Faith in the Fire

In our reading from Daniel, we see that King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, is furious because his Hebrew slaves Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego refused to serve his god or worship the golden statue. Their faith in the God of Israel (the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob) was so strong that even when threatened with death in the fiery furnace, they wouldn’t worship the king’s false god. Abednego, truly understanding that life here on earth is short and life after physical death is eternal, told the king, “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may He save us! But even if He will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god.” They clearly already believed what would be written hundreds of years later in Matthew 10:28, which says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”

As we read, their defiance of King Nebuchadnezzar did get them thrown into the fiery furnace, but to the astonishment of the king and all his men, God delivered them from any injury. Realizing that their God had saved them, Nebuchadnezzar called them to come out of the furnace and they came out completely unharmed. This event changed the king and he came to believe in the God of Israel as well, and commanded that all nations and people honor the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is dealing with a very similar situation. However, the threat to His life is not by some foreign king demanding He worship a false god. The threat to Jesus’ life is coming from His own people: the Jews. 

One of the interesting things about this Gospel is in the very first sentence. It’s short, but says something important that can be easily overlooked. It says, “Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him.” Did you catch that? Jesus is speaking to “those Jews who believed in him.” He wasn’t speaking to the Pharisees or the Sadducees. He’s not speaking to unbelievers. He’s talking to Jews who believe in Him and seem to want to be His disciples. Jesus goes on to say, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

However, while they “believe” in Jesus, they clearly don’t understand what He’s saying and (even more so) don’t understand who He is. Instead of listening and learning from Jesus, instead of accepting His message of truth that will set them free and living the life He’s calling them to live, in their pride they’re offended by His message and argue with Him to the point that this eighth chapter of John ends by saying, “So they picked up stones to throw at him.”

These are the type of disciples Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:21 when He said, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven,” or in Luke 6:46 when Jesus said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ but do not do what I command?” But don’t we still see this today? Haven’t we all known people who talk a good game when it comes to the faith, but (when it comes to living it) often choose to do things their own way and ignore the teachings of Christ’s Church that are inconvenient for them? Heck, I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t the way I’ve lived life at times. Been there, done that. It didn’t work out well for me. 

This Lenten season of prayer and penance reminds us that it doesn’t have to be that way! Jesus doesn’t want it to be that way! He’s constantly showering down His love, mercy, and grace upon us and wants us to embrace these gifts and unite ourselves to Him, moving us to turn away from anything that’s opposed to His will and separates us from Him (anything that’d lead us to focus our lives on ‘me, myself, and I,’ instead of God and neighbor). 

During this last week of Lent, let’s use the time God has given us wisely: reconciling ourselves with Him through the Sacrament of Confession, surrendering ourselves to the Lord, and opening our hearts to live the life of prayer, self-denial, and works of mercy that God calls all people to live.

A life in which our old ways pass away and our focus moves from self to savior.

A life of happiness and holiness (not of this world but in the Lord) of which the ultimate destination is heaven. 

Amen.