1 Maccabees 1:1-9: a reflection

1After Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, who came out of the land of Chittim, and struck Darius king of the Persians and Medes, it came to pass, after he had struck him, that he reigned in his place, in former time, over Greece. 2He fought many battles, won many strongholds, killed the kings of the earth, 3went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of a multitude of nations. The earth was quiet before him. He was exalted. His heart was lifted up. 4He gathered together an exceedingly strong army and ruled over countries, nations, and principalities, and they paid him tribute. 5After these things he fell sick, and perceived that he was going to die. 6He called his honorable servants, which had been brought up with him from his youth, and he divided to them his kingdom while he was still alive. 7Alexander reigned twelve years, then he died. 8Then his servants ruled, each one in his place. 9They all put crowns upon themselves after he was dead, and so did their sons after them many years; and they multiplied evils on the earth.

This passage recounts the rise of Alexander the Great, who conquered vast lands, defeated kings, took the spoils of many nations, and was exalted, his heart lifted up with pride. He gathered a strong army and ruled over countless peoples. And then, at the height of all this, comes the turn: after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he was going to die. He died; his kingdom was divided; and in the years after, his successors multiplied evils on the earth. All his conquest and greatness ended in death, and crumbled after him.

Notice the emptiness of Alexander's worldly greatness: it ended in death and crumbled after him. He had everything the world calls great: conquest, empire, exaltation, spoils of nations. His heart was lifted up with it all. But then he fell sick and died, and all his greatness could not save him from death; and after him, his empire fragmented, and evils multiplied. The worldly greatness he had gathered did not last; death ended it, and it crumbled after him. All that conquest and exaltation came, in the end, to nothing that endured.

That is worth taking to heart, for we can pursue worldly greatness, forgetting that death ends it and it does not last. We can set our hearts on worldly achievement, success, exaltation, gathering greatness as Alexander did; but such greatness ends in death and crumbles after us, as Alexander's did. The greatness the world offers cannot save us from death or endure beyond it. Do not set your heart on worldly greatness, as though it would last or satisfy; death ends it, and it crumbles after us, as Alexander's conquest ended in death and fragmentation. Seek what endures beyond death, in God, rather than the worldly greatness that death ends and that crumbles after us, as all Alexander's conquest and exaltation came, in the end, to death and the multiplying of evils; for worldly greatness is empty, unable to save from death or to last, and only what is in God endures.

Lord, this passage recounts the rise of Alexander the Great, who conquered vast lands, defeated kings, took the spoils of many nations, and was exalted, his heart lifted up with pride. He gathered a strong army and ruled over countless peoples. And then, at the height of all this, comes the turn: after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he was going to die. He died; his kingdom was divided; and in the years after, his successors multiplied evils on the earth. All his conquest and greatness ended in death, and crumbled after him. Show me the emptiness of Alexander's worldly greatness: it ended in death and crumbled after him. He had everything the world calls great; his heart was lifted up with it all. But then he died, and all his greatness could not save him; and after him, his empire fragmented. The worldly greatness he had gathered did not last. Take that to my heart, for I can pursue worldly greatness, forgetting that death ends it and it does not last. I can set my heart on worldly achievement, success, exaltation, gathering greatness as Alexander did; but such greatness ends in death and crumbles after me. The greatness the world offers cannot save me from death or endure. Keep me from setting my heart on worldly greatness, as though it would last or satisfy; death ends it, and it crumbles after us. Help me seek what endures beyond death, in you, Lord, rather than the worldly greatness that death ends.