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Gave His Life For You And Me
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Jesus had denounced the Scribes and Pharisees and called them hypocrites. He told them that they taught one thing and did another-- that they had neglected to do the mightier things that needed to be done and concentrated on the unimportant things. He was about to suffer death at their hands a short time later.
On the evening following their denunciation by Jesus, the Pharisees
and the Scribes of the temple met together with all the other
enemies of the Nazarene, religious and political. They were indignant
at the treatment they had received at His hands, and they were
greatly alarmed at His growing power. Already they had condemned
Him to death, and now they decided that the execution of that
sentence must be carried out as soon as the Festival of the Passover
was finished. It would be unwise to do anything against Him while
the pilgrims were still thronging the streets of Jerusalem and
the great temple. To attack Jesus openly while His following was
with Him would be to court disaster, and stir up the very rebellion
they wished to avoid.
Secretly, stealing away from Jesus in the night like a thief,
Judas had already communicated with the Sanhedrin, or official
council, and told them that he would help them in their plan to
arrest Jesus and kill Him. Now, on this night of their big meeting,
Judas returned to Jerusalem, and made his way secretly before
them. They knew him as one of the Disciples of the Nazarene, and
admitted him to their council chamber to hear what he had to say.
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No one can tell just what were the motives that prompted Judas to betray his Master. That he was dishonest and had been stealing petty sums from the treasury of the Twelve Disciples, we know. After one dishonesty, another follows easily. Thinking that Jesus suspected and perhaps even knew of his dishonesty, Judas realized that he was the least trusted and the least loved of the men who devoted their lives to the Master. Envy and jealousy may have burned like twin flames in his breast. Perhaps he justified himself by thinking that if Jesus were the true Messiah, He could easily save Himself. Perhaps he remembered that Jesus had already said that He should die, and therefore any act of Judas could not harm Him, and, Judas thought, he might as well make any profit that he could.
The enemies of Jesus were, no doubt, made bolder in their plan by the willingness of this Disciple to betray his Lord. If this man, who had lived so close to the Nazarene, and had seen Him work His miracles and had heard Him speak His words of consolation--if this man was willing to turn the Nazarene over to be killed, surely they were right in carrying out that dreadful sentence.
"How much will you pay me for my help?" Judas asked greedily.
But the members of the council were shrewd. They reminded Judas that they could, if need be, get along without his help. They could wait until the Passover was concluded, and do away with Jesus in their own good time. But if Judas aided them, by leading Jesus into their clutches when the Man was alone and away from His many friends, they could execute their punishment much sooner.
After some haggling, it was agreed that Judas should be paid thirty pieces of silver. The price of a common slave!!
The money was given to him at once-thirty silver coins, worth at most only a few dollars, and on each was stamped the olive branch of peace and the words, 'E'tjerusalem the Holy- Did the symbols on the coins bother the conscience of Judas? Apparently not, for he took the money and stowed it away in a small bag on his person.
Ever since that time, the name of Judas Iscariot has been spoken
by people only with a shudder of disgust. For there is no greater
dishonor, no lower form of human wickedness, than to be false
to a friend. And Judas was false to the greatest Friend anyone
ever had on earth; he betrayed Jesus, the Son of God. For thirty
pieces of silver he sold the trust that Jesus placed in him and
agreed to lead the soldiers to the Master at a time when the Master
would be most helpless and alone.
