Saved By Listening

There is wisdom in listening.

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐃𝐚𝐧 𝟑:𝟏𝟒-𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟒-𝟐𝟓, 𝟐𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐃𝐚𝐧 𝟑:𝟓𝟐-𝟓𝟔 “𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫!”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟖:𝟑𝟏-𝟒𝟐

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “…𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆.” (𝒗.32)

If there is anything that will strike you while you are digesting the meaning of the liturgical readings of today, it would be that obedience to the Word of God can save you from certain death and or from the eternal flame that awaits those who will reject God’s offer of salvation.

The salvific benefits of obedience became evident in the lives of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the First Reading when they walked out of the fiery furnace that was heated seven times hotter than the usual (𝒗𝒗.19-25). And in this scenario in the first reading, we are given a vivid picture of what confronts us as we go through our paces each day.

As life is a matter of choice, God gives us free will to choose the way we want to go. There is, however, a big difference between choice and discernment. Too often even in a parish or community setting, many teachers or preachers tell members to use discernment when making a decision and they are oriented on the process of discernment.

Yet too often also they are not told of the most important component of discernment differentiating it from making a choice by including prayer and using the Word of God as a guide in their discernment process.

This is entirely incorrect because making a choice is different from discernment. Choice is choosing between what is bad and what is right, what is good and what is evil. Choice therefore is a matter of choosing between two contrasting choices. Discernment, on the other hand, is choosing what is better between two good choices.

This gospel passage impresses upon us that we can either listen and be subservient to His Word or we can ignore it altogether and go about our lives in reckless abandon. What we are saying is that God has made available his Word for all of us and He gives us a choice to take it or leave it.

But we should not even for once surmise that God doesn’t care because he does and this is the reason why he sent his only begotten Son to become one of us that we may come 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑯𝒊𝒎 (𝑱𝒏 17:33), 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒊𝒎 (𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 22:37), 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒊𝒎 (𝑱𝒏 12:26) 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 (𝑱𝒏 16:22).

In fact, God cared for us so much that he accepted without any reservation the Will of God that he should die on the cross. As Christ was obedient till death, God also requires the same level of obedience from us. At the end of the day, obedience is what will save us from the fiery furnace of hell.

As in the first reading, it was the obedience of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to God’s Will that saved them from death that they were willing to suffer rather than disobey their God. And God Himself rewarded them for their obedience and faithfulness that they were led out of the furnace.

And we see perfect obedience in Jesus who came to do the Will of his Father in heaven. He knew what was before him. Jesus knew he will be betrayed (𝑱𝒏 13:21) but he did not run away from the cross. In fact, Jesus was more than willing to embrace the cross for our sake.

As we step into the observance of the Holy Week, let us ponder on the obedience of Christ because this was what reversed the curse of Adam’s disobedience that brought sin into the world and which through the death of Jesus on the cross has restored us into the image and likeness of God who created us. And it was also when he was lifted on the cross that the Father crowned him with victory over sin, death, and Satan.

As Jesus goes through his Passion, Death and Resurrection, he is showing us that the way to true freedom and victory is by freely submitting our hearts, minds, and Will to an all-merciful, all-loving, and all-wise God.

In essence, the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus provides us with a perfect view of the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy that is being offered to us by God through the Holy Spirit (𝑹𝒐𝒎 14:17) and the Gospel passage today gives us an almost complete lesson in discipleship right at the beginning – “𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆.” (𝒗𝒗.31-32)

Indeed, discipleship begins with believing and accepting that Jesus taught about the love of God, the destructive effects of sin and the true purpose and meaning of life are true. It also means that are to constantly remain in the Word of God and this involves listening, learning, immersion and obeying what Jesus says.

To learn from Jesus is to also learn the truth and while many of us might venture to ask what the truth is, the truth that Jesus brings is the real and true value of life and this should bring us to the question of what we are to do with our life.

Are we going to join the frenetic pace that we may succeed in our chosen careers? Do we set aside what is moral to amass material possessions? Do we exist to have a leisurely and pleasurable life? Or did God bring us into the world to know him, love him, serve him and be happy with him in eternity. As we go through life, we will know the truth if we remain in Jesus because it is in him that we will see what is important in life and what is not.

Christian discipleship leads us to freedom and in Jesus we can experience freedom from fear as we will never be alone when we seek the company of Jesus. Discipleship also liberates from us from the sinful tendencies that has enslaved us. True discipleship also delivers us from fear of what other people think and say about us. A disciple is one who is no longer concerned what people say because he thinks only of what God says.

Today’s Gospel passage shows us that while the Jews never thought of themselves as having been enslaved, Jesus confronts them with a different concept of slavery – that of being slaves to sin and here Jesus makes a veiled threat as he equates a Jewish household with the Kingdom of God in which the Son remains in the household but the slave can be ejected anytime.

What Jesus meant was that those among us who have become slaves to sin will be ejected and or evicted from the Kingdom of God while those who abides in the Son of God will remain.

Disciples of Jesus are assured of true freedom and deliverance from slavery to pride, arrogance and false humility, disbelief and ignorance, selfishness and greed, hatred and revenge, fear and anxiety, despair and depression, and habits and addictions that cripple our lives.

This is what the Good News is all about as it sets us free from sin that disfigures our image. Through the gift and power of the Holy Spirit we can choose to turn away from sin and yield instead to God's Grace that empowers us to walk constantly in and with Christ.

A disciple follows and listens. If we want to follow Christ and live as his disciples, then we must listen and put the Word of God on our minds, hearts and our lips. As we listen to Jesus in faith, we must clothe ourselves with a humble and teachable spirit and obey God with complete trust which means we simply must forget who we once were. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 9, 2025)