpose was to glorify the Father. "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (John 6:38).

How was the LORD Jesus rewarded? Just as Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel (Esther 8:15), so the LORD Jesus Christ was crowned with glory, having worked out that perfect righteousness on behalf of the people He represented for their salvation. How are we His people rewarded, as being of that number of God’s elect for whom Christ died? It is not for our righteousness, but because of His righteousness—earned and established on our behalf—that we stand perfectly righteous in Him.

How were the Jewish people in Mordecai's day rewarded? With life. It was for Mordecai’s sake. Mordecai, like the LORD Jesus, stood up on behalf of the people. Even though the gallows were built to exterminate him from their sight and be rid of him once and for all, so the cross of the LORD Jesus was built to be rid of the LORD Jesus Christ (Mark 15:14), yet it was through that cross that Christ was exalted in His people. He said, “For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5: 10-12). Mordecai was one of those prophets. He was the LORD’s, and a type of the LORD Jesus Christ. What a beautiful picture of Christ’s complete representation for the people whom God rewarded.

“And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad" (v. 15).

Here we find even the heathen exalting this one Mordecai. And when you see him dressed in this royal apparel, it is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ in that royal apparel of which He alone is worthy. Mordecai is promoted, whereas before he was abased. Likewise, Christ was promoted, in fulfillment of this type, when He had satisfied all of God’s law and justice on behalf of the people He came to save. And the decree went forth that we should live because of what He accomplished.

Oh! Do you not see the exaltation of Christ pictured here? Yes, it is about delivering a people historically, but ultimately, it is not just about exalting and glorifying this one Mordecai whom God had raised up for that hour—for that time—to be the representative not only of Esther as her head, and all the people represented in the Jewish nation: a type of the elect of God in Christ. Here we find him going out, it says, in “royal apparel.” Where is Christ today? He is risen, ascended on high, and seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. This is depicted in Mordecai. And yet, it was never just about him. As Christ said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). The royal apparel represents Him as the King-Priest before God for His people. The crown of gold shows His kingship—His equality with God Himself. The garment of fine linen and purple represents His Deity. All of these details depict the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ as seen in Mordecai.

Verse 16 then typifies the exaltation of the LORD Jesus. Here is where we see His righteousness rewarded. Mordecai is honored by God because he faithfully fulfilled his role in the place where God had put him, as a type of Christ. As a result, we see the joy of righteousness fulfilled. “The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour” (Esther 8:16). This depicts the joy and gladness of those who were delivered by the intervention of one named Mordecai. And so it is with the true work of righteousness accomplished by the LORD Jesus—not just figuratively, but fully and completely fulfilled in every jot and tittle before the Father. Whenever we, as the LORD’s people, speak of Christ and His work and what He accomplished, we do so with joy, and delight, and honor—giving Him the honor, not taking it for ourselves, but giving Him ALL the glory.