WHAT WILL YOU GIVE ME

WHAT WILL YOU GIVE ME?

Matt 26:14-16

14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

Judas was eaten up with greed. The want of money is never satisfied and the sacrifice of the perfume in the alabaster box in the house of Simon the Leper still burned in his nostrils. His indignation over its spillage was not due to a burning desire to help the poor but a poor assessment of the value of his master (See verse 9).

Thirty pieces of silver was exchanged for the Son of God. It was the most notoriously bad bargain of history. Judas weighed the jingle in the bag and it felt good in his hand – and from that time he sought opportunity to betray Jesus. Oh, how we universally condemn this most evil of men while we practice this very form of parsimony.

For a few hours of overtime we trade our children and rob them of the presence and counsel of father or mother. We set them adrift for a few ounces of silver and later decry their lack of discipline and direction. For a few dollars more we gladly abandon worship at church and fumble for excuses to make null the clear teaching of Scripture on the matter. “Forsake not (a clear command) the assembling of yourselves together like some have done” (Hebrews 10:25).

As love for money grows, love for God becomes tasteless. Like Malachi’s congregation we moan, “Behold, what a weariness is it!” (Malachi 1:13). We assemble for the loaves and the fishes and nothing more. Without the smoke, the lights and the sensory stimulation our soul is dead and worship is lifeless. Judas still assembles with us, going through the motions, and waiting for an opportunity for gain.

Ultimately Judas lost not only his Lord but his money and his life. Seeing that his betrayal would mean Jesus’ death, a result he never intended, he tried to reverse the bargain. He took the money back but the warranty had expired and the deed could not be undone. He threw the money down and went out and hanged himself. Judas “went to his own place” and now languishes in the flames of Hell because his heart was overthrown with avarice.  

Matt 16:26

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Dear Lord, let me not be deceived by the allure of material gain. AMEN