The First Reading of Monday of the Fifth Week of
Lent (Daniel 13:1-9,15-17, 19-30, 33-62) is not found in typical Protestant
Bible and Jewish Tanakh. If a
Protestant Bible has the Apocrypha, then the story of Susanna can be found. In
the Catholic Bible, it is incorporated as Daniel chapter 13, and chapter 14 is
the story of Bel and the Dragon, while the Book of Daniel in Protestant Bibles
has 12 chapters. Also, in the Catholic version of the Book of Daniel, the
prayer of Azariah is incorporated in Daniel 3:24-90. It is because the story of
Susanna (Daniel 13), the story of Bel and the Dragon (Daniel 14), and the
prayer of Azariah (Daniel 3:24-90) are not found in the original Hebrew-Aramaic
version of the Book of Daniel. These are, however, found in the
Greek-translated Old Testament, known as the Septuagint.
Daniel 13 or the story of Susanna is about a
beautiful young chaste Jewish woman of faith, Susanna, married to Joakim, the
most respected man among the Jewish diasporas in Babylon during the exilic
period.
Susanna’s extraordinary beauty grew lustful
attention from two judges. It came to the point where these pervert judges no
longer control their lustful desires. Having premeditated, they attempted to
violate her. So, they trapped her in the garden and demanded her to let her
give herself in for their desire. They also threatened her to testify against
her that she was committing adulterous relation with a young man (Daniel
13:19-21). Of course, this testimony is completely false.
Susanna had a choice: to give herself into these
wicked men’s lustful desire and keep it secret, or to scream for help, risking
to be made the target of the wicked men’s false accusation, which weighs death
penalty. To this, Susanna let her conscience lead. And she took the latter
choice.
Now these wicked judges exposed Susanna to the
public to humiliate and made a grossly false testimony against her. In
response, Susanna looked up to heaven and prayed to God:
Eternal
God, you know what is hidden and are aware of all things before they come to
be: you know that they have testified falsely against me. Here I am about to
die, though I have done none of the things for which these men have condemned
me
(Daniel 13:42-43).
God heard her prayer and sent Daniel, filled with
the Holy Spirit (Daniel 13:44-45), to expose the lie made by these two wicked
man against innocent Susanna.
Daniel said to the people:
Are
you such fools, you Israelites, to condemn a daughter of Israel without
investigation and without clear evidence? Return to court, for they have
testified falsely against her (Daniel 13:48-49).
Then, Daniel examined these two separately one at a
time.
But, Daniel asked essentially the same questions, “Under what tree you saw them (Susanna and a
young man) together?”(Daniel 13:54), “Under
what tree you surprised them together”(Daniel 13:58). One said a mastic
tree (Daniel 13:55) but the other said a oak tree (Daniel 13:59). Mastic tree
is small but oak tree is large. Therefore, these trees cannot be mistakenly
seen as the same.
By letting them make inconsistent testimonies about
the tree, under which they alleged Susanna to have had a sexual relation with a
young man, Daniel proved that their testimony against Susanna was rather false.
People praised God for the justice that saved Susanna from the murderous plot
of the wicked men. And these men were condemned to death in accordance with Deuteronomy
19:18-19. Thus, justice of God was served by the clever legal defense of
Susanna by Daniel.
So, how does this story of Susanna and Daniel in the First Reading about God’s justice (Daniel 13:1-9,15-17, 19-30, 33-62) relates to the Gospel Reading (John 8:12-20)?
What Daniel did, on behalf of God, to save Susanna
from the false accusation in the First Reading (Daniel 13:1-9,15-17, 19-30,
33-62) was to bring the light of justice (i.e. Isaiah 59:9) to reveal the
darkness of the wicked men, who tried to rape her and then to kill her by
abusing the Law. In the Gospel Reading (John 8:12-20), Jesus makes this
Christological self-identification:
I
am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but
will have the light of life (John 8:12).
Christ the light means justice and darkness
represents the human wickedness, which was manifested, for example, in the
elders’ attempt to rape and kill Susanna (Daniel 13) and also to use a woman,
accusing her of adultery, to trap Jesus to press false charge against him (John
8:1-11). And he came to this world to save us from this darkness and redeem us
into the light of life. And it demands us our hearts’ conversion through
penance.
So, how did the audience of Jesus take the
statement?
First, the Pharisees complained that his
self-testimony is invalid because he was testifying for himself (John 8:13).
To these men in darkness, Jesus said:
Even
if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony can be verified, because I know
where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from
or where I am going. You judge by appearances, but I do not judge anyone. And
even if I should judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not alone, but it is
I and the Father who sent me. Even in your law it is written that the testimony
of two men can be verified. I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who
sent me (John 8:14-18).
Now compare the above statement of Jesus to the
below statement of Jesus:
If
I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified. But there is
another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on
my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.
I do not accept testimony from a human being, but I say this so that you may be
saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to
rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that
the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my
behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me has
testified on my behalf (John 5:31-37a).
Now we can skim out Jesus’ logic in validating his
testimony to himself, which is to say that he is the light of the world to
shepherd people to the light of life (John 8:12).
It is not just because John the Baptist also
testified to him but the Father gives testimony to him.
So, then, the argument once again shifted on to
Jesus’ relationship with the Father (John 8: 19; cf. 5:17-47; 7:14-29).
The Pharisees asked Jesus where his Father is, and Jesus
answered that they cannot know where the Father is because they do not see who
Jesus is (John 8:19). Namely, ignorance of Jesus’ Christological identity in
relation to the Father keeps us in darkness and prohibits us from knowing the
Father, because there is no way but through him to know the Father (i.e. John
14:6-11).
The Gospel Reading (John 8:12-20) also echoes what
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his
Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved
through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does
not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name
of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the
world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For
everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the
light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the
light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God (John 3:16-21).
Daniel’s presence to the scene of Susanna’s
execution is juxtaposed to the God’s light shines to enlighten the ignorant and
to reveals the concealed injustice committed by the wicked. So, with the light
of God’s justice brought by Daniel, Susanna, who was innocent but falsely
accused by the wicked who tried to rape her to cover up their crime, was saved
from execution, resulting in the wicked were executed according to the Law.
This is reflected in the Gospel Reading (John 8:12-20), in which Jesus
identifies himself as God’s light to the world with its source found in the
Father in heaven. But, the wicked who wanted to kill Jesus obstinately resist
to the Christ the light because they want their darkness to prevail and keep
the people in the darkness of ignorance.
Are you in the light of Christ? Or are you in
darkness of evil?
We are heading to the dark hours as we are to enter
Holy Week and further into Paschal Triduum. While some will remain in darkness
as it will get darker, we, on the other hand, will continue to walk in the
Christ the light to witness how God’s justice will prevail through his
Resurrection.
Remember, by his death during the darkest hour,
Jesus the Christ overcome death so that we will enjoy life in Christ the light
(i.e. 2 Timothy 1:9-10).
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