How many of you watch “Let’s Make a Deal” You have no idea what’s behind door #1 or door #2. It could be something great or a Zonk, which NOT something great.
Well, in this passage of Scripture we find two different people behind two different doors with two completely different agendas.
I. Mary at Simon the Lepers’ House Mt. 26:6-13
a. Mary came to Jesus of her own initiative led by God’s Spirit.
b. She anointed Jesus with very expensive perfume. (300 denarii)
1 denarius was a days wage…300 denari was a whole years salary…
c. She sought out an opportunity to honor Jesus above all.
Why did Mary sell out TO Jesus?
Mary had always been especially attentive to the words and teaching of Christ. Maybe it was intuition, maybe it was an understanding in her heart. Maybe she understood that Jesus would die for her sins and for the sins of the world.
Maybe she loved Jesus so much she wanted to honor Him with her most valued possession.
She suddenly found herself in a moment of uninhibited worship and she offered something more than just her perfume. She offered her heart. She gave Jesus everything she had in an act of immeasurable love.
II. Judas at Caiaphas’ House Mt.26:14-16
a, Judas went to the chief priest under his own initiative led by Satan.
**This probably took place on the Tuesday Evening in the Passover week. Some people think it might have happened during the Wednesday afternoon.
Jesus had spoken several times about someone betraying him during his ministry, most people did not understand what he was talking about.
Judas came from a town called Kerioth, so he was known as Judas Iscariot, meaning 'from Kerioth'. He was also thought highly of in the Jewish community.
Judas was the only one of the 12 disciples that came from the southern 'Judea' part of Israel.
Jesus and the other 11 disciples came from the northern part of Israel, 'Galilee'.
So the most important Jewish leaders would have thought that Judas was the only 'proper' Jew!
(People from the north of Israel were often thought of as lower class and stupid!)
He was thought to be a good administrator and was the treasurer for Jesus and his disciples. He was the guy that held all the money and arranged where Jesus and his followers stayed on their travels. He was thought to be good with money, but secretly he was a thief!
Judas may have also been a member of an anti-roman freedom fighting group. Judas may had hoped that Jesus would lead a Jewish revolution to over throw the Romans and give Israel back to her rightful owners, the Jews. But all Jesus did was to preach and heal, no fighting!
Led by the devil Judas went to the Jewish leaders and betrayed Jesus.
Some say that Judas might have thought that the arrest of Jesus would have started an uprising and that he could then lead the Jews to victory, or he might have wanted more power among the Jews and saw that this was a good way of doing it, as Jesus didn't seem like he was going to start anything.
So on the Tuesday evening, after all the Temple services had finished, he went to the house of the Chief Priest, Caiaphas, to see strike up a deal to betray Jesus. Under Jewish law, a meeting accusing someone of a crime or arranging for an arrest could only take place in the court house, not someone’s house, so the meeting was illegal!
The Priests and Jewish officials had already had a meeting deciding that Jesus was to be killed, so having one of the disciples coming to help them would have been the icing on the cake!
b. He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Judas probably thought that this would have made him more important, but the Jewish leaders only saw him as a common informant. The amount they paid him for his treachery was the amount of money needed to buy a common slave, thirty pieces of silver (this would have been about $25.
c. Judas sought out an opportunity to hand Jesus over.
Judas left his secret meeting and waited for the perfect time for the authorities to arrest Jesus.
Maybe he thought it would be the next day when Jesus went into the Temple in Jerusalem, since it was customary to buy the Passover Lamb on the Wednesday, so it could be ready for the sacrifice and meal on the Thursday. It would have been Judas' job to buy the lamb in the temple, but he thought Jesus and the other disciples would have all gone to the Temple. So he must have got a big shock when Jesus decided to rest in Bethany all day on Wednesday and not go into Jerusalem until it was time for the Passover Meal on the Thursday evening
How could Judas turn on the One who gave him so much? Some say he had no choice. BUT the Bible is very clear – Judas had a choice.
You’re right, the devil tempted him, but the choice was his own – he was responsible for the decision he made.
** There in the upper room, Jesus gave him the position of honor – even after Jesus had washed his feet, he didn’t get it Jesus was there holding open the door for Judas to repent and not go through with it.
** So why did he do it?
We've looked at what some say “could have been” the reasons
Now let’s look at: The Biblical Reason
** Greed – Self-serving, gluttonous, betraying greed – He wanted money!
** He sought out the chief priest and asked how much he could get for Jesus. He betrayed Jesus for the price of a mere slave.
** Greed and the love of money – the lust for power and possession – can bring out the worst in people and it brought out the worst in Judas.
** But we all need to remember that Judas’ fall was a gradual process that all of us are capable of surrendering to.
*** Leonardo De Vinchy – Last Supper painting – initially Judas’ face looked like the face of his worst enemy and critic – but after a few restless nights he redrew some of his own features recognizing his own capacity to turn on Jesus.
Let me ask you… At what price will you sell out Jesus?
Will you sell Jesus out for power – prestige – possession – pride – position?
** Which door have you chosen? Which door will you choose?
