Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. (Luke 22:1-6, 19-23 NIV)
Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. Think of what means: Judas watched Jesus feed over 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. And then he walked around and collected a basketful of leftovers. Judas was on the boat when Jesus calmed terrifying storms on the Sea of Galilee—at least two different times. Judas watched Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. Judas saw Jesus heal the paralyzed and give sight to the blind and cure leprosy. Can you imagine being one of Jesus’ twelve disciples? Yet, Judas betrayed Jesus. Isn’t that scary?
There’s more. Judas heard Jesus preach the Word of God over and over again for three years. Judas heard Jesus say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Judas heard Jesus encourage, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). Judas heard Jesus proclaim, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). Day after day… Yet, Judas betrayed Jesus. Isn’t that scary?
How? How could one of Jesus’ closest friends betray him? As followers of Jesus, it’s scary for us to think about. For the Jewish leaders, pride and envy led them to rage against Jesus. But not for Judas. He was one of the Twelve. He was a disciple. How did Judas betray Jesus? Well, “Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.” Satan entered him. How? What did Satan use to get access to Judas’ heart? Money. This Lent we’ve been studying the Seven Deadly Sins. There’s one left we haven’t talked about. It fits perfectly with Maundy Thursday: Greed.
The Bible warns, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:10). “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Do you believe that? We in America should pay special attention to this. When people look at America, perhaps more than anything else, what do they see? Money. Wealth. Stuff. Greed. Do we? Are we aware? It feels so natural. It feels so good. It feels so American to gauge our worth based on what we have. Watch out! Satan is an expert at using greed to pull even the closest followers of Jesus away from him. Like Judas.
I looked up every time the New Testament mentions Judas. One story stands out. Right before Holy Week, a woman poured a jar of expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet. Remember this story? It was her way of showing how much Jesus was worth to her. Judas objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?” (John 12:4). Sounds like a good objection, right? Except, “he did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it” (John 12:4-6).
Greed had been growing in his heart. It must have started small. Judas stole a little from the disciples’ funds. No one noticed. In fact, everybody trusted him! But that greed was damaging his soul. Little by little. Until, finally, we hear, “Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?’” (Matthew 26:14). What a question! “What are you willing to give me?” Greed!
How much did they give him? In our lesson, Luke just tells us “money.” I bet you know the amount: Thirty pieces of silver. So what was that worth? Our best guess is that it was worth about 120 days wages. Is that a lot? Well, if someone works 120 days at $15 an hour, that’s $14,400. That’s quite a bit, isn’t it? Actually, that was the price of a slave in the Old Testament. If you needed to pay someone for their slave, the price was thirty pieces of silver (see Exodus 21:32). Not much. That’s what Jesus was worth to Judas. Maybe $15,000. The price of a slave.
So what is Jesus worth to you? If someone were to write you a check tonight for $15,000 and say, “This is yours, as long as you stop going to church,” would you take it? Isn’t it embarrassing to think about this? Maybe you’d need a little more? In America, when there is a wrongful death, the average settlement to the family of the deceased is $500,000 to $1 million. Does that sound better? What if you could have $1 million? All you need to do is stop saying you’re a Christian. It tugs at your heart, doesn’t it? Because our hearts love money. A lottery winner this past week won $1.2 billion. Would that do it? If you had $1.2 billion, why would you need Jesus, right?
Greed feels so natural. It seems so good. Fill in this sentence, “If I had more money, my life would be _______.” “If I could win the lottery, it would change my life for the _______.” Here’s the danger: Satan is looking for a foothold. He’s constantly looking for a way into your heart. His goal is to turn you. To turn you away from Jesus. He’s good at it. He even got Judas—one of the Twelve! “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” (Matthew 26:14). The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. As people who love money, isn’t that scary?
