Context No. 2549 of 4322 · 1 Maccabees

1 Maccabees 10:59-66: in context

59King Alexander wrote to Jonathan, that he should come to meet him. 60He went with pomp to Ptolemais, and met the two kings. He gave them and their friends silver and gold, and many gifts, and found favor in their sight. 61Some malcontents out of Israel, men who were transgressors of the law, gathered together against him to complain against him; but the king paid no attention to them. 62The king commanded that they take off Jonathan’s garments and clothe him in purple, and they did so. 63The king made him sit with him, and said to his princes, “Go out with him into the midst of the city, and proclaim that no man may complain against him of any matter, and let no man trouble him for any reason.” 64It came to pass, when those who complained against him saw his honor according to the proclamation, and saw him clothed in purple, they all fled away. 65The king gave him honor, and enrolled him among his chief friends, and made him a captain and governor of a province. 66Then Jonathan returned to Jerusalem with peace and gladness.

Jonathan the Maccabee is summoned by King Alexander and received with honor, given gifts, seated beside the king, clothed in royal purple. At the same time, malcontents from Israel, men described as lawbreakers, gather to lodge complaints against him. But the king pays them no attention. He proclaims that no one may accuse Jonathan, and when the complainers see him honored in purple, they scatter and flee.

Notice that even a faithful leader draws a crowd of accusers. Being good did not spare Jonathan the complainers; the transgressors gathered against him anyway. What settled the matter was not that he silenced them, but that the king, whose verdict actually counted, honored him and ignored their charges. There is a lesson in whose opinion we live for. The complaining crowd will always be there, and no amount of faithfulness makes it disappear. But their verdict is not the one that decides anything. When the King honors his servant, the accusers lose their standing and flee.

Whose verdict am I living for, the complaining crowd that gathers against me, or the King whose judgment is the only one that finally counts?

Sources

1 Maccabees 10:61: Some malcontents out of Israel, men who were transgressors of the law, gathered together to complain against him; but the king paid no attention to them.
1 Maccabees 10:64: when those who complained against him saw his honor according to the proclamation, and saw him clothed in purple, they all fled away.
Romans 8:33: Who could bring a charge against God's chosen ones? It is God who justifies.