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Maharal in his commentary Ohr Chadash:
And all the servants of the king etc. … But Mordechai would not bow; It was written in grammatical form denoting the future, for it was not done just this one time alone, rather many times, he did this, and therefore it is written in the future tense, for this is what the future tense implies concerning something that is continuous, similar to the verse, “Thus would Iyov do”, And one should explain that he would not bow, that even though Mordechai could have gone by a different path and not met him and he would not be angry, Mordechai would go against Haman with the intent to do this, not to bow, and not to prostrate, and all in order to sanctify his Name Let he be blessed (G-d). And there are those raise the question, for what purpose did Mordechai do this, and he should not have put himself in danger and Israel to provoke the Wicked person? But this is not a difficult question, as we say in the first chapter of Brachot 7B “Those that abandon the Torah will praise the wicked and those that keep the Torah will provoke them”. And all the more so a wicked person, who is Haman, that was prepared to be an obstacle and stumbling block for all of Israel… And even without this it is not difficult, for Mordechai, sat at the gate of the king, this was due to Achashverosh that appointed him, and one does not remove himself from the appointment (see there).
Rabbi Dessler and Rabbi Yekutiel Halberstam Supported Mordechai’s Provocation
Rabbi Dessler in Michtav M’Eliyahu also admits that Mordechai provoked Haman and in accordance to the words of the Maharal, justified his behavior, however, he also admitted the dangers in this matter.
Rabbi Halberstam Adds an Implication for the Footsteps of the Messiah
Rabbi Yekutiel Halberstam also supported Mordechai’s provocation of Haman, and he established that both the generation of Mordechai and so too in the generation of the footsteps of the Messiah they will be confused between the Evil Man and the Good Man and as a recollection of this we drink on Purim until we don’t know the difference. See the link
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=36048&st=&pgnum=371
Did Everyone Support Mordechai’s Provocation Against the Gentiles?
No! There are some of the Achronim that claim we don’t call Megillat Esther by the name of Megillat Mordechai as a penalty to Mordechai, who provoked the Gentiles without being forced to do so.
More than this, within Midrash Tanchuma in one place there is great criticism against Mordechai for provoking the Gentiles. See Midrash Tanchuma (Warsaw) Parshat Vayechi, Siman 6 while in another place within Midrash Tanchuma there is great support for Mordechai who provoked the Gentiles (see Midrash Tanchuma {Buber} Parshat Behar, Siman 9).
And through this we can understand the words of Rabbi Yehoshua Bachrach who brings in the name of Rabbi Y. (probably Yosef) Karo
“And he was acceptable to the majority of his brothers” – but not to all his brothers, for they were complaining after him, saying, “what did this Mordechai do to us. This one that provoked Haman and through him we were sold to be destroyed and killed and obliterated, if not for the fact that Hashem was for us.
Rabbi Moshe Zuriel, pointed out it was one of the Rishonim, Rabbi Yosef Kara (commentary to Esther 10:3) not Karo, who made the statement, that a minority were not happy with Mordechai’s actions.
In any case, we follow the majority, not the minority!
Mordechai as a Symbol of Redemption Taking Place in Stages
Shir Hashirim Rabba (Vilna) Parsha 6
A [10} Who is she that overlooks like the dawn.
There was an incident where Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Shimon Bar Chalafta were walking together in the valley of Arb’el early before the light of day, and then they saw the earliest rays of light of dawn that cracked through (the darkness). Said Rabbi Chiya Rabba to Rabbi Shimon Bar Chalafta, thus is the redemption of Israel appearing a bit, as it is written (Micha chapter 7) When I dwell in the darkness G-d is a light to me; at the outset it comes, little by little, and afterwards sparkles and comes and afterwards multiplies and afterwards it becomes freshly moist and goes onward, thus at the outset (Esther chapter 2) And Mordechai would sit at the gate of the king and afterwards (Esther chapter 8) And Mordechai went forth from the king with royal garments, and afterwards to the Jews there was light and rejoicing, etc.
Appendix: To be balanced, it should be noted, that the Talmud in tractate Brachot 7B and in tractate Megilla 6B provides conditions when it is permitted to provoke and when it is not.
It is obvious from the words of Maharal, Rabbi Dessler, and Rabbi Yekutiel Halberstam that Mordechai met those conditions.