The Traitor Sells His Master For a Few Coins
Today’s passage: Matthew 26:14–16, Mark 14:10–11, and Luke 22:1–6
Focus verse: “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” (Matthew 26:15)
Right after the woman anoints Jesus’s head, preparing him for his burial, we read of Judas deciding to betray Jesus. John gives us a hint at why these two events connect.
The apostle writes that it is Judas—and not the disciples as a group or others in attendance—who objects to the waste of perfume (John 12:4–6).
The explanation is that Judas is the group’s treasurer, the holder of their money bag. But his concern isn’t for the poor, it’s for himself.
As a dishonest steward of their finances—a thief—he dips into their funds for his personal use. Had they sold the perfume, he might have been the caretaker of the proceeds.
Assuming he was skimming 10 percent off the top, that means he stood to lose 10 percent of a year’s wages—about five weeks of work.
Considering this, we can envision him being angry at the woman for wasting the perfume and at Jesus for defending her. To recoup some of the money he never got to see, we can guess that he decides to make Jesus pay.
Judas approaches the chief priests—some of the religious leaders. He asks how much they’ll give him to deliver Jesus to them. They offer him thirty silver coins.
We don’t know how much they’re worth, but some scholars place the value at four months of wages, though others think it’s less. Regardless, Judas figures out a way to receive the money he potentially lost and perhaps much more.
We don’t know if Judas thinks through the ramifications of his actions or not, but we’ll later learn (Day 34) that he has no expectation that they’ll kill Jesus.
Therefore, Judas may have assumed they’d arrest and detain him for a few days before releasing him. Or maybe he didn’t consider Jesus at all, only focusing on his payout.
Though Matthew doesn’t use the word betray in this passage, Mark and Luke do.
When it comes to Judas, I’ve heard the word betray so often that it’s become commonplace and lost its meaning. The dictionary helps restore my understanding of the gravity of Judas’s action.
At a basic level, betray means to be disloyal. Judas definitely does that. More specifically, betray means to violate a trust and deliver someone over to their enemy. Judas certainly does that too.
On a national level, betray means to commit treason. It isn’t much of a stretch to view Judas’s betrayal of Jesus as an act of treason against God and his kingdom.
Interestingly, in Stephen’s lengthy defense—effectively a sermon—before the Sanhedrin, he doesn’t mention Judas as betraying Jesus. Instead, he accuses the religious leaders of betraying and murdering the Messiah (Acts 7:52).
Questions:
- In what ways have we betrayed Jesus?
- If betrayal is too strong of a word, in what ways have we been disloyal to him?
Prayer: Jesus, forgive us when we have been disloyal or betrayed you. Give us strength to not repeat those mistakes.
[This devotional is taken from the Day 19 reading in The Passion of Jesus.]
Discover more about celebrating Jesus and his passion to save us in devotional The Passion of Jesus. It is part of the Holiday Celebration Devotionals Series.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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