2 Maccabees 14:1-5: a reflection

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:

Alcimus, a man who had once been high priest but had defiled himself and lost his standing, sees an opportunity for personal advancement. He comes to the new king, Demetrius, with gifts and flattery; and when asked about his own people, he slanders them, willing to betray and misrepresent his own nation to gain favor and restore his position. His concern is not truth or the good of his people, but his own advancement; and he will slander and betray to secure it.

Notice what drives Alcimus: self-interest that will betray others to advance itself. He wanted to restore his own position and standing; and to do it, he was willing to slander his own people, to misrepresent them to the king, to betray their good for his own gain. His ambition had no conscience; the truth and the welfare of others were nothing to him beside his own advancement. Self-interest, unchecked by conscience, made him a betrayer of his own.

That kind of conscienceless self-interest is a danger to guard against in our own hearts. The desire for advancement, for position, for gain, can grow so strong that it overrides conscience, tempting us to betray others, to misrepresent or slander, to sacrifice the good of others for our own advancement, as Alcimus sacrificed his own people. Guard your heart against the self-interest that will betray others to advance itself. Do not let the desire for advancement or gain grow so strong that it overrides your conscience, tempting you to betray, slander, or harm others for your own benefit, as Alcimus did. Let your ambition be checked by conscience, and by love for others; do not advance yourself at the cost of betraying others or the truth. Alcimus betrayed his own people for his own gain; keep your own self-interest from becoming a betrayer, and do not seek your advancement at the expense of others' good.

Lord, Alcimus, who had lost his standing, sought to restore it by coming to the king with gifts and flattery and slandering his own people, willing to betray and misrepresent them to gain favor; his self-interest had no conscience, and made him a betrayer of his own. Guard my heart against that kind of conscienceless self-interest. The desire for advancement, for position, for gain, can grow so strong that it overrides conscience, tempting me to betray others, to misrepresent or slander, to sacrifice the good of others for my own advancement, as Alcimus sacrificed his own people. Keep me from the self-interest that will betray others to advance itself. Do not let the desire for advancement or gain grow so strong that it overrides my conscience, tempting me to betray, slander, or harm others for my own benefit. Let my ambition be checked by conscience, and by love for others; keep me from advancing myself at the cost of betraying others or the truth. Alcimus betrayed his own people for his own gain; keep my own self-interest from becoming a betrayer, Lord, and help me not seek my advancement at the expense of others' good.