​Many years ago, for one of my Christmas messages, the theme that I chose was the story of the Three Young Men who were thrown into the fiery furnace, which we read about in chapter 3 of the Book of Daniel.
It’s a timeless Bible story, one the earliest ones we may learn as children. It tells of how three young Jews, Azariah, Anania and Mesael, who were servants in the court of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, angered the king by refusing to bow down to a huge golden statue he had made of himself.
Taking place during the Babylonian Captivity, when the Assyrians had overrun Jerusalem and had brought the royal court to Assyria as captives-servants, the backdrop of this story helps us to understand the dire predicament that the Jews, and especially these young men, faced. They knew they were Jews and were treated as such by their captors in the foreign land, yet they were slowly losing their identity. They were now serving a foreign, idolatrous, king - one who did not serve the one, true God about whom they were taught and whom they had come to worship, they were doing the bidding of this foreign people and were even living under the assumed Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Things looked very bleak for them during this sorrowful time, and were about to get bleaker still with this new decree from the King, that all who lived in his imperial city, when they were prompted by the playing of musical instruments, were supposed to stop everything and bow down and worship his statue.
Oh… and if they didn’t, the punishment was going to be getting thrown into a burning, fiery furnace.
Now, as the story goes, when it was brought to the attention of the king that these three refused to bow down because they would not bow down to anyone other than God, they indeed faced the king’s wrath and were indeed thrown into the fiery furnace.
Yet, the Bible records that not only were they not burned by the fire, not only was not even a hair on their head singed or was there the smell of smoke on their clothes, but that they were thrown into the fire bound, later to be seen walking around freely, singing praises to God along with a “fourth man in the fire” who had the appearance of the angel.
This was all very astonishing to the king, and Nebuchadnezzar called them out of the furnace, only to be converted to worshiping God right away!
It is an amazing, almost incredible story! But what, do you ask, does it have to do with Christmas and the Christmas story?
I found a little bit of wisdom about this on social media, that I think answers this question very well and that I would like to quote. I don’t mean to say that it was written by my sister, but I would that she has a very eloquent way of articulating the meaning of these kinds of things.
She writes: “We hear this Old Testament story immediately before Christmas Eve and Easter Eve mass in the Armenian Church because it is the Old Testament story that best portrays salvation - God literally rescues his faithful followers from the fire of death.
“The wisdom of the church fathers to hold up this story as a backdrop for the significance of the two major feast days! It clarifies exactly what type of savior the people of God were awaiting and are celebrating: the One who saves us from eternal peril and who rescues us from the eternal fire is born.”
This is correct. Last night, immediately before our Christmas Divine Liturgy, several of our boys chanted this entire reading during the reading of eleven Old Testament readings prefiguring the salvation of mankind through Jesus Christ.
In trying to help them prepare for last night, I too spent a lot of time with this reading and got to contemplating yet another aspect of its powerful message.
Now, remember how I said earlier that this is a famous Bible story, one that we take as just that – a story, somewhat fantastical and, not unlike a fairytale, detailing the folly of a whimsical king and the dramatic situation created due to said folly. The happy ending makes us feel good at the end doesn’t it?
But today I would like us to consider this part of the story. While the story as it is set up may seem fable like or almost satirical, we must keep in mind that the scripture told us that this is what happened:
When they were standing before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.” Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. (Daniel 3:3-7, NRSV)
Yes, you heard that right… when the crazy King made the proclamation for everyone to bow down and essentially worship him, the people did it, most likely no questions asked. I do not know which is more spine-tingling, the fact that this crazy king had the audacity to have a golden statue of himself made and require his subjects to worship it under threat of death, or the fact that the people blindly followed this command, thinking nothing of whether or not this object was deserving of such veneration.
We may write this off as merely indices of the time or as hyperbole of one sort of another, but the fact of the matter is that this really happened… there were really people, men and women like you and me gathered in a large field, ritualistically bowing down before a golden statue of a kooky king.
Flash forward to today. The devil makes many foolish decrees for mankind to follow – to turn away from the Christian values of humility, piety and love for neighbor, to idolize the latest pop stars, screen stars or sports stars, to follow the latest trends, even when they make a mockery of God and his commandments, to place one’s self as an idol over everything else, and, yes, to bow down in that big field of one’s ego and worship it like those inane people of yesteryear.
Dearly beloved, the message for us today is to not do it, not to cave in to the temptation, not to make anything else God in our life, other than God himself, no matter the threat and no matter the perceived benefit of our doing so.
The only God who can give us life is the God who has life in himself, and that is the All-holy Trinity. The only God who can save us from the fiery pits of this world, is the one who descended to be with us in that world. This message is so poignantly delivered to us today, as we celebrate the birth and revelation of God himself on this earth.
In Jesus Christ our Lord, we have seen the true image of the true God. We come to know in him not a vain idol, but truly a powerful God who has the power to save us from the fiery flames of this world and our own sins.
Beloved children of God, my prayer for us today, as well as for the entire year, is that we would not be led astray from God and not fall to the temptation to worship things other than God – no matter how great the pressure to do so. Rather, let us remain steadfast in our faith, glorifying and praising the only-begotten Son of God, who was born and revealed for our salvation, now and always and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Քրիստոս ծնաւ եւ յայտնեցաւ: Օրհնեալ է յայտնութիւնն Քրիստոսի:
Christ is born and revealed. Blessed is the revelation of Christ.

Prayerfully,
Fr. Stephan Baljian, Pastor
​Holy Nativity & Theophany 2025

​      The Feast of the Holy Nativity & Theophany of Jesus Christ, commemorating our Lord's birth and baptism was celebrated January 5 and 6, 2025.
     On Sunday evening, January 5, over seventy faithful parishioners gathered to hear the eleven Old Testament scripture readings that prefigurate the revelation of the Messiah, and which make up the ancient service of Jrakalooyts, or "Lighting of Lanterns." Our Sunday/Armenian School students participated by reading each of the readings.
​     The Reverend Fr. Vart Gyozalyan, pastor of Holy Archangels Armenian Church in Haverhill, was in attendance at Der Stephan's invitation.  Following the Divine Liturgy and Holy Communion, the participants, led by both priests, processed downstairs to Jaffarian Hall. After the reading of the Nativity Gospel telling about the Angels' heralding of the birth of Christ to the shepherds, the clergy blessed bread, salt and water in the traditional house blessing service of our spiritual home, Saint Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church and Jaffarian Hall.