2 Maccabees 4:7-17: a reflection

7When Seleucus was deceased, and Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, succeeded to the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias supplanted his brother in the high priesthood, 8having promised to the king at an audience three hundred sixty talents of silver, and out of another fund eighty talents. 9In addition to this, he undertook to assign one hundred fifty more, if it might be allowed him through the king’s authority to set him up a gymnasium and a body of youths to be trained in it, and to register the inhabitants of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch. 10When the king had assented, and Jason had taken possession of the office, he immediately shifted those of his own race to the Greek way of life. 11Setting aside the royal ordinances of special favor to the Jews, granted by the means of John the father of Eupolemus, who went on the mission to the Romans to establish friendship and alliance, and seeking to overthrow the lawful ways of living, he brought in new customs forbidden by the law. 12For he eagerly established a gymnasium under the citadel itself, and caused the noblest of the young men to wear the Greek hat. 13Thus there was an extreme of hellenization, and an advance of a foreign religion, by reason of the exceeding profaneness of Jason, who was an ungodly man and not a high priest; 14so that the priests had no more any zeal for the services of the altar; but despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hastened to enjoy that which was unlawfully provided in the wrestling arena, after the summons to the discus-throwing. 15They despised the honors of their fathers, and valued the prestige of the Greeks best of all. 16For this reason, severe calamity overtook them. The men whose ways of living they earnestly followed, and to whom they desired to be made like in all things, these became their enemies and punished them. 17For it is not a light thing to show irreverence to God’s laws, but later events will make this clear.

In the account of Jason, who bought the high priesthood and imposed Greek customs on Jerusalem, we see priests abandoning their sacred duties out of a craving for worldly prestige. The priests had no more zeal for the services of the altar; but despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hastened to enjoy the games in the wrestling arena. They despised the honors of their fathers, and valued the prestige of the Greeks best of all. The priests traded their sacred calling for the fashionable prestige of the surrounding culture, neglecting the altar for the arena, valuing worldly status above their devotion to God. They abandoned the sacred for the stylish.

Notice what the priests traded away, and for what: their sacred devotion, for worldly prestige. They had a holy calling, the service of the altar; but they came to despise it, neglecting the sacrifices, hastening instead to the fashionable games, valuing the prestige of the Greeks above the honors of their fathers. They traded the sacred for the stylish, their devotion to God for worldly status and cultural fashion. The craving for prestige, for being admired by the surrounding culture, drew them away from their devotion to God; they valued the world's prestige above the sacred, and abandoned their calling for it. The love of worldly prestige corrupted their devotion, leading them to neglect the sacred for the fashionable.

That is worth taking to heart, for the craving for worldly prestige can draw us away from our devotion to God, trading the sacred for the fashionable. We can be drawn by the craving for worldly prestige, for status, for the admiration of the surrounding culture, and let it draw us away from our devotion to God, neglecting the sacred for the fashionable, as the priests neglected the altar for the arena. The love of prestige can corrupt our devotion, leading us to value the world's status above God. Do not let the craving for worldly prestige draw you away from your devotion to God, trading the sacred for the fashionable; value your devotion to God above the world's prestige. Guard against the craving for worldly prestige that would draw you away from your devotion to God, trading the sacred for the fashionable, as the priests neglected the altar for the games and valued Greek prestige above their calling; for the love of worldly prestige can corrupt our devotion, and it is a grave loss to trade our devotion to God for the fashionable status of the surrounding culture.

Lord, in the account of Jason, who bought the high priesthood and imposed Greek customs on Jerusalem, we see priests abandoning their sacred duties out of a craving for worldly prestige. The priests had no more zeal for the services of the altar; but despising the sanctuary and neglecting the sacrifices, they hastened to enjoy the games in the wrestling arena. They despised the honors of their fathers, and valued the prestige of the Greeks best of all. The priests traded their sacred calling for the fashionable prestige of the surrounding culture. Show me what the priests traded away, and for what: their sacred devotion, for worldly prestige. They had a holy calling, the service of the altar; but they came to despise it, hastening instead to the fashionable games, valuing the prestige of the Greeks above the honors of their fathers. They traded the sacred for the stylish, their devotion to you for worldly status. The craving for prestige drew them away from their devotion to you; they valued the world's prestige above the sacred. Take that to my heart, for the craving for worldly prestige can draw me away from my devotion to you, trading the sacred for the fashionable. I can be drawn by the craving for worldly prestige, for status, for the admiration of the surrounding culture, and let it draw me away from my devotion to you, neglecting the sacred for the fashionable, as the priests neglected the altar for the arena. The love of prestige can corrupt my devotion. Keep me from letting the craving for worldly prestige draw me away from my devotion to you, trading the sacred for the fashionable; help me value my devotion to you above the world's prestige, Lord, as the priests wrongly valued Greek prestige above their calling.