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Context No. 1818 of 4322 · 2 Maccabees

Context · Reflection

2 Maccabees 14:1-5: in context

1Three years later, news was brought to Judas and his company that Demetrius the son of Seleucus, having sailed into the harbor of Tripolis with a mighty army and a fleet, 2had taken possession of the country, having made away with Antiochus and his guardian Lysias. 3But one Alcimus, who had formerly been high priest, and had willfully polluted himself in the times when there was no mingling with the Gentiles, considering that there was no deliverance for him in any way, nor any more access to the holy altar, 4came to King Demetrius in about the one hundred fifty-first year, presenting to him a crown of gold and a palm, and beside these some of the festal olive boughs of the temple. For that day, he held his peace; 5but having gotten opportunity to further his own madness, being called by Demetrius into a meeting of his council, and asked how the Jews stood affected and what they intended, he answered:

As Demetrius takes the throne, a man named Alcimus, who had once been high priest but had willfully defiled himself, sees an opening for himself. Knowing he has no honest way back to the altar he forfeited, he comes to the king bearing gifts, a gold crown, a palm, and olive branches from the temple, and bides his time. Then, invited to the king's council and asked about the state of the Jews, he uses the chance to advance his own ambition, slandering the faithful Judas and his companions to gain power for himself.

Alcimus is a study in ambition cloaked in religion. He had held the sacred office of high priest and had defiled it; now, cut off from any honest return, he schemes to regain power by political maneuvering and by slandering the faithful. He comes with religious tokens, temple branches and a crown, making a show of piety while pursuing his own advancement, and turns against the very people who are defending the faith, because their faithfulness stands in the way of his ambition. His religion is a mask; his real god is his own power. There is a sobering warning here, for this corruption is not confined to ancient high priests. It is possible to use religion, religious position, the appearance of piety, the language of faith, as a vehicle for personal ambition, to advance ourselves under a cloak of godliness while our real aim is power, status, or gain. And such ambition, when the faithful stand in its way, readily turns against them, slandering and undermining those whose genuine devotion is inconvenient to our advancement. Alcimus made a show of temple branches while plotting to seize power and destroy the faithful. This is among the uglier forms of sin, the use of holy things for self, and it calls us to examine our own motives where religion and ambition meet. Do we ever use the appearance of faith, our religious role or reputation, to advance ourselves? Do we resent or undermine the genuinely faithful when their devotion is inconvenient to our aims? The mask of piety over a heart set on self-advancement is an old and dangerous thing, and Alcimus, with his temple branches and his slander, is its warning. Better to be lowly and genuine than to hold sacred things as a cloak for ambition.

Do I ever use the appearance of faith, my religious role or reputation, as a cloak for my own advancement, and do I resent or undermine the genuinely faithful when their devotion is inconvenient to my aims, as Alcimus made a show of piety while slandering the faithful to seize power for himself?

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