JUDAS BETRAYS JESUS

Continuing with the theme of business transactions in the Bible, the next topic will be about one of the most well-known transactions in the Bible: the betrayal and selling of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

“And while He yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He: hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master; and kissed Him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took Him.” Matthew 26:47–50

All four gospels mention this sad event. It is a very important part of earth’s history, as well as Christ’s church. It was the deciding point of the saving of mankind, of giving him eternal life. But let us now rewind, prior to this time, when Judas, named Iscariot, didn’t even have a thought of betraying the Saviour.

Judas was a decent man before his trip to Jerusalem. Sister White writes that, “Had Judas died, . . . he would have been regarded as a man worthy of a place among the twelve, and one who would be greatly missed.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 716. Jesus saw great potential in him, but Judas had a natural strong love for money, and had many worldly ambitions. “Judas was highly regarded by the disciples, and had great influence over them. He himself had a high opinion of his own qualifications, and looked upon his brethren as greatly inferior to him in judgment and ability. They did not see their opportunities, he thought, and take advantage of circumstances. The church would never prosper with such shortsighted men as leaders. Peter was impetuous; he would move without consideration. John, who was treasuring up the truths that fell from Christ’s lips, was looked upon by Judas as a poor financier. Matthew, whose training had taught him accuracy in all things, was very particular in regard to honesty, and he was ever contemplating the words of Christ, and became so absorbed in them that, as Judas thought, he could not be trusted to do sharp, far-seeing business. Thus Judas summed up all the disciples, and flattered himself that the church would often be brought into perplexity and embarrassment if it were not for his ability as a manager. Judas regarded himself as the capable one, who could not be overreached. In his own estimation he was an honor to the cause, and as such he always represented himself.” –The Desire of Ages, p. 717

Judas was blinded to his own weakness of character. Jesus put him in a position where he might see and correct this. Jesus made him treasurer of the disciples; in this position he was called upon to provide for the needs of Jesus and the disciples, as well as relieving the necessities of the poor. While ministering to others, Judas might have developed an unselfish spirit, but instead he slipped further into his errors and wrongdoings. The small amounts of money that would come into his hands were a very strong temptation. Whenever he did a small favour for Christ, he paid himself out of the poor fund as recompense for his “good deeds”. God saw this as thievery and Judas fell further and further into the tempter’s snare.

One day Jesus and His disciples were invited to a feast with Simon, one of the many Jesus had healed. All of them came, Judas included, and ate and had a good time. All of a sudden Mary Magdalene walked in. She searched through all the faces and found Jesus. She walked over to Him and began to cry, washing His feet with her tears, then drying them with her hair. Then with precious ointment, which took a whole year’s salary to buy, she anointed Jesus’ feet. Judas rebuked Mary, saying that this money could have been put to the poor fund instead of being wasted on expensive perfume. Jesus replied and said, “When Jesus understood it, He said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon Me. For ye have the poor always with you; but Me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on My body, she did it for My burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.” Matthew 26:10–13

That was the complete turning point for Judas. He could not stand what Jesus had said to him. From that day on he looked for the perfect moment to betray his Saviour. That day came on that Passover night in the upper room. “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 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.” Matthew 26:14–15

This was the beginning of the overall transaction. Then Judas, the Pharisees, and the temple guards went to find Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, the place where the trade would be completed. Judas told the Pharisees that the One he would kiss was the One they were to take. The soldiers laid hold on Jesus and took Him away. The transaction was complete; Judas sold our Lord, and Jesus sold Himself to be condemned by the Father for all the sins of the world.

Judas could have been better than this. He could have been a good disciple. He could have been one of the twelve, but as we clearly see, the love of money can sometimes destroy the soul. It is my wish and prayer that we may never allow money to make us lose sight of the greatest transaction of all—the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Amen.

Cyrus Newby

PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Matthew 13:45–46.  We are continuing on the topic of business transactions in the Bible. But, what is a business transaction? The definition that I found says the following, “the occurrence of an economic event or a condition that must be recorded in the accoutring records.”

My topic will be about the pearl of great price. Has anyone here ever owned a pearl or ever had one in their possession? My mother has owned pearls, and there is a story behind it. About three years ago my mother decided to make a business transaction for people in need. So, what she did was to sell her pearls. My mother used to say that those pearls were her treasure; it made my mother sad that the store that we sold the pearls to had not given her much for them, and this money was to go to Africa. But what they gave she donated to Arica.

“The blessings of redeeming love our Saviour compared to a precious pearl. He illustrated His lesson by the parable of the merchantman seeking goodly pearls ‘who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.’ Christ Himself is the pearl of great price. In Him is gathered all the glory of the Father, the fullness of the Godhead. He is the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person. The glory of the attributes of God is expressed in His character. Every page of the Holy Scriptures shines with His light. The righteousness of Christ, as a pure, white pearl, has no defect, no stain. No work of man can improve the great and precious gift of God. It is without a flaw. In Christ are ‘hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’ Colossians 2:3. He is ‘made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.’ 1 Corinthians 1:30. All that can satisfy the needs and longings of the human soul, for this world and for the world to come, is found in Christ. Our Redeemer is the pearl so precious that in comparison all things else may be accounted loss.” – Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 115.  I hope it is the same for us.

The parable of the pearl of great price is of a man who gives all he that has to get his pearl. I don’t think many people are actually willing to do this. Although it may be for a good cause, people still don’t want to do it. These people are way too attracted to the riches of this world. But what does Luke 12:33 say? “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.”

People don’t understand this. People think that if they keep all the money to themselves they will be happy. Yes, money can buy you a lot of nice things. But all the money in the world cannot buy you happiness. Other people might wonder then, what is money’s true value if it can’t make you happy? Well. . . It is not the money that matters; it is how you use the money that determines its true value. These two thoughts define money perfectly. And in this case the money made the man of the parable happy because he was able to buy the pearl.

So, who would make a spiritual transaction for that pearl? I know that most of us would at least want to. To conclude, a famous actor once said, “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” So, it is my wish and prayer that we make a good choice in our next spiritual business transaction.

Matthew Romero