Scripture Daily

Context No. 1454 of 4322 · 1 Maccabees

Context · Reflection

1 Maccabees 12:19-23: in context

19And this is the copy of the letters which they sent to Onias: 20“Arius king of the Spartans to Onias the chief priest, greetings. 21It has been found in writing, concerning the Spartans and the Jews, that they are kindred, and that they are of the descendants of Abraham. 22Now, since this has come to our knowledge, you will do well to write to us of your prosperity. 23We moreover write on our part to you, that your livestock and goods are ours, and ours are yours. We do command therefore that they make report to you accordingly.”

This passage preserves a curious ancient letter. Arius, king of the Spartans, has written to Onias, the high priest of the Jews, with a striking claim: it has been found in writing that the Spartans and the Jews are kindred, both descended from Abraham. Since this has come to light, the letter says, you would do well to write to us of your welfare; and we for our part write to you that your cattle and goods are ours, and ours are yours. A distant people, far off across the sea, claims brotherhood, and with the claim of kinship comes a bond of shared concern and shared possessions.

There is something touching in this ancient exchange, whatever the historical truth of the claimed kinship. A far-off nation, hearing that they might be related to the Jews, writes to claim the bond, and with the bond comes generosity: your goods are ours, and ours are yours; write to us of your welfare, for your concerns are now our concerns. The recognition of kinship changes everything; once these distant Spartans regard the Jews as brothers, they extend to them the care and sharing that brothers owe one another. It is a small human picture of something the gospel makes far greater and far truer. For in Christ, people who were strangers, far off, of different nations and languages and origins, are made genuinely one family, kindred not by a doubtful ancient descent but by a shared Father and a shared redemption. The longing for connection across distance that this old letter expresses, the desire to claim and be claimed as kin, is answered fully in the family God gathers from every nation, in which the stranger becomes a brother and the far-off one is brought near. And with that true kinship comes the same bond the letter reached for: your welfare is my concern, what is mine is yours, we belong to one another. To recognize another believer, however distant or different, as genuine kin, and to extend to them the care that kinship owes, is to live out the reality the gospel creates.

Do I recognize other believers, however distant or different from me, as genuine kin, family gathered by one Father, and do I extend to them the care and concern that kinship owes, so that their welfare becomes my concern?

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