2 Maccabees 6:26-28
“Even if, for the time being, I avoid the punishment of men,
I shall never, whether alive or dead,
escape the hands of the Almighty.
Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now,
I will prove myself worthy of my old age,
and I will leave to the young a noble example
of how to die willingly and generously
for the revered and holy laws."
This passage is being spoken by Eleazar, a 90 year old man who was known to all as an upright man, faithful to Jewish law. If you read the rest of the chapter, it’s an intriguing, rather “Braveheart-like” moment where the pagans who have taken over the Jewish lands are forcing Faithful Jews to eat pork (which Jews were strictly forbade to eat as it was seen as unclean. Sorry, no baconators for them). Eleazar was told if he didn’t eat the pork, he’d be tortured. His captors took pity on the elderly man and offered that he prepare some meat according to his laws and disguise it as pork, thus avoiding torture and death. As we hear in this verse, Eleazar knew that young people admired and looked up to him. If they found out that the great Eleazar had succumbed to the pagan meat, then they would have less incentive to stay strong themselves. Even though he himself would avoid becoming “unclean” by eating kosher meat disguised to look like pork, he was still leading a lie that would eventually cost souls. And so, Eleazar chooses to die. And while he’s dying, he says this:
"The Lord in his holy knowledge knows full well that,
although I could have escaped death,
I am not only enduring terrible pain in my body from this scourging,
but also suffering it with joy in my soul
because of my devotion to him."
His courage strengthened his nation. And today, you can hear the millions of martyrs throughout Christianity echoing his words. They died with joy for the love of their God. I don’t hear of many pagans dying with joy for their gods.
Applying this to our lives today, whether we like it or not, we are all being held up on a pedestal by someone. Maybe it’s your parents, or your kids, maybe your spouse, or your students or congregation. Somewhere, someone is watching you because they look up to you! Obviously, we aren’t going to be perfect and we’ll all teeter on the pedestal at some point… But the moment we give into selfishness and give up being who we’re meant to be, those are the crucial moments when we need to course correct. Because you could be impacting other souls around you.
Remember that dying to our self is oftentimes even more difficult than dying a physical death at the hands of some torturer. We may not be dying a bloody death in a gladiator ring every day. Instead, we put to death our selfish desires for the sake of those around us, for the sake of making the right choices, the choices that make the world better for the lives around us. The gladiator in you is rising up to change generations to come. Do you have what it takes? Or is some 90 year old guy gonna best you today?