The WORD in LENT - Fifth week, Wednesday
March 29, 2023: Daniel 3: 14-20,24-25,28; John 8: 31-42
Truth will set you free; true love will set you free; it will make you experience that freedom even inside a furnace - what a strong message from the Word today, and this is the foundation of true peace too! A truth that sets you free!
The Word speaks of the power of truth to set persons free. Faithfulness to One God was an act of truth for the Jews - because that is what they experienced and they never wished to compromise on that. Today we see the story of the three men inside the furnace - the icons of this uncopromising dedication to truth... in and through their faithfulness to God. They were ready to lay down their lives. In stead they set ablaze the fire of faithfulness in the others.
Jesus shows the same faithfulness in his fearlessness. He speaks against the compromises the Jews continue to make and accuses them of being slaves to their own compromises. In fact compromises lead to bondages, while truth leads to freedom and peace! It is easy to win a so-called peace with compromises, but that would not last long and even as much as it lasts, it would not be true peace. It would be a state of inner restlessness and turmoil, enough to ask someone who has lied for the first time. The problem is we get so used to this inner turmoil and compromises that we are deceived by psuedo-peace very easily.
We have our daily furnaces in our lives, to prove our faithfulness to God, our uprightness in truth. The offer is clear and open: I will set you free, truth will set you free, Lord declares. The real source of peace is here, for peace is freedom!