2 Maccabees 4:23-29: a reflection

23Now after a space of three years, Jason sent Menelaus, the previously mentioned Simon’s brother, to carry the money to the king, and to make reports concerning some necessary matters. 24But he being commended to the king, and having been glorified by the display of his authority, secured the high priesthood for himself, outbidding Jason by three hundred talents of silver. 25After receiving the royal mandates, he returned bringing nothing worthy of the high priesthood, but having the passion of a cruel tyrant and the rage of a savage animal. 26So Jason, who had supplanted his own brother, was supplanted by another and driven as a fugitive into the country of the Ammonites 27Menelaus had possession of the office, but of the money that had been promised to the king nothing was regularly paid, even though Sostratus the governor of the citadel demanded it— 28for his job was the gathering of the revenues—so they were both called by the king to his presence. 29Menelaus left his own brother Lysimachus for his deputy in the high priesthood; and Sostratus left Crates, who was over the Cyprians.

This passage records a sordid episode: the high priesthood, the sacred office of leading God's people in worship, is bought and sold like a piece of merchandise. Menelaus outbids Jason by three hundred talents of silver to secure the office for himself; and once he has it, he behaves not as a servant of God but with the rage of a savage animal. A holy office has been made an object of greed and corruption, seized by whoever will pay the most.

Notice what has happened here: something sacred has been corrupted by greed. The high priesthood, which should have been held in reverence and used to serve God and his people, is treated as a prize to be bought, secured by the highest bidder, held by a man ruled by greed and cruelty. When greed lays hold of what is sacred, it corrupts it, turning a holy trust into an object of ambition and gain.

That corruption of the sacred by greed is a danger to guard against, for greed can lay hold of holy things in our day too. What is meant to serve God and others can be turned, by greed, into a means of personal gain and ambition; sacred trusts can be corrupted when we treat them as prizes to be seized for ourselves. Guard your own heart against letting greed corrupt what is sacred. Whatever holy trust or service God has given you, hold it as a servant, not as a prize to be exploited for gain; do not let ambition and greed turn a sacred calling into a means of self-advancement. What is God's is to be held in reverence and used for him, not bought and sold for personal gain, as the priesthood was in this sad account.

Lord, this passage records a sordid episode: the high priesthood, a sacred office, bought and sold like merchandise, secured by the highest bidder, held by a man ruled by greed and cruelty. Show me the danger in it: that greed can corrupt what is sacred. What is meant to serve you and others can be turned, by greed, into a means of personal gain and ambition; sacred trusts can be corrupted when I treat them as prizes to be seized for myself. Guard my own heart against letting greed corrupt what is sacred. Whatever holy trust or service you have given me, help me hold it as a servant, not as a prize to be exploited for gain; keep ambition and greed from turning a sacred calling into a means of self-advancement. What is yours is to be held in reverence and used for you, not bought and sold for personal gain, as the priesthood was in this sad account. Keep my heart free from greed, Lord, especially toward holy things.