Thirty Pieces of Silver – What is Your Sell Out Price?

Matthew 26:14-15
“Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, and said, ‘What are you willing to give me to deliver Him up to you?’ And they weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.”

For Judas, his relationship with Jesus appeared to have a sellout price of thirty pieces of silver, a modern-day equivalency of about $45 in U.S. currency. Judas’ occupation with money was often a contention between him and Jesus. One such event was the time Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with costly perfume. Judas being the treasurer, saw this as a waste and thought the oil should have been sold and the monies used for ministry. Though this came across as a noble request, the fact that it was rooted in self-righteous indignation and greed is what eventually lead to Judas’ downfall. Sadly, he would be remembered forever, as the one who betrayed Jesus.

A Divine Revelation

What’s our sellout price? What price tag do we put on our obedience to Christ or better yet, what does Satan use to entice us to betray our Savoir? Oh! We may say, “I would never betray Jesus”, yet every time we sin, we betray Jesus. We sell Him out to indulge the desires of our flesh. Exercising the free will that God has so graciously given us, to reject Him, disobey Him, and turn and go our own way. After all, Judas thought he knew better too. Even if he did not know what the Pharisees had in store for Jesus. Regrettably, his love of money and his self-righteous attitude allowed him to be fooled into believing that he was doing the right thing. Are we equally guilty of falling into the same trap he did?

Satan is most often subtle in his strategy to lure us into what seems to be right at the moment but isn’t. Man’s best intentions have caused some of the most horrific atrocities in the history of our world and it doesn’t look like we’re learning from our mistakes.

Sadly, the current spiritual apathy of our churches toward sin has reduced our obedience to God to, if it feels right, do it or it’s okay, everyone else does it. The standard of obedience found in Scripture seems to be obtrusive, unpopular, and just plain impossible to follow so why bother trying. We ignore the long-term ramifications for the short-term payoffs. We tickle our ears with flabby doctrine and feed ourselves on spiritual pabulum.

In other countries, where there is no religious freedom, Christians put their lives on the line every day because of their love for Christ. Not so in America! We, who have religious freedoms are having difficulty living what we believe or even standing up for Christ we love. Why is that? Satan uses the freedoms we enjoy as a gun to our heads with his finger on the trigger asking, “Choose whom this day, this moment, you will serve.” Sadly, his intimidations cause us to relinquish our witness, give in to the desires of our flesh, and our obedience to Christ gets sold out in the process. When asked to deny our flesh of anything, to pick up our cross and follow Christ, the resounding answer most often is NO! At times we, like Peter, deny we even know Him by our lifestyle choices. We say He is Lord with our lips yet betray Him all the while with our actions.

A Divine Challenge

Judas was indeed a man to be most pitied. He walked with Jesus, he talked with Jesus, and he saw the miracles of Jesus. Yet in the end, he betrayed Jesus. Do you walk with Jesus, talk with Jesus, see His miraculous hand working in your life? Yet when the cares of this world or the temptations of the flesh come, your allegiance to Him pays the price?

Call to Action

In the scheme of things, we may be coming to that final hour. I hope for those of us who follow Christ, instead of being like Judas and selling Jesus out or like Peter who denied he even knew Jesus. We will hold fast to our Savior so He will find us faithful no matter what the cost!Father, as Your children, we are often disobedience, fickle in our faith, and cowardice when it comes to standing up for what we believe in. Strengthen us in the power of Your might that we would not sell You out the next time sin comes a callin! In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!