Thomas J Parlette
“The Biblical Wonder Woman”
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
9/29/24
In 2017, the world was re-introduced to the character of Wonder Woman. She started out as a comic book hero in the 1940’s, making the leap to the small screen as a television series in 1975. Some of you might remember that show starred Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman alongside Lyle Waggoner.
From there, Wonder Woman became an animated superhero for the Saturday morning cartoon show The Justice League. She teamed up with Batman, Superman and Aquaman to keep the world safe. Wonder Woman had some of the coolest super-hero gadgets as well – no one had more toys that Batman, but Wonder Woman had some memorable crime-fighting tools of her own.
She had the Lasso of Truth, those magic bracelets to deflect bullets and her royal tiara that became kid of a lethal boomerang when she needed it. And who can forget her invisible plane. As a kid, hopped up on Captain Crunch on Saturday mornings, I always wondered – was she invisible when she was inside her invisible plane, or did people see her just sitting there in mid-air flying around. I don’t have the answer, but I’m sure it’s a hotly debated question in Comic Book stores to this day.
In 2017, Wonder Woman got a very successful re-boot as Gal Gadot took over the role. Wonder Woman: Rise of the Warrior would go on to become the highest grossing superhero origin film to that date. (1) The follow-up, Wonder Woman 1984, didn’t do nearly as well, but it did come out in December 2020, right during COVID, so that probably had an effect.
Today, we visit the story of another female action hero figure – a biblical version of Wonder Woman, if you will. And her name is Esther.
This is the only time that anything from the Book of Esther shows up in our 3-year lectionary cycle, so it’s a good time to consider her story. Unfortunately, the chapter and verses we hear from today leave out one very important character – the character of Vashti.
I would be willing to bet that not many of you know much about Vashti – Esther’s predecessor in the role of Queen. Vashti was the brave woman who said “no” to her husband, the King, in a time when that just wasn’t done. The King was partying with some of his friends, and commanded his wife, Queen Vashti to come entertain his friends with her beauty. The Queen was entertaining guests of her own and said “No”. This infuriated the King, and he basically banned her from the Court, effectively banishing her.
This is where Esther enters the story. Esther wins a beauty pageant, if you want to call it that, and she gets the honor of becoming the new Queen. Now, everyone knew what happened to the last Queen, so Esther knew she was treading and thin ice. Perhaps Esther was inspired by Vashti’s example to stand up to the King and his court, but in a more subtle way.
Esther can be thought of as a Wonder Woman, because she finds a way to save her people, the Jewish people, from destruction. Never did so much depend for so many upon one woman. Of all the female biblical heroes, Deborah might also be in the Wonder Woman conversation, but the scope of the salvation brought about by the daring Esther is unmatched in Hebrew canonical literature. So that’s one of the first things to note about Esther – she is a female hero in an era of hard-core, overwhelmingly male, patriarchal, testosterone-driven good-ole boys.
The second thing to note about the Book of Esther is that God is not mentioned in Esther. There are only two books in the Bible where the name of God is not to be found – Song of Songs, Song of Solomon, and Esther. So, where is God in all this. Many scholars down through time have argued that is reason enough not to include Esther in Holy Scripture – God isn’t even mentioned. But here it is in our Bibles.
The third thing to note about the Book of Esther is the total absence of any Jewish religious practices in this story. There is an argument to made that the mention of fasting in chapter 4, verse 16, is the exception, but the fasting there seems to come more as a request from Esther before she appears before the King. It is more of a “wish me good luck” gesture that a reference to a Jewish religious practice.
So, why include Esther in the Bible at all? It’s an exciting story, to be sure. In 1960, it was even made into a Hollywood movie starring Joan Collins and Richard Egan. But without a single reference to Yahweh or any mention of religious practice, shouldn’t we move Esther to the Jewish extra-canonical, apocryphal literature alongside similar stories like Judith, for example, who uses her beauty and her flirty personality to save Israel from destruction by decapitating the Assyrian General Holofernes?
Here’s one possible reason that Esther was included in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. When Esther was written, Jews were not living in their homeland. They were dispersed and living in exile. So, Esther is what scholars call a diaspora story, right alongside Daniel, for instance.
