What Jesus Did : Matthew 26:14-16 - Infamy
by Phil Ware
Infamy - Matthew 26:14-16
Then one of the twelve followers went to talk to the leading priests. This was the follower named Judas Iscariot. Judas said, "I will give you Jesus. What will you pay me for doing this?" The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. After that time Judas waited for the best time to give Jesus to the priests. (ERV) Full TextKey Thought
It appears that Judas would be remembered too! Wherever the Gospel is told, Judas is also remembered.
Judas is not just famous; he is infamous! How many mothers want their son to be named Judas? How many dads want their son to be known as a sell out? So the antithesis of the woman who anointed Jesus with costly ointment is Judas, who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
While these are the extremes, those of us who follow Jesus are confronted by these two powerful images and asked to choose the way we will live our life: will we live extravagantly for Jesus or will we live seeking to get extravagant gifts from Jesus?Today's Prayer
Father and Almighty God, I confess that I have sometimes been very selfish in the way that I have looked at you and prayed to you. I've presented you with my wish lists hoping that you would grant the wishes of my heart. But in this powerful collision of lives in the shadow of Jesus' cross, I am convicted of what you have sacrificed for me and the incredible extravagance you showed me in sending Jesus, not to mention that you had him die for my sins! I can never fully thank you, but I want to strive to serve you and love you and honor you with faithful extravagance as long as I live. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Today's Verses in Context
After Jesus finished saying all these things, he said to his followers, "You know that the day after tomorrow is Passover. On that day the Son of Man will be given {to his enemies} to be killed on a cross." Then the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders had a meeting at the palace where the high priest lived. The high priest's name was Caiaphas. In the meeting, they tried to find a way to arrest Jesus without the people seeing it. They planned to arrest Jesus and kill him. The men in the meeting said, "We cannot arrest Jesus during Passover. We don't want the people to become angry and cause a riot." Jesus was in Bethany. He was at the house of Simon the leper. While Jesus was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume. The woman poured this perfume on Jesus' head while Jesus was eating. The followers saw the woman do this and became upset at the woman. The followers asked, "Why waste that perfume? That perfume could be sold for much money and the money could be given to poor people." But Jesus knew what happened. Jesus said, "Why are you troubling this woman? She did a very good thing for me. You will always have poor people with you. But you will not always have me. This woman poured perfume on my body. She did this to prepare me for burial after I die. I tell you the truth. The Good News will be told to people in all the world. And in every place where the Good News is told, the story of what this woman did will also be told. And people will remember her." Then one of the twelve followers went to talk to the leading priests. This was the follower named Judas Iscariot. Judas said, "I will give you Jesus. What will you pay me for doing this?" The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. After that time Judas waited for the best time to give Jesus to the priests.-- Matthew 26:1-16 (ERV)
URL: http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/1126-wjd.html
(c)2001-2006, Phil Ware and Heartlight, Inc.
©1996-2002, Heartlight, Inc. - http://www.heartlight.org