The Fourth Man

‘But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.’

- Daniel 3:25

This semester, one of my assignments was to write a Bible study on a chosen theme using passages from six different parts of the Bible. The theme I selected was "suffering". The thing about the theme of suffering is it was not hard to find passages I could use. There is suffering in pretty much every book of the Bible and on every page. Ironic, since one of the most common question and topics sought by American Christians is, "Why does a good God let people suffer?" Or, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" I wonder if those who question this have ever read the Bible. It makes it pretty clear that suffering is an expected part of life, no matter how much one follows God.

The examples I used came from Joseph, David, Elijah, Paul, and even Jesus Himself. These are examples of men who followed God faithfully. They didn't always get it right (*clears throat* looking at you, David), but their faith held fast to the Father and His will. Yet, even so, they suffered.

Following the completion of the study, I had to write a comparative analysis, summarizing the lessons and commonalities from the six chosen passages. I wrote about how we shouldn't expect to be spared from suffering. I wrote about how God meets us there and pulls us through. I wrote about the hope and promise we have that one day, all suffering will end.

But it occurred to me this morning in church that I missed something.

I forget the name of the song we were singing in worship, but the lyric says, "There was a fourth man in the fire, standing next to me."

This lyric of course is a reference to the story in Daniel 3 where King Nebuchadnezzar orders the Israeli captives in Babylon to bow before an image of him and most of them do, because they fear what will happen to them if they do not. But these three refuse: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They refuse to bow down and worship anyone other than God. So, the king has them thrown into a fiery furnace. The super-hot kind that can melt metal. Yet they do not die. When the king looks into the flames, he seems them, walking around, untouched by the flames. And not just them, but he also sees a fourth man, one who had "the appearance of a god".    

They weren't alone in the furnace. 

Some people think this fourth man was an angel, sent to protect them. Others, though, think this was a theophany - an appearance of Jesus Himself.*

It occurred to me as I sang these words this morning: maybe it's not that God meets us in the midst of our suffering, but rather, that we meet God in the midst of our suffering. Maybe God is already there.

When I was working at the shelter by the US/Mexico border, where we received asylum-seekers who had recently been released by the Border Patrol while awaiting the outcome of their asylum cases, I constantly saw Jesus there. I saw Him in the joy of the little children who ran about our feet, so happy to be in a safe place where they could just be kids for a little while. I saw Him in the hope reflected in the eyes of the young mothers, many of whom had traveled thousands of miles on foot and through dangerous territory in order to give their kids a chance at life and escape the horrors of their home. I saw Him in the kindness and compassion of the volunteers, many of whom were spending their retirement washing bed sheets and sorting donated shoes and serving soup.

The shelter wasn't run by a church. It wasn't run by Christians, though there were some Christians there. Yet it was one of the clearest examples I have ever seen of the kind of work Jesus calls us to do - of feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, and welcoming the stranger.

The people had suffered so much.

Maybe, that's why Jesus was there. Maybe, where there is suffering, that is where we find Him.

This distinction rocks me to my core. So much of our comfortable American life is focused on avoiding suffering. We don't want it. Don't like it. Complain all the way through it - if we make it through it. We fear it. We avoid it at all costs.

But perhaps, that's where we meet Jesus.

In the early church, the first martyrs considered it a joy to "share in the suffering of Jesus Christ". They considered it a great privilege. They considered it a calling.

Still, they didn't believe that we should seek out persecution or suffering or martyrdom. In fact, they supported avoiding it if possible - though not by denying the faith. Only by running away or hiding. But for those who did go through persecution, suffering or martyrdom, they were considered especially blessed and favored by God.

What a different perspective we have!

What if, in our suffering, instead of trying to get out of it, or shaking our fist up at heaven about it, we look for Christ? We look for the fourth man in the fire. We seek His face.

Because He does promise to be with us always, especially in times of suffering.

And maybe, just maybe, that is where we meet Him.

* The Old Testament has many examples of potential appearances of the preincarnate Christ. Since we know Jesus always existed with God (John 1), it is possible that He took human form and had encounters with the Old Testament characters prior to His birth and life in Jerusalem. God is not constrained by time as we are, nor is He linear. This is an interesting topic of study, for those so motivated.