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Context No. 4039 of 4322 · 1 Maccabees

Context · Reflection

1 Maccabees 4:34-41: in context

34They joined in battle; and about five thousand men of Lysias’ army fell. They fell down near them. 35But when Lysias saw that his troops were put to flight, and the boldness that had come upon those who were with Judas, and how they were ready either to live or to die nobly, he withdrew to Antioch, and gathered together hired soldiers, that he might come again into Judea with an even greater army. 36But Judas and his kindred said, “Behold, our enemies are defeated. Let’s go up to cleanse the holy place and to rededicate it.” 37All the army was gathered together, and they went up to mount Zion. 38They saw the sanctuary laid desolate, the altar profaned, the gates burned up, shrubs growing in the courts as in a forest or as on one of the mountains, and the priests’ chambers pulled down; 39and they tore their clothes, made great lamentation, put ashes upon their heads, 40fell on their faces to the ground, blew with the solemn trumpets,and cried toward heaven. 41Then Judas appointed certain men to fight against those who were in the citadel until he had cleansed the holy place.

After Judas Maccabaeus defeats the enemy army, his first thought is not celebration of the victory but the restoration of the desecrated temple. Behold, our enemies are crushed, he says; let us go up to cleanse and rededicate the sanctuary. And when they come up to Mount Zion and see the holy place laid desolate, the altar profaned, the gates burned, shrubs growing in the courts, they do not rush to repair it briskly.

First they tear their clothes, mourn deeply, fall on their faces, and cry out to God. Only then do they set about the work of cleansing and restoration. There is something instructive in this response. Faced with the desolation of what was holy, they first grieved it. They did not treat the defilement of God's house lightly or move past it quickly to the practical work; they let it break their hearts, mourning what had been lost and lamenting before God. And out of that genuine grief came the resolve to restore. Real restoration often begins with genuine grief, with letting the loss and defilement of what should be holy move us, before we take up the work of rebuilding.

When I see holy things desecrated, in the world or in my own life, do I let it genuinely grieve me before I move to repair it, allowing real sorrow over what has been defiled to give rise to the resolve to restore?

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