After seizing and destroying Jerusalem and its Temple in 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, took those who survived his army’s swords to Babylon as captives. Prophets, such as Isaiah, warned this tragedy as a terrible consequence of Judah’s sins in their prophecies as to follow the cataclysmic end of her sister kingdom, Israel, in 722 BC, resulting from ignoring prophetic warnings against apostasy and idolatry. Prophet Hosea allegorically put such Israel as an adulterous wife, who ignored persistent calls to return to her loving, faithful, and righteous husband.
Israel was permanently destroyed by the Assyrians,
as prophesized, because of her obstinate sinfulness, ignoring prophetic warning
(2 Kings 17:1-23). Its sister kingdom, Judah, should have taken a lesson from
this. So, king of Judah was called to listen to God to preserve the house of
David, as promised by God. During that tragic time of Israel, Judah was not
faithful to God. It was also when Ahaz was king of Judah and he remained
defiant to God (2 Kings 16:1-20;2 Chronicles 28:1-27). Though, his son,
Hezekiah made an attempt to reform (2 Kings 18:1-12; 2 Chronicles 29:1-31:21), his
initial attempt to reform did not bear fruit as his pride a(2 Kings
18:13-20:21; Chronicles 32:1-33). Then, his son, Manasseh, reigned Judah but he
was rather a very corrupt king, though he later converted and became a faithful
king to God (2 Kings 21:1-18; 2 Chronicle 33:1-20), but his son, Amon, was a
corrupt king, who never listened to God and converted, so bad that he was not
even buried with other Davidic kings (2 Kings 21:19-26; 2 Chronicles 33:21-25).
Finally, Josiah, as king of Judah, worked hard to restore what had been lost in
generations of corruption and renewed the covenant (2 Kings 22:1-23:30).
Though Josiah was a really good king in the eyes of
God, like David, the effects of his reform did not last, as his successors, from
Jehoahaz to Zedekiah, were not good, thus Judah was led to the Babylonian exile
(2 Kings 23:31-25:21). And, this is a historical background leading to what is
reflected in today’s First Reading (Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95), as it reflects
how three faithful Jewish children Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, whose names
are Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, in Hebrew, fight against pagan king
Nebuchadnezzar’s order to worship his gold statue, risking their lives, during
the Babylonian exile.
If you remember the
First Reading for the Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent (Daniel 3:25,
34-43), you may recall something unique about Daniel 3, as this chapter of the
Book of Daniel is different between the Catholic Bible (NABRE) and Protestant
bibles, such as KJV and NIV, as well as the Jewish Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures). It is because the text of Daniel
3:24-90 in the Catholic Bible is not found in Tanakh and Protestant bibles.
In fact, this text, Daniel 3:24-90, is inserted between Daniel 3:23 and
Daniel 3:24, and known as the Song of Azariah (or Song of Three Children), is
in the Septuagint (septuaginta – LXX), Greek version of the Old Testament,
which has additions, known as the Apocrypha (or Deuterocanonical books), to the
Hebrew Tanakh.
The Song of Azariah (Song of the Three Children) is
a reflection of how God protected the three faithful Jewish children, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah), in the extremely hot
and powerful fires of Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace. And it reminds us that these
three faithful Jewish children kept praying to God, with their blessings to God
(Daniel 3:52-90). This reflects the spirit of Psalm 34, as well as, 1
Thessalonians 5:16–18. In fact, verses from Daniel 52-56 are sung in today's Responsorial Psalm.
Upon conquering Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar was so
proud as king of the world’s super power empire. So, he elected the golden
statue, to show off his power and demanded everyone in his empire to bow down
and worship it with his warning of death penalty for failing to observe his
order (Daniel 3:1-7). But, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refused to follow
Nebuchadnezzar’s order – defied to bow down to this pagan king, who seized
Jerusalem and desecrated the Temple, not being afraid to be killed, resulting
in his rage and summoning them (Daniel 3:8-13). So, today’s Gospel Reading (Daniel
3:14-20, 91-92, 95) starts here.
In vv. 14-20, which are from the original Hebrew
text of Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were questioned by
Nebuchadnezzar for their awareness of his decree and the consequence of failing
to obey, threatening to thrown them into the furnace fire. To this, the three
remained resolvedly defiant to the pagan king, saying:
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, you should know, O king, that we
will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up
(Daniel 3:16-18).
