Matthew 26.14-16

Today, are passage is very short but very important. This occurs right after Mary anoints Jesus' feet with her perfume. Matthew places this story about Mary, which actually occurred BEFORE the triumphal entry, but he placed it here to make a contrast between how Mary treated Jesus and how Judas treated Jesus. Let's take a look at this passage:

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 hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. ¹⁶ From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.


Matthew starts off by emphasizing that Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, was one of the inner twelve. He is on the leadership team of Jesus Christian Church. He is one of the elders, on staff, yet...look at what he does. 


He does not act like Mary, the woman, the outsider, who gave up all she had for Jesus. Instead, he went to the chief priests and asked this:


“What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?”


There have been numerous suggestions as to why Judas betrayed Jesus. Here are some of the more common ones:

• He was jealous of Jesus 
• He was mad about Mary wasting the perfume
• He was impatient and wanted to force Jesus' hand to institute conflict with the elders
• He was disappointed in who Jesus was in comparison to who he thought he was going to be
• He was trying to make some money to replace the money he had stolen from their fund
• He was trying to save himself because he saw the conflict between the Jewish leaders and Jesus

Whatever the motivation or reason is for why Judas betrayed Jesus, this is true. While Mary sacrificed for everything she had for Jesus, Judas used Jesus to get a little something for himself. 

How much did Judas trade Jesus in for?

 So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.

30 coins, the price of  a slave. 

But he's Judas!!! He sat on the left hand of Jesus at the Lord's Supper, showing that he was like the third most important disciple. He did carry the money bag. Yet...instead of being completely committed to Jesus no matter what the cost, he bails for selfish reasons. 

The question that Mary was asking was...."what can I sacrifice for Jesus?"

The question Judas is asking is..."what can I get out of Jesus?"

One's focus is serving and sacrificing, the other is ME ME ME.

So who are you? 

Do you go to church or go into the ministry or serve in a program so that you can be recognized or thanked or achieve popularity or a certain status among your peers? Or you concerned with what Jesus can give you or what you can give for Jesus?

There is one choice we have to make, we can be like Mary or Judas...you choose.