2 Maccabees 12:29-35: a reflection

29Setting out from there, they marched in haste against Scythopolis, which is six hundred furlongs away from Jerusalem. 30But when the Jews who were settled there testified of the good will that the Scythopolitans had shown toward them, and of their kind treatment of them in the times of their misfortune, 31they gave thanks, and further exhorted them to remain well disposed toward the race for the future. Then they went up to Jerusalem, the feast of weeks being close at hand. 32But after the feast called Pentecost, they marched in haste against Gorgias the governor of Idumaea. 33He came out with three thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry. 34When they had set themselves in array, it came to pass that a few of the Jews fell. 35A certain Dositheus, one of Bacenor’s company, who was on horseback and was a strong man, pressed hard on Gorgias, and taking hold of his cloke dragged him along by main force. While he planned to take the accursed man alive, one of the Thracian cavalry bore down on him and disabled his shoulder, and so Gorgias escaped to Marisa.

In the middle of a military campaign, a small but telling moment occurs. The Jewish forces are marching against a city, but the Jewish inhabitants there testify that the people of Scythopolis had treated them kindly in a time of misfortune, showing goodwill when they were vulnerable. On hearing this, the army gives thanks and urges the townspeople to remain well-disposed toward them in the future, and they spare the city. Kindness shown in a hard time is remembered and repaid with gratitude.

What stands out is how seriously kindness is honored here. The people of Scythopolis had been good to the Jews when they were down, and that goodness was not forgotten; it changed how they were treated in return. In a passage otherwise full of battles, this moment shines: grateful acknowledgment of those who had shown mercy, and a determination to respond in kind. Kindness received in adversity created a bond of goodwill that outlasted the hard times.

There is a simple, human wisdom here worth keeping. When people are kind to you in a difficult season, when others walk away, remember it and repay it with gratitude and loyalty. And be the kind of person who shows goodwill to others when they are down, for such kindness is not forgotten and often returns. Kindness given in someone's hard time plants something that endures. Honor those who were good to you when it counted, and be good to others in their low seasons.

Lord, in a season of misfortune the people of Scythopolis showed kindness, and it was gratefully remembered and repaid. Help me to honor those who were good to me when I was down, remembering their kindness with gratitude and loyalty. And make me the kind of person who shows goodwill to others in their hard times, planting kindness that endures. Let gratitude shape how I treat others. Amen.