On Maundy Thursday, there was an incredible irony. Judas was looking for how much he could get. At the very same time, Jesus was also thinking about prices and value and worth too. But do you know what Jesus was asking? “How much can I give?” Do you hear the difference? Judas was asking, “How much can I get?” Jesus was asking, “How much can I give?” What was the answer? Everything. As Judas was betraying, Jesus was saving. On the same night, there was greed, and there was grace. Nowhere is that contrast more evident than at the Last Supper.
I wonder if the coins clicked in Judas’ pocket as he reclined at the Last Supper in the upper room. In fact, I wonder if Judas kept his hand on that money bag as he ate the Passover with Jesus. Yet, as the coins clinked in Judas’ pocket, Jesus “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” As Judas secretly relished what he had gotten, Jesus rejoiced in what he had to give. What? Bread, but not just bread. His body given for you. Wine, but not just wine. His blood poured out for you. Can you see the contrast? Greed vs. Grace.
And Jesus gives it to you too. In the Lord’s Supper, you get Jesus’ body, given for you on the cross. In the Lord’s Supper, you get Jesus’ blood, poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Why would we want that? Why would we want someone’s body and blood? Because that’s the price of forgiveness. To wash greed away, what does it take? It takes someone dying. It takes body and blood. To wash sin away, what does it take? It takes someone dying. It takes body and blood. In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gives to you the very thing that he paid to redeem you, to buy you back from sin, death, and hell. He says, “Here. Take it. Given for you. Poured out for you.”
What overcomes greed? There’s only one thing: Realizing that my worth is not in what I own. My worth is in what Jesus did for me. If Jesus was willing to die for you, what are you worth? The life of Jesus. How much is Jesus’ life worth? Well, how much is God worth? Everything. When you take the Lord’s Supper in your hand and in your mouth, you get Jesus. Given for you. Poured out for you. What amount of money compares with that? What size of house is equal to that? My worth is not in what I own, but in the blood of Christ that flowed at the cross.
This is the great equalizer among Christians. This puts us all at the same level. If you are blessed to be wealthy, here’s what Jesus wants you to know: My worth is not in what I own. It’s in the blood of Christ shed for me. If you are blessed to be poor… Notice how I said that. God has a totally different view of money than we do. If you are blessed to be poor, here’s what Jesus wants you to know: My worth is not in what I own. It’s in the blood of Christ shed for me.
Jesus doesn’t just want you to know that during Holy Week. He said, “Do this is remembrance of me.” He wants us to celebrate the Lord’s Supper again and again in remembrance of him. In remembrance of what he has done for us. Every time you take the Lord’s Supper, marvel at what you’re worth to Jesus. Maybe you look around and see so many things you don’t have. But, “My worth is not in what I own.” Maybe your kids treat you like you don’t matter. Maybe the world makes you feel expendable. Maybe your sin makes you feel worthless and unworthy. But Jesus? He says you’re worth it. You’re worth everything. My worth is not in what I own. It’s in Christ.
In the 1800s, the Russian author Leo Tolstoy wrote a story called, “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” Have you heard of it? A man named Pahom was convinced that if he had more land, he would never have to worry about anything. So, throughout his whole life, he did everything possible to get more and more land. Finally, Pahom had the opportunity of a lifetime. He made a deal in which he would get all the land that he could walk around in a single day. The only rule was that he had to make it back to where he started before the sun set, or he would lose it all.
So Pahom set off early in the morning, determined to get as much land as possible. Around the middle of the day, however, he realized he had gone too far. He had to run as fast as he could to complete his circle by the end of the day. Exhausted, he barely made it back to the starting point as the sun set. He had run a circle around 35 miles of land. Wow! Of course, there was a catch. When he got back to the start, he was so exhausted that he collapsed and died. The story ends with this line: How much land does a man need? “Six feet from his head to his heels is all he needed.” Six feet. Just enough to bury his body under the ground. That’s where greed gets you.
But grace? It takes you further. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Life is not about what you get. Life is about what you’ve been given. There’s no more powerful picture of that than the Lord’s Supper. “This is my body given for you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Greed is overcome by grace. My worth is not in what I own, but in the blood of Christ that flowed at the cross.
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