Jesus said in today’s gospel, “they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony…. you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking.” Doesn’t this sound a whole lot like the first reading for mass today?
Daniel was brought before king Belshazzar, because the king heard that the Spirit of God was in Daniel and that he could interpret dreams. The king offered him gifts and to be third in governing the kingdom, if he could explain the writing on the wall.
(As a side note, this is where the expression came from, that you “can see the writing on the wall.” It is a clique that has come to mean you can see by the signs, that imminent doom or misfortune is going to happen in the near future.)
This is an awesome story in many ways, but especially because of how God revealed Himself to a people who utterly rejected him and were in fact, using the holy cups from the temple in Jerusalem to drink out of, while praising the gods they had made for themselves out of precious medals. They were practically laughing in His face, while drinking wine out of His holy cups from the temple.
God sure showed them though! King Belshazzar and his lords, wives and entertainers had become a little too comfortable in the fun they were having, to even notice how insulting their behavior was to God. Their confidence was suddenly destroyed when the finger of God appeared out of nowhere and wrote on the wall. The scriptures said that the king’s hip joints shook and his knees knocked.
But the other reason this story is so awesome is because of how Daniel handled the whole thing. He did exactly what Jesus told his own followers to do in today’s gospel. Daniel spoke courageously, even though he knew it was not going to be what the king wanted to hear. He told him the truth and so be it, if the king didn’t like it. There is no doubt that Holy Spirit came to Daniel’s aid and instructed him on what to say. Daniel probably didn’t even have to think too much about it, the Holy Spirit simply used him as an instrument to speak God’s truth to the king.
Daniel had great courage in speaking up to the king, even knowing that he wouldn’t like what God had to say to him. Daniel could have been killed. Jesus said in today’s gospel that “You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.” And, it was shortly after this, that Daniel was thrown in the lions den, but not a hair on his head was harmed either.
The bible shows us time and again, that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God. Both of the scriptures in today’s readings for mass confirms that Jesus thinks and acts just like his Father, and well he should, being the third person of the Trinity.
The point of today’s readings for mass, is to be loyal to Jesus, and have courage when we need to speak up for the gospel values. People will hate us for speaking up for the right thing, or for telling them when they are doing something wrong. Jesus explains that it will be some of our own family members and friends that turn against us, when we do so. Yet, we are not to be afraid or worry what anyone thinks about our words, when we speak up for the gospel values.
As a side note though, it is awesome how the truth is the truth, at any time in history. Nothing changes the truth. Cultures come and go, rulers rise and fall, the world undergoes so many changes. But, God will never change. Jesus Christ’s words will never change. His words will be the truth until the end of time. It does not matter what anyone else thinks about it. We need to remember that. It matters what Jesus thinks about our actions, and our words. The rest of the world’s opinion of us just doesn’t matter in the long run. When we stay loyal to Jesus, he stays loyal to us. It feels pretty awesome that Jesus loves us unconditionally, and he is always on our side, as long as we remain in his friendship.
