2 Maccabees 4:1-6: a reflection

1The previously mentioned Simon, who had given information about the money against his country, slandered Onias, saying that it was he who had incited Heliodorus and had been the real cause of these evils. 2He dared to call him a conspirator against the state who was actually the benefactor of the city, the guardian of his fellow countrymen, and a zealot for the laws. 3When his hatred grew so great that even murders were perpetrated through one of Simon’s approved agents, 4Onias, seeing the danger of the contention, and that Apollonius the son of Menestheus, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, was increasing Simon’s malice, 5appealed to the king, not to be an accuser of his fellow citizens, but looking to the good of all the people, both public and private; 6for he saw that without the king’s involvement it was impossible for the state to obtain peace any more, and that Simon would not cease from his madness.

When the good high priest Onias is slandered by Simon, who falsely accuses him of stirring up trouble, Onias faces a choice in how to respond to the wrong done him. He does not answer the slander with vengeance, seeking to destroy his accuser; instead, seeing the harm the strife was doing to the whole people, he appeals to the king, not to accuse Simon out of revenge, but looking to the good of all the people. He acted not for his own vindication or the ruin of his slanderer, but for the common good, to bring peace to a situation that was harming everyone. Wronged and slandered, Onias sought not personal revenge but the good of all; his response to being wronged was to seek the common good rather than to strike back at the one who had wronged him. He put the welfare of the people above his own grievance.

Notice how Onias responded to being wronged: not with vengeance, but by seeking the common good. He had real cause for anger; Simon had slandered him, endangered him, caused great harm. Onias could have sought to destroy his accuser, to answer the wrong with revenge. Instead he looked to the good of all the people, appealing to the king not as an accuser bent on revenge but as one seeking peace and the common welfare. His response to being wronged was shaped not by his own grievance but by the good of all. This is a rare and gracious way to answer a wrong: to seek not personal vindication or the ruin of the one who wronged us, but the common good, the peace and welfare of all. Onias put the good of the people above his own desire to strike back. He sought peace, not revenge.

That is worth taking to heart, for when we are wronged, we can seek the common good rather than personal vengeance. When someone slanders or wrongs us, our instinct can be to strike back, to seek their ruin, to answer the wrong with revenge; but Onias, slandered and endangered, sought not vengeance but the good of all the people, looking to the common welfare rather than his own grievance. There is a gracious way to answer a wrong: to seek peace and the common good rather than personal revenge. Do not answer the wrongs done you with vengeance, seeking the ruin of the one who wronged you; seek the common good instead, as Onias did. When you are wronged, seek the common good and peace rather than personal vengeance against the one who wronged you, as Onias, slandered by Simon, appealed to the king not out of revenge but looking to the good of all the people; for there is a gracious way to answer a wrong that seeks not our own vindication or our accuser's ruin but the welfare of all, putting the common good above our own grievance and seeking peace rather than revenge.

Lord, when the good high priest Onias is slandered by Simon, who falsely accuses him of stirring up trouble, Onias faces a choice in how to respond to the wrong done him. He does not answer the slander with vengeance, seeking to destroy his accuser; instead, seeing the harm the strife was doing to the whole people, he appeals to the king, not to accuse Simon out of revenge, but looking to the good of all the people. He acted not for his own vindication or the ruin of his slanderer, but for the common good, to bring peace to a situation that was harming everyone. Wronged and slandered, Onias sought not personal revenge but the good of all. Show me how Onias responded to being wronged: not with vengeance, but by seeking the common good. He had real cause for anger; Simon had slandered him, endangered him, caused great harm. Onias could have sought to destroy his accuser. Instead he looked to the good of all the people, appealing to the king not as an accuser bent on revenge but as one seeking peace. His response to being wronged was shaped not by his own grievance but by the good of all. This is a rare and gracious way to answer a wrong. Take that to my heart, for when I am wronged, I can seek the common good rather than personal vengeance. When someone slanders or wrongs me, my instinct can be to strike back, to seek their ruin; but Onias, slandered and endangered, sought not vengeance but the good of all the people. There is a gracious way to answer a wrong: to seek peace and the common good. Keep me from answering the wrongs done me with vengeance, seeking the ruin of the one who wronged me; help me seek the common good instead, Lord, as Onias did, looking to the welfare of all rather than my own grievance.