Judas Betrayed Me

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

February 4, 2020

Judas Betrayed Me

Page 255

Matthew 26:1-5, 14-16;

Mark 14:1-2, 10-11; Luke 22: 1-6

Between verses 5 and 14 is the story of Mary anointing Jesus. (We read this passage on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, page 217) This story was so very important to the early church it was included in all four Gospels. For our reading today, the contrast in Judas’ appreciation of value is astonishing. In Matthew’s Gospel, “a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over (Jesus’) head. The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said. “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”” (Matthew 26:7-9). In John’s Gospel, we learn it was Mary who “took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard” to anoint Jesus (John 12:3). John also tells us that it was Judas Iscariot who objected and said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor” (John 12:5).

In our reading for today, we learn that Judas “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” (Matthew 26:14-15). Thirty pieces of silver was probably worth three months wages.

The base minimum wage today is $7.25. At this rate, Mary’s perfume that she extravagantly used to anoint Jesus would cost $15,000. Judas’ betrayal of Jesus would have rewarded him just $3,500.

As I was thinking about how astonishing is the contrast between the value of Mary’s extravagant love and Judas’ cheap sell-out of Jesus, I searched my memory to recall a time when my expression of extravagant love for Jesus might compare with Mary’s. It didn’t take me as long to find examples of when I was reluctant to say, “Here I am Lord, send me.”

I recall hearing about a church that built a small secluded chapel for prayer and meditation. They furnished it with twelve chairs, each bearing the name of one of the disciples. If you were to visit that chapel which chair would you choose? The church reports that the chair marked “Judas” is the one most heavily worn with use.

My Takeaway: That story used to surprise me. Not anymore.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.