2 Maccabees 3:31-40: a reflection

31But quickly some of Heliodorus’s familiar friends implored Onias to call upon the Most High to grant life to him who lay quite at the last gasp. 32The high priest, secretly fearing lest the king might come to think that some treachery toward Heliodorus had been perpetrated by the Jews, brought a sacrifice for the recovery of the man. 33But as the high priest was making the atoning sacrifice, the same young men appeared again to Heliodorus, arrayed in the same garments. They stood and said, “Give Onias the high priest great thanks, for for his sake the Lord has granted you life. 34See that you, since you have been scourged from heaven, proclaim to all men the sovereign majesty of God.” When they had spoken these words, they vanished out of sight. 35So Heliodorus, having offered a sacrifice to the Lord and vowed great vows to him who had saved his life, and having bidden Onias farewell, returned with his army to the king. 36He testified to all men the works of the greatest God, which he had seen with his eyes. 37When the king asked Heliodorus what sort of man was fit to be sent yet once again to Jerusalem, he said, 38“If you have any enemy or conspirator against the state, send him there, and you will receive him back well scourged, if he even escapes with his life; because truly there is some power of God in that place. 39For he who has his dwelling in heaven himself has his eyes on that place and helps it. Those who come to hurt it, he strikes and destroys.” 40This was the history of Heliodorus and the keeping of the treasury.

Heliodorus, an official sent to plunder the treasury of the temple in Jerusalem, is struck down by a heavenly vision and lies near death. And here the high priest Onias does something remarkable: rather than rejoicing that the plunderer has been struck down, he offers a sacrifice and prays for Heliodorus's recovery, interceding for the very man who had come to rob God's house. Through the high priest's prayer, Heliodorus is spared, and he goes away transformed, testifying to all of the works of God he had witnessed, even to the king.

Notice what Onias does: he prays for his enemy. Heliodorus had come to plunder the temple; he was an adversary, an agent of a hostile ruler, now struck down. Onias could have rejoiced in his downfall. Instead he interceded for him, praying for the recovery of the very man who had come against God's house. And that intercession not only spared Heliodorus but turned him into a witness to God, testifying to what he had seen.

That is a striking example of praying for our enemies, and of what God can do through it. Jesus taught us to pray for those who persecute us, but our instinct, when an adversary is brought low, is to rejoice, not to pray for their good. Onias prayed for the enemy who had come against him, and God used that prayer to spare and transform him. When those who oppose you are brought low, do not simply rejoice. Pray for them, as Onias prayed, interceding even for your enemies, and trust that God can use such prayers to do more than you imagine, even to turn an enemy into a witness. Pray for those who come against you; God may do more through it than you expect.

Lord, when Heliodorus, who had come to plunder your temple, was struck down and near death, the high priest Onias did not rejoice but interceded for him, praying for his recovery, and through that prayer the enemy was spared and turned into a witness. Give me a heart to pray for my enemies like that. When those who oppose me are brought low, my instinct is to rejoice, not to pray for their good. Teach me instead, as Jesus taught, to pray for those who come against me, interceding even for my enemies as Onias did. And thank you that you can use such prayers to do more than I imagine, even to spare and transform an adversary. Help me pray for those who oppose me, and use my prayers for their good and your glory.