Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present (Luke 22:1-6, see also Matthew 26:14-16; Mark 14:10-11).
The gospel writers seem to deliberately contrast the approach of Mary and Judas — her incredible generosity and his cold betrayal for a measly sum of money. Judas, stung by the criticism of Jesus (John 12:7-8), went to bargain with the rulers to betray Jesus. Perhaps Judas was also upset that a year’s wages had been wasted, so he tried to recoup at least some of the loss (Matthew 26:6-16; Mark 14:3-11; John 12:3-8; 13:27-30).
Satan now began to enter in and influence Judas. Matthew reports that Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver. According to the law, thirty pieces of silver was the price of a common slave (Exodus 21:32). That’s the value Judas placed on Jesus’ life, in contrast to Mary, who loved Jesus more than her money, more than her reputation, and more than popularity.
Judas kept the money bag for Jesus and the disciples (John 12:6; 13:29), and the gospel of John informs us that Judas was a thief. His wickedness, however, wasn’t known to the apostles until after his act of betrayal (John 13:21-30).
One would think that Judas would be grateful to Jesus. Our Lord had included Judas in his inner circle and Judas had witnessed the healing of the sick, the cleansing of lepers, the blind seeing, the dead raised, and demons cast out. To give Jesus up for a measly sum of money, or for that matter, any amount of money, was a foolish thing to do!
What kind of value do you put on your relationship with the Lord? Have you decided to be faithful to him no matter what you’re going through?
In that time period, it was customary for disciples to greet their rabbis with a kiss. However, it was the height of hypocrisy when Judas, a couple days later, brought a group of men armed with swords and clubs to arrest Jesus, and the first thing Judas did was greet Jesus with a kiss (Matthew 26:48-49).
Although Judas’ betrayal was predicted in Scripture and fit into God’s plan, it doesn’t let
Judas off the hook. He and the others involved in Jesus’ death were responsible for their actions. Or to say it another way, there was no conflict between divine sovereignty and human responsibility.
After agreeing to turn Jesus over, Judas later became sad enough to return the money to the chief priests and elders (Matthew 27:3-10). His life tragically ended in suicide by hanging (Matthew 27:5).
Prayer
Father God, help to always have a grateful heart for who you are and for all you have done for us. Search our hearts today for anything that would hinder our wholehearted devotion to you. You are the One we need, and you are the One we choose to supremely love.
Question
People will sometimes let us down, but God is faithful to us. How has God shown his faithfulness to you?