So the question for the exiled Jew becomes – How do I live as a Jew away from the Temple, my homeland and my people?
Esther offers some insight, and that’s probably why it has remained in the Bible. The purpose of Esther is to remind post-exilic Jews that one can prosper in a foreign land as an exile without giving up one’s identity as a Jew.
In other words – if Esther can do it – so can you. After all, there were many forces positioned against her. She was a woman, and as such, essentially powerless and marginalized. As a female, you couldn’t just seek power in a male-dominated culture – you had to find a work-around.
In this respect, Esther was like all Jewish people of her time. They were marginalized, disenfranchised and without power. But Esther, by winning that beauty contest, and using her smarts and relying on her guts, saves her people and in doing so demonstrates to the Jewish exiles that they, too, can not only survive but thrive if they play their cards right.
The exiles also learn from Esther that they don’t need to be conspicuously religious to survive in a foreign country. God is not mentioned in this story. Religious practices are also absent. So, Jewish identity is essentially ethnic, not primarily religious. Dr. Sidnie Crawford, President of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archeological Research in Jerusalem, notes, “It is who Esther is that makes her Jewish, rather than that what she practices or believes.” (2)
The message to the exiles who cannot worship in the Temple and therefore cannot be religious Jews is that they can certainly retain their ethnicity and avoid assimilation into the “melting pot of the ancient Near East.”
As I mentioned earlier, Esther is a diaspora story – a story told to the Jewish people who have been scattered after the destruction of Jerusalem. It is in the Bible, not because it is overtly religious, as Daniel is, another diaspora story. Esther is in the Bible because the title character and the story itself serve as reminders that God’s people could live and survive without a Temple, and without a homeland.
If there is any book in the Bible – with the possible exception of Jude – that elicits the question, “So What?” it’s Esther. It’s a great story, sure – a riveting plot, fascinating characters, but really, what’s in it for me? – what’s in it for us? What is the takeaway from Esther? Most sermons about Esther insert God where God is absent, or talk about the importance of taking a well-timed risk, or that God, even when absent, has a plan for us. But perhaps it makes more sense, and maybe it’s truer to the text itself, to discuss the relevance of Esther to our lives without bringing God into the picture.
In that case, here is Takeaway #1 from Esther:
Esther is a reality check when it comes to our relationship with the world. As Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon reminded us some 25 years ago, we are “resident aliens.” (3) We are like immigrants in this world. The biblical idea is that as Christians, we are passing through this land, en route “to the city that has its foundations in God,” as Augustine talked about. Esther is a reminder of that idea. We can’t forget where we came from, or where we are ultimately going.
Takeaway #2:
Esther reminds us that it is possible to live as a Christian in times that are unfavorable, even hostile to us as believers and followers of Jesus. Just think about our recent history.
Like Esther, we were unable to gather for worship for 15 months during the COVID pandemic. But the closing of church doors did not spell the end of the church, as many thought it would. We are different now, but we’re still here. We found our own work-arounds as we moved online – and now we have almost 360 subscribers to our church YouTube Channel and right around 30 people join us each week live from their homes.
Many others thought that the scandals of sexual misconduct or financial impropriety would bring down the church – but it hasn’t. We’re still here.
Even though they are many more unchurched people than ever before – we hold to our mission of binding up the broken hearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor.
Like Esther, we are encouraged to challenge authorities, speak truth to power and take risks.
Esther was truly a wonder woman in her own time – going up against the most powerful authorities in her world. She dared to stand before the King and speak truth to power. She didn’t have access to the cool tools that comic book Wonder Woman had – but she used what she had to save her people.
Like Esther, we can find a way to adapt to whatever situation we face, whether it’s a health crisis, an economic crisis, or the challenge of a divided nation. Even when God appears to be hidden, we can be confident that God is watching from the wings, just offstage, to protect and guide us.
And for that – May God be praised. Amen.
1. Mark Hughes, “Wonder Woman” is officially the highest-grossing superhero origin film,” Forbes.com, Nov. 2nd, 2017.
2. Homileticsonline, retrieved 9/2/24.
3. Stanley Hauerwas, William Willimon, Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony, Abingdon Press, 2014.
