“For you will certainly carry out God’s purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Some scholars speculate that Jesus and the disciples rested on the Wednesday before the Passover. Maybe they stayed with Lazarus, Mary and Martha in Bethany, which was about two miles east of Jerusalem. It is just speculation but it had only been a short time since He had raised Lazarus back to life. And also, just a few nights earlier in Bethany, Mary had anointed His feet with expensive perfume.

Let’s look a little closer at Judas… It wasn’t just his betrayal, there were also the betrayals yet to come: Yours and mine. His blood covered them all. We have all been betrayed at one time or another and because of sin and iniquity, we have all betrayed Jesus. But the Good News is that His blood still covers!

“Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, ‘How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?’ And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.” Matthew 26:14-16 NLT. 

From this scripture text, and the account in Mark and Luke, it is apparent that Judas went to them. It doesn’t mention them coming to Judas and asking him to betray the Lord. He went on his own! Perhaps it would have never entered the minds of those in the Sanhedrin that one of Christ’s very own would turn on Him.

But he did. “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” Was Judas so desperate that He would sell out the Lord of glory for money? To give away the Everlasting for something that would not last, that would pass away? 

Did you know that Judas was the treasurer for the followers of Christ? He wasn’t voted on or suggested by the others, he was chosen by Jesus! According to Augustine, tradition says, “Jesus had delivered Judas often from death, and for his sake healed his father of palsy and cured his mother of leprosy, and next to Peter he honored him above all the other apostles.”

Judas became a traitor. A traitor is someone that is WITHIN the camp, so to speak. You can’t be a traitor if you are not in the inner circle! The enemy was in the camp, right with the disciples, one of the chosen, one of those closest to the Master. As many times as I have heard this story and read it over and over again I have never thought about what made him do it. What happened to him over time that caused him to fall away?

Luke 22:3 “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot…” 

Maybe he began to doubt, perhaps he was listening to outside voices that were constantly berating that Jesus wasn’t who He said He was. We aren’t given all of that information but we are told that he was listening to one distinct voice and that was the voice of the enemy of our souls.  

It really wasn’t about the money because thirty pieces of silver, research reveals, likely would not set you up for the rest of your days. Whatever caused Judas to first become frustrated, aggravated or disillusioned with Jesus became an open door for Satan to come in and begin his whispering.

It doesn’t take long, when you entertain lies from the betrayer, you  eventually become one yourself.

And if it can happen to Judas, who walked with Jesus, shared supper with Jesus, heard Him speak, watched Him work and even saw Him pray, what will keep us from doing the same? What must we do to keep ourselves from straying from this Truth, from losing our way like a lost sheep or worse yet, turning on the very One who would give His life for us?

We look at the story and think we would never do such a thing as walk away from the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. Maybe not but are we replacing Him with other things in our life? Are we busying ourselves so much that we don’t have time for a talk with the King of Kings? Is our relationship faltering or failing because we no longer put Him first?

This Holy Week is a good time to reassess our walk with the Lord. He is either Lord of everything or He isn’t Lord at all. Let’s see what we might be allowing to get in our way. It may be the love of money or the accumulation of stuff.  Perhaps it is things that cause us to habitually waste time. Or it could be friends or co-workers, maybe family members that we know bring us down. We should take inventory every now and then and ask God to show us those things that may trip us up!

We must make sure that He is first in all things and our relationship with Him is the most important thing in our lives.

“What will you give me?” Judas asked this question of the Sanhedrin with the worst in mind; he was no longer a servant of Christ. Let us ask THIS question of our Lord, “What can I give YOU?” And then be prepared to offer ourselves as a LIVING sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is our reasonable service.