Basically, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were
rather challenging Nebuchadnezzar to see who is in control: Nebuchadnezzar, just
because he is heads the super power of the world, as conquering many empires,
or God, whom they believe. But, Nebuchadnezzar was so enraged and ordered to
throw them in the fire (Daniel 3:19-20).
Then, the First Reading jump on to vv.91-92, 95,
which are Daniel 3:24-25, 28, in the Tanakh
and Protestant bibles.
Realizing that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were
not harmed at all – the fire that is strong enough to incinerate them to ashes
and bones fast did not affect them at all, Nebuchadnezzar was so amazed and
recognized the power of God, whom these three steadfastly believe. So, Nebuchadnezzar
could not help but exclaim:
Blessed
be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver
the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded
their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore
I decree for nations and peoples of every language that whoever blasphemes the
God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut to pieces and his house
made into a refuse heap. For there is no other God who can rescue like this
(Daniel 3:95-96/3:28-29).
Perhaps, witnessing that the fire of his furnace
could not destroy Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as they were protected by
the most powerful God, whom they believe, this exclamation reflected his reverence
to God. It seemed that Nebuchadnezzar woke up to the truth in God, His power.
And, He then ordered everyone in his empire not blaspheme God.
It is intriguing that Nebuchadnezzar recognized the fourth man, along with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the fire, and seeing him like a "son of God" (Daniel 3:92/Daniel 3:26). It looked like this pagan king witnessed pre-incarnated Christ to come to recognize the great saving power of God of these three faithful Jewish boys.
Nebuchadnezzar, who thought himself to be the most
powerful man, to be deified, opened his eyes to God. However, during the time
of Jesus, those who took pride in their piety to God, failed to open their eyes
to God, as reflected in today’s Gospel Reading (John 8:31-42). Jesus taught further
on his Christological truth in his relation to the Father, reiterating what he
had said before, to those who could not open their eyes to this truth. However,
they remained obstinately blind to the truth that Jesus spoke. So, the argument
went parallel.
Jesus said to those who accused him and so proud of
their self-righteousness:
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 (John 8:32).
To this, they proved their own ignorance – blindness
to the truth in God reflected in Jesus’ word, exposing their hypocrisy by responding
this way:
We
are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone How. can you
say, “You will become free”? (John 8:32).
Never been enslaved, just because being the proud
descendants of Abraham? Haven’t they forgotten these 430 years of slavery in
Egypt? Not remembering this fact also may mean that they cannot appreciate God’s
deliverance of them from the bandage into freedom through Passover. They had
not learned any lesson from their forefathers’ sin of ingratitude to God and
how it had contributed their repetitive sins through Exodus and beyond. Their
pride disabled them to understand what Jesus meant by “free”. It is to be free
from the bandage of sins. Unless we understand this, how can we understand why
he was sent by the Father to do his will – namely why he is to be lifted up
(John 3:14).
So, Jesus explained so kindly what he meant by “free”
and he meant being free from sin:
Everyone
who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household
forever, but a son always remains. So if a son frees you, then you will truly
be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill
me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the
Father’s presence; then do what you have heard from the Father
(John 8:34-38).
Jesus sure made it clear that he was speaking about
freedom from the bondage of sins, reflecting that he came to take away sins of
the world (John 1:29) – to free us from sins. And, he reiterated this truth in
his relation to the Father.
Did they get it? Did they open their blind eyes to
this Christological truth in Jesus?
No.
They stubbornly remained ignorant and blind, as
their pride was pathologically crystalized. Because of this, they responded to
Jesus with their stupid argument about “father”. Though Jesus was speaking of
the Father in heaven, the Father, whom Abraham faithfully worshiped, they were
thinking of Abraham, the forefather of the believers (John 8:39-41). By making
such an argument against whatever Jesus said, they just wanted to continue
accusing Jesus. Even Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that he was not always right,
as reflected in today’s First Reading (Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95), these
self-righteous accusers to Jesus never even wondered what if they were wrong
but Jesus was right.
So, they remained committing the fallacy of ignoratio elenchi, a.k.a. “red herring
fallacy) and thus, making the argument parallel.
So, Jesus had to say:
If
God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did
not come on my own, but he sent me (John 8:42).
Stay tuned for the rest of the story, as we will
continue reading from John 8. But, it is evident that these hypocrites, who
accused Jesus, were worse in their ignorance than Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan.
If these accusers of Jesus had watched the furnace fire that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were thrown into, they would never recognize the fourth man, who looked like a son of God (Daniel 3:92/Daniel 3:26), who Nebuchadnezzar did.
No comments:
Post a Comment