14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
What was he thinking? I have to believe Judas was the ringleader at the house in Bethany. So, this wouldn’t have been an overnight conversion to treason. Judas had been giving this some thought. In today’s jargon, Judas “never drank the cool-aid”.
History tries to paint Judas one of two ways. Either he was the personification of evil or he was a desperate, but well intentioned, man naively trying to influence current political events. Either makes a good story but neither is quite right. It's far less romantic.
Judas represents that vast sea of humanity that has a different idea. Judas is me…and you.
You see, Judas was being what he was born to be…a sinful human being in love with his own dreams. Billions of indistinguishable Judases have walked through history. We wouldn’t even know about him if his great idea hadn’t involved getting Christ crucified. He’d had enough exposure to the Messiah to get a glimmer of glory but he just couldn’t buy into the whole thing. His assessment of Christ’s value was 30 pieces of silver. Not enough to give up his own notions.
In other words…he wasn’t convinced that Jesus was really who he said he was. How does that differ from any of us…until we receive the gift of faith that opens our eyes? In fact, we betray Jesus every day…sometimes for far less than 30 pieces of silver. Sometimes it’s for an adulterous daydream. Sometimes it’s for even less than that.
All because he had a another idea…and there we have the nature of sin. Look at the damage he did…
I’m not giving Judas a pass. The real lesson is…I shouldn’t give myself a pass either. My prayer every morning should be “Lord, don’t let me be a Judas today”.
Live boldly out there today…
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