The Woman who refused to be Insulted!

God chose Esther to save the Jews from genocide - her calling was to use her influence with the status of her royal position and help God help the Jews. Esther was truly a heroine of the Jews who did not forget her own people even though she was safe and held a very high status.

However in this propelling of Esther into the rank of a queen also saw the displacement of another queen. Her role model however has to be looked at, even though she loses her status and is the underdog in this episode. There is a purpose in the life of Vasthi or else what happens to her and her reaction would not have been recorded in the Word of God - The Bible

Vasthi stands out as a woman with immense courage and determination. She refuses to be used and displayed by her husband - King Xerxes. The king had called her to show off her beauty to his friends. This meant that he treated his wife as his proud possession. Since Vasthi refused to acquiesce and hence she lost her wealth, status and position as the wife and queen of the land. However this did not deter her for she refused to be used as a public spectacle, she refused to be manipulated and exploited. 

The behaviour of the King - her husband however underlines the way many men behave even today in our society. It highlights the fundamental problem of how men perceive women. In nearly all societies men tend to harness the women as they do farm animals, using them to suit themselves. Sometimes it is shamelessly and brazenly done and sometimes its done in the most sleek and subtle form! Bullies are cowards and men who bully their women folk are threatened by their potential and hence try to curb them and their freedom. The very rules laid down for women is a proof of such control.

Vasthi disappears from the scene but not before teaching us by her exemplary behaviour that if one refuses to be insulted, then there is a cost, but the cost is worth the life of dignity and self respect! We do not know what happened to Vashti, but all that we know is that she had the guts to defy a crazy, dominating, exploitative husband!

Note: Keeping in mind the extremely low status of women in India, it is definitely (at least i think so) not coincidental that the Book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that India is mentioned! Surely God had a lesson for the men and women of this land - India a message through the life of Vasthi

                                                                                                                        ~~~Crystal David John

She Came, She Heard, She Received, She Proclaimed!

Long long ago on a Sabbath when Jesus was teaching, in the audience was a woman with a terribly crippled and deformed back. Her problem was a longstanding one and she had accepted it and resigned herself to her sad plight, like many women today. In all probability she could see only the ground she walked on, and hence could not even look up to see the face of Jesus on that day! In spite of her condition though she had come to hear the word of God and meet her Master and Saviour. Had she stayed without coming out of embarrassment or out of pain or out of the very fact that walking was ever so cumbersome, she would have missed the most important day of her life! But she did not - she came. 

What is interesting in this incident is that the woman did not even ask for healing. She expected nothing. In a society where women were treated worse than animals she would not have expected the healing more so because it was the Sabbath. Jesus however, then, as He does now stands always for the sidelined, the dehumanized and the underdog.  He saw her, called her forward, touched her and healed her of her 18 year long bondage. The Jews had forgotten their covenant with God to treat the destitute with care, but Jesus by healing her elevated her status to that of daughter from a redundant individual, wasted away, and of no use to the society. In fact in the eyes of the corporate warriors of the society then, as it is now such people are of little value to be able to generate wealth. They are the liability of the nation and not capital assets -- not even assets like the beasts of burden or dairy animals!

Luke tells us that the woman was so grateful for her healing that the first thing she did was she praised God   ( Luke 13:13). This incident so many ages ago represents physical restoration of a woman's spine. However if one looks at the spine of society today we notice that it is bent and fractured. The ills of society occurs due to such fractures caused by all kinds of divisions and sin! A society is healthy if the women in that society are treated like persons - like humans! If not that society is sick to the core. The ill treatment of women is like a cancer that eats into the very system of the society.

Even today, in the 21st century, with the glorious dream of India shining, women are treated worse than cattle.For me, the crippled woman healed by Jesus stands for the Indian society. Women have and still are subjugated, harassed, molested, raped, abused, and subtly or overtly dominated in every manner one can dream of. This domination cast by the shadow of patriarchy is so entrenched in society that millions of women themselves do not realize that they are shackled - very akin to the bird in a golden cage!

Jesus healed her and freed her from her bondage. He has during his lifetime never ever spurned women. In fact women played a central role in His ministry. He can and will free us from the chains that tether us, but we must receive the freedom given to us. 

We sin if we agree to be bound too! We sin if we fight once for justice and equality and the next time round keep quiet and silent just because we don't want someone present to know the stand you take!! Jesus did not ignore the woman's presence though His critiques were all around waiting for Him to make a mistake or 'disobey' the law!  

Let us hence stand against any form of slavery, servitude, exploitation and subjugation. Let us do so honestly and not seasonally -- let us be constant is the change we demand and let us do so with God's help!!

                                                                                                                               ~~~Crystal David John