2 Maccabees 7:30-42: a reflection

30But before she had finished speaking, the young man said, “What are you all waiting for? I don’t obey the commandment of the king, but I listen to the commandment of the law that was given to our fathers through Moses. 31But you, who have devised all kinds of evil against the Hebrews, will in no way escape God’s hands. 32For we are suffering because of our own sins. 33If for rebuke and chastening, our living Lord has been angered a little while, yet he will again be reconciled with his own servants. 34But you, O unholy man and of all most vile, don’t be vainly lifted up in your wild pride with uncertain hopes, raising your hand against the heavenly children. 35For you have not yet escaped the judgment of the Almighty God who sees all things. 36For these our brothers, having endured a short pain that brings everlasting life, have now died under God’s covenant. But you, through God’s judgment, will receive in just measure the penalties of your arrogance. 37But I, as my brothers, give up both body and soul for the laws of our fathers, calling upon God that he may speedily become gracious to the nation, and that you, amidst trials and plagues, may confess that he alone is God, 38and that in me and my brothers you may bring to an end the wrath of the Almighty which has been justly brought upon our whole race.” 39But the king, falling into a rage, handled him worse than all the rest, being exasperated at his mocking. 40So he also died pure, putting his whole trust in the Lord. 41Last of all, after her sons, the mother died. 42Let it then suffice to have said thus much concerning the sacrificial feasts and the extreme tortures.

This is a hard, harrowing account: a mother and her seven sons put to death under a tyrant for refusing to abandon their faith. But do not miss what carries them through it, because it is remarkable. The youngest son, facing death, is not crushed but confident. We suffer for our own sins, he says, yet our Lord will be reconciled again to his servants; my brothers, having endured a brief pain, have now died under God's covenant, receiving everlasting life. He gives up body and soul, he says, for the laws of his fathers, calling on God to be merciful to his people.

Notice the source of his courage. It is not that he does not feel the terror; it is that he believes death is not the end. The pain is brief; the life beyond it is everlasting. God's justice will not fail, and God's covenant holds even through death. Because he is sure of the resurrection and of God's faithfulness, the tyrant's ultimate threat, death itself, has lost its power to make him betray God. There is nothing left for the tyrant to take that God cannot restore.

Most of us will never face such a trial, but the faith that steadied these martyrs is the same faith offered to us. When we are sure that death is not the final word, that God's covenant holds beyond the grave and his justice will not fail, then the worst that this world can threaten loses its grip on us. What are you most afraid of losing? Held up against the hope that steadied these young men, even death could not finally take what God had promised. Let that hope loosen fear's grip on you.

Lord, the young martyr faced death without betraying you, sure that the pain was brief and the life everlasting, that your covenant holds beyond the grave. When I am gripped by fear of loss, even the fear of death, give me that same hope, that nothing can finally be taken from me that you cannot restore. Loosen fear's hold on me with the hope of resurrection.