The Books of Maccabees depict individuals who believed in judgment after death and let that shape their actions
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
How do we handle trials in the life of faith?
The readings this week walk us through times of trial and times of triumph in the life of ancient Israel. But the triumphs — well, they’re heroic examples of dying well, so they’re not easy to read! Still, they are (and are meant to be!) inspiring for the faithful.
The books of 1st and 2nd Maccabees recount dramatic times of crisis in ancient Israel, roughly between the years 175-134 BC. The pagan king Antiochus Epiphanes (think of every epic movie villain you’ve ever seen) decided that there should be only one religion in his empire and it wasn’t Judaism.
As First Maccabees tells us, some Israelites went along with the program: They “sacrificed to idols and profaned the sabbath.” But it also says: “Many in Israel … preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die.”
Second Maccabees 6 tells the story of one of these individuals: Eleazar, a 90-year-old scholar. He, like everyone else, was being forced to eat unclean food in violation of the covenant. When he refused, he was offered a compromise: Bring some of your own food, so it only looks like you’re eating unclean food. Eleazar reasoned: Even if the food was technically clean for him, it would appear to everyone else — especially the young — that he was willing to violate the covenant to save his life. He realized that the young would be led into error by his example, thinking: “Well, if Eleazar is going along with it, it must be OK for us, too.” So he said: “At our age it would be unbecoming to make such a pretense … I will leave to the young a noble example of how to die willingly and generously for the revered and holy laws.”
There are many other such heroic accounts in First and Second Maccabees. Their common theme is this: Belief in the resurrection and in the day of judgment shapes how the characters handle their trials. Those who trust that God will bring a day of judgment and that people will receive due reward (and punishment) in the resurrection, uphold the covenant, even at the cost of their earthly life. They know a life awaits that they cannot yet see. Those who abandon the covenant, by contrast, are those who never consider the resurrection and the day of judgment. They only believe in the life they can see.
So, the final Gospel reading of the week is about … you guessed it: the resurrection! All week long, Jesus is journeying toward Jerusalem, where He will face His own trials with fidelity. So, fittingly, the week closes with Jesus’ dispute with the Sadducees, where He instructs them about: 1) the nature of the resurrection, and 2) the fact of the resurrection.
Brothers and sisters, we all face trials — some that are unique to us as individuals, and some that are shared in common as Church. Perhaps we can learn something from the heroes of ancient Israel about how to face our trials. And maybe we can do a better job helping each other to face those trials with faith in the resurrection and the day of judgment.
