1 Maccabees 2:39-48: a reflection

39When Mattathias and his friends found out about it, they mourned over them exceedingly. 40One said to another, “If we all do as our kindred have done, and don’t fight against the Gentiles for our lives and our ordinances, they will quickly destroy us from off the earth.” 41So they decided that day, saying, “Whoever comes against us to battle on the Sabbath day, let’s fight against him, and we will in no way all die, as our kindred died in the secret places.” 42Then a company of the Hasidaeans, mighty men of Israel, everyone who offered himself willingly for the law, were gathered together to them. 43All those who fled from the evils were added to them, and supported them. 44They mustered an army, and struck sinners in their anger, and lawless men in their wrath. The rest fled to the Gentiles for safety. 45And Mattathias and his friends went around and pulled down the altars. 46They forcibly circumcised the boys who were uncircumcised, as many as they found in the coasts of Israel. 47They pursued the arrogant, and the work prospered in their hand. 48They rescued the law out of the hand of the Gentiles and out of the hand of the kings. They never allowed the sinner to triumph.

When Mattathias and his companions see faithful people being slaughtered for refusing to fight even in self-defense, they make a hard but decisive resolve. If we all do as our brothers have done, they reason, and do not fight for our lives and our ways, we will soon be wiped off the earth. So they resolve to resist, to defend themselves and the faith, to tear down the pagan altars, and to stand actively against the forces trying to destroy them. They would not simply lament the destruction of the faith and let it happen; they rose to oppose it.

Notice the decision they made: not passive resignation, but active resistance. They could have mourned, submitted, and been destroyed. Instead they resolved to stand and fight for their lives, their law, and their worship. There is a time, they discerned, when evil must be actively opposed, not merely grieved over; when standing by and letting the faith be wiped out is not humility but abdication. They chose to resist.

Without endorsing every act of a violent age, there is a principle here worth holding: there are times when evil must be actively resisted, not passively tolerated. It is possible to mistake passivity for meekness, to stand by lamenting while wrong triumphs, when what is called for is to stand up and oppose it. The Maccabees resolved not to let the sinner triumph unopposed. In the spheres where you have a stand to take, do not merely lament evil while letting it prevail. There is a time to actively resist what is wrong, to oppose it rather than simply grieve it. Discern when that time is, and do not let evil triumph for lack of anyone willing to stand against it.

Lord, Mattathias and his companions would not passively let the faith be destroyed but resolved to actively resist evil. Give me discernment to know when evil must be opposed, not merely lamented. Keep me from mistaking passivity for meekness, from standing by while wrong triumphs when I am called to stand against it. In the spheres where I have a stand to take, help me not let evil prevail for lack of anyone willing to resist it. Give me courage to oppose what is wrong, in your strength and for your purposes.