Thirty Pieces of Silver

Thirty pieces of silver. A slave’s price. A betrayer’s profit. The Lord’s worth to the Jewish priests. Whenever I read about the betrayal in the Gospel, I easily feel disgusted with the priests and angered towards Judas. That one monetary exchange set in motion the crucifixion of our Christ. How could one not get upset by this? I will find myself pointing the finger at Judas and thinking about how I would have never betrayed Christ. However, I’m quickly reminded in the passage that the Lord’s death was prophesized way before Judas was even born. With or without Judas’s deceit, Jesus still would have died out of obedience to the Father. I’m not giving Judas an excuse for his actions in the least, but he can’t bare all the weight on his own as we all have a part to play.

I think a lot of time Judas is a scapegoat, and it is easy to condemn him for his role. However, Jesus acknowledged his betrayal, gave him time to repent, and even warned him. It is not our job to condemn Judas for something that Christ himself already addressed. Jesus didn’t die because Judas sold him out. Jesus died because his Father, our Father, commanded him to. He died to save us from our own sin. We can’t forget about the part our own sin played. This thought quickly humbles me. We are no better than our neighbors. We are no better than a betrayer.

Putting the blame on others, like Judas, instead of ourselves is something I think we can all resonate with even in today’s culture. These days, it is rare for us to take ownership in the way that we have behaved. It is easier to point the finger at the more obvious blunders of others than to call out our own errors. Sometimes we can’t change what we have done, but we can change how we behave in the future. Isaiah 50:4-5, “…Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.” God gives us the tools we need each and every day to succeed. All we have to do is use what he has given us. To humble ourselves before the Lord and remember that we all fail, but through him we are made strong and we can overcome.

Author: Sarah Wait, Finance Department