Context No. 3235 of 4322 · 1 Maccabees

1 Maccabees 11:45-53: in context

45The people of the city gathered themselves together into the midst of the city, to the number of one hundred and twenty thousand men, and they wanted to kill the king. 46The king fled into the court of the palace, and the people of the city seized the main streets of the city and began to fight. 47The king called the Jews to help him, and they were gathered together to him all at once, and they dispersed themselves in the city, and killed that day about one hundred thousand. 48They set the city on fire, and seized many spoils that day, and saved the king. 49The people of the city saw that the Jews had taken control of the city as they pleased, and they became faint in their hearts, and they cried out to the king with supplication, saying, 50“Give us your right hand, and let the Jews cease from fighting against us and the city.” 51They threw away their weapons and made peace. The Jews were glorified in the sight of the king, and before all who were in his kingdom. Then they returned to Jerusalem, having much plunder. 52So King Demetrius sat on the throne of his kingdom, and the land was quiet before him. 53He lied in all that he spoke, and estranged himself from Jonathan, and didn’t repay him according to the benefits with which he had repaid him, and treated him very harshly.

The people of Antioch rise in revolt against King Demetrius, who is trapped in his palace. He calls the Jews to help him, and they come to his aid, putting down the uprising and saving his throne. The king honors them, and they return to Jerusalem with much plunder. But afterward, the text says, he lied in all that he spoke, estranged himself from Jonathan, and did not repay him according to the good he had done.

Setting aside the violence, the sharp lesson is the king's ingratitude. The Jews came to Demetrius's aid at his urgent call and saved his throne; he honored them at first, but then he lied in all that he spoke, turned against Jonathan, and would not repay the good they had done. It is a bitter picture of ingratitude and broken faith: those who helped him in his hour of need were forgotten and mistreated once the danger had passed. Human gratitude is often shallow and short; those we serve may forget us. This is why we finally serve for God's sake and not for human repayment, for people disappoint, but God forgets no kindness done.

When those I have helped forget or mistreat me, can I rest in serving for God's sake, who forgets no kindness, rather than in the shallow gratitude of people?

Sources

1 Maccabees 11:53: "He lied in all that he spoke, and estranged himself from Jonathan, and didn't repay him according to the benefits."
Proverbs 17:13: "Whoever rewards evil for good, evil will not depart from his house."
Hebrews 6:10: "For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the love which you showed toward his name."