Matthew 26: 14– 16
Every staff has a crook
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.
If you have been going through the Gospel of Matthew with us then you know that I like to check out the other Gospels to see if they also report the same incident. So, there are other written reports and they are:
Luke 22: 1 – 6, “1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. 4 So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. 5 And they were glad and agreed to give him money. 6 So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.
Mark 14, “After two days was [the feast of] the Passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put [him] to death. But they said, Not on the feast [day], lest there be an uproar of the people. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. And when they heard [it], they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.”
John 11, “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” 49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. 53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples. 55 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56 Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” 57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.
Misconduct on the part of anyone who is involved in your business or ministry is unfortunately a reality. Due to the fact that one apple will spoil the whole lot those individuals who are in charge of a organization must take preventive measures to prevent the misappropriation of funds. I know that you understand that in many cases just one occurrence can cause great harm to any successful venture.
A couple of warning signs to keep a watch out for is;
1. Being evasive or difficult to reach
2. Secretive on funds received and disbursed
3. Great delay in approving purchase orders
4. Secretive in financial statements
5. Delivers excuses instead of timely information
6. Never takes any time off
7. Complains of other expenses but not their own
8. Envious of other person’s financial success
Today we are going to see some of these warning signs being played out by a member of our Holy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s select leadership called Apostles.
In our last study we see that the overflowing love and generosity of the woman contrasts vividly with the behavior of Judas. Here was one of the chosen twelve whose heart was so hardened that he would sell The Son of God Jesus Christ for far less than the woman had sacrificed out of love for Jesus. She had sacrificed on His behalf the equivalent of a year’s wages. Judas would sell Jesus for what in comparison was a pittance. While she was identifying herself with our Lord Jesus fully in the light of His coming death, Judas was trying to find a way out of his commitment to the Lord Jesus for his own financial advantage.
The impression given in all the Gospels is that Judas betrayed The Holy Lord Jesus for financial gain, and that can hardly be doubted. But we still must consider what changed him to make him make such a move. It would not just be the result of momentary greed, something must have lain behind it. He had after all been willing and ready to suffer the privations of being a disciple.
Certainly, at some stage there must have been a lessening of Judas’ original loyalty, and in the context you can in fact spot several possible additional motives.
The first was that The Lord Jesus Himself had declared that He was shortly to be handed over and crucified. This was probably a very different end to the one that Judas had envisaged when he had ‘signed on’, and it probably brought to his mind our Lord Jesus’ indication that this might also be the way in which they would all end up, for they had all been told to ‘take up their crosses’ (16.24). Now that that seemed to be becoming a literal reality it may be that the prospect had suddenly become not so appealing.
He had also heard our Lord Jesus declare that what the woman had done had been as an anointing for His burial, which had further confirmed the seriousness of The Lord Jesus’ earlier words. It made it even more clear that danger was looming ever closer. Possibly it was time to get out.
He may well also have been offended and appalled at Jesus’ acceptance of the woman’s extravagance, and His subsequent gentle rebuke. It seemingly did not tie in with his own way of thinking. It might have seemed to him that it went against all that Jesus had previously taught them, something which, at a time when his mind was in turmoil, might have helped to push him over the edge.
He may also have resented the fact that the ‘waste’ of the perfumed oil had prevented him from getting his own hands on what was to him a substantial sum of money. Please remember that this perfumed oil was worth a year’s wage.
He was also seemingly aware of the attitudes of the chief priests and elders. Here were the very leaders of Judaism firmly in opposition to The Lord Jesus, and seemingly about to win. Was it not perhaps the time to align himself with them?
He might also have felt that all the talk on every side appeared to be of death. Perhaps then it had made him so disillusioned that he had sunk into deep depression (which would help to explain his later suicide). It might have seemed to him as though our Lord Jesus was about to be removed without having accomplished anything Messianic, and that they were all going to be left with nothing substantial having been gained. So, the question may well have arisen in his mind as to how he could extricate himself from the situation as profitably as possible. He would consider that he had, after all, sacrificed a lot for the cause and it was surely time that it gave him something back. Besides if the Messiah Jesus was so certain that He was going to how could he lose if he switched to the other side? And what difference would it make whether it was brought about by him or by someone else? After all, once Jesus was gone there was clearly going to be no cause worth following.
Additionally, to this John tells us that he had begun to misappropriate funds (John 12.6). If that were so then it explains why his moral inhibitions had become weakened. One sin always leads to another.
We can, of course, never be sure precisely what made Judas do what he did. There may have been a mixture of motives. The only thing that we finally know is that he did it.
14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests
The words ‘One of the twelve.’ have an ominous ring to them. Out of twelve men chosen by the Lord of the Universe for His service, one was a turncoat, a crook, and a traitor (John 6.70). His name was Judas Iscariot, which may mean ‘man of Kerioth’. He is the only one identified in this specific way. The reason why is clear. Mistaken identities might not matter too much in most cases, but no one wanted to be mistaken for this man. There was only one Judas who was like this.
The attitude of the Chief Priests towards Jesus was clearly known to the disciples, and it was this fact that enabled Judas to see an opportunity of earning some extra money for himself. Perhaps, he thought, they would be willing to pay him for information that would enable them to arrest Jesus, Who was seemingly going to be arrested anyway. It was certainly worth a try.
The Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread (the two feasts were one and could be called by either name. The Chief Priests and Scribes sought ways of getting rid of God’s Anointed. An official decision had been reached. The Son of God, our Lord Jesus was now seen as a false prophet and must die. The only question therefore was how to bring it about without causing a riot. Yet their dishonesty comes out in that they wanted to put all the blame on Pilate, and avoid an execution for blasphemy, the very charge that they held against Him. For they knew how the people felt about the death of John the Baptist, and they did not want any reaction against themselves. They wanted Pilate to take any backlash.
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.
Approaching the chief priests, he put to them his proposition. For the right sum he would enable them to arrest Jesus somewhere where it was quiet. The question was as to how much it was worth to them. It may well be that he himself named the sum that he required on the basis of the Old Testament indication of the value of a prophet, and of a Shepherd of the people. Zechariah 11.12. He had it all carefully thought out. Little did he realize that his name, and the price he would receive, would become as famous as the act of the woman who had anointed Jesus, but that in his case he would become proverbial for treachery, dirty dealings and betrayal. Ironically, he too would be remembered wherever the Gospel was proclaimed.
The chief priests were so eager to get the Lord Jesus that they seemingly paid the money out up front. Please take notice of the emphasis on the deliberate ‘weighing of the silver’. It was a deliberate payment of blood money, a price sarcastically described by Zechariah as ‘the goodly price that I was valued at by them’ (Zechariah 11.13). It was the price of a moderately valuable slave.
16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
And with the money in his hands Judas went away and began to plot Jesus’ betrayal, keeping his eyes open for any opportunity that would enable him to fulfil his promise. ‘To deliver Him.’
I want you to take this last verse into your thoughts for our next study where we discuss the secret Last Supper arrangement. You see our Great God and King Jesus knew what Judas was up to so He purposely avoided letting Judas interfere with their last time together.
