Was It Worth It?

“Then Judas, which betrayed Him, answered and said, “Master, is it I?  He said unto him, Thou hast said.”  Matthew 26:25

Judas Iscariot was the last named disciple of Jesus twelve companions who accompanied Him for a little over three years across the land of Israel as He ministered, healed, and preached to the multitudes.  Other than the Apostle Peter, Judas is probably the most well known worldwide of all the disciples because of his wickedness.  It must have really grieved Jesus to know that one of His chosen few would betray Him.  There is no record in scripture of Jesus’ call to Judas to be a disciple, but there are no records of the call of some of the others either.

Since Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, why would Jesus choose him to be a disciple?  The most obvious reason is that God’s plan for man’s redemption had to proceed.  In order for this to happen, it was necessary for someone with an evil heart to be in Jesus’ inner circle.  The Jews would require a bonafide witness in order to arrest and prosecute Jesus.  Also, Jesus brought Judas into the group of His closest confidants to give him opportunity to repent.  The door of forgiveness was always open for Judas, but he close not to enter in.

Judas was the treasurer of the group, the “it’s all about the money” man, rightly named because of his greed.  (Now, most treasurers are not greedy, but I have heard stories about folks who were in charge of the funds for particular groups or companies who embezzled, skimmed off the top, or just plain stole from the group’s bank account.)  There was a gathering of Jesus’ friends one day.  Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, and one of Jesus’ closest friends, anointed Him by pouring expensive perfume on His feet and wiping them with her hair, a very humble way to show her love for Jesus.  Judas was indignant.  He said it was a waste of good perfume, and rather it could have been sold and the money given to the poor, like he really cared about the poor.  Nothing, even the smallest deed, that anyone does to serve Christ is a waste.

It wasn’t long after that gathering in Bethany that Judas went to the chief priests and asked what would they give him to deliver Jesus to them.  They told him that they would give him 30 pieces of silver.  Notice that they did not approach him; he approached them.  He went on his way and began to plan how he would betray Jesus, and we know how he did it: he identified Jesus with a kiss when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus.  Let’s be clear about something.  God did not make Judas commit such a horrible act of betrayal.  Judas had free will.  He could have repented, and God’s plan would have been accomplished through another.  Judas had given in to the sinful desires of his heart.  He later was remorseful, but instead of asking Jesus for forgiveness, he went out and hung himself.  He threw his life away for 30 pieces of silver.  Unfortunately, there are multitudes across the globe who have thrown their lives away for a lot less because they did not want to give up their sin and become a true follower of Jesus Christ.