Spy Wednesday: Greed, Betrayal, Guilt

3/27/2024

by Daniel Jung and Donovan Mcgehee

Scripture

Luke 22:1-6, Matthew 26:1-16

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people.

Judas to Betray Jesus

Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,[a] a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Judas to Betray Jesus

Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

Devotion

The Plot to Kill Jesus is a relatively straightforward passage as it details the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot. In both passages, Judas is said to have received 30 pieces of silver for his treachery. To us, 30 pieces of silver are worth around a meager $324, sufficient to feed the average American family for two weeks or less. However, it was worth half a year’s wages to the average Israelite.

Judas’s actions were motivated by covert greed, which is further demonstrated in John 12, when Jesus and His disciples are at Lazarus’s home. When Jesus has his feet wiped with nard, an expensive perfume, Judas is quick to point out that the perfume could have been sold and the funds donated to the poor. This act of benevolence paints Judas in a positive light. However, it is written in John 12:6 “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.

After he sold out Jesus, Judas was “seized with remorse.”

In Matthew 27, it states, “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘for I have betrayed innocent blood.’

‘What is that to us?’ they replied. ‘That’s your responsibility.’

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

The chief priests picked up the coins and said, ‘It is against the law to put this into the treasury since it is blood money.’ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: ‘They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.’”

Betrayal is almost always spurred on by greed. Much like Caesar, who was betrayed by his consulate, Jesus was betrayed by his own disciple who coveted wealth. An important lesson we can derive from Spy Wednesday is that allowing evils such as greed into oneself will almost always result in the betrayal of one’s companion.

We can defend against such evils by building amicable relationships with one another and holding one another accountable.

Artwork

"The Kiss of Judas" by Giotto di Bondone

This painting is of the betrayal of Jesus. In Matthew 26, it is described that Judas’s signal for whom to arrest is that he would kiss them. This painting shows the moment where he kisses Jesus, signaling to arrest him, and therefore betraying him.

Poetry

"Spy Wednesday" by Brother Richard

We feel it once again

approach,

as a shiver on the

spine,

the annual reminder,

the telling of the

true tale;

of the betrayal

of love,

of light,

of God;

existing

not just then

but

always;

an option in each

moment.

Beguiled by shadows

of desire,

always appearing

bigger and better

than that whose

shape

they,

in their smoke selves

flickeringly take

falsely;

we tell ourselves

the story

as old as eden:

It is for our good,

for their good,

for goodness sake,

for eventual good.

But we

know,

always,

deep down we

know,

as inch by inch,

step by step,

we turn our back on

Him,

on Love,

and allow

the callous clinking of

coin

to fall upon the

floor

of a once clean

sanctuary,

our fairy gold that

disappears

in morning light,

yet we,

knowing that good is

hard,

too often

take the eden easy

way,

and

descend the

steps of

desire

until despair

beckons...

Hold!

He is looking at

you,

always!

In this moment,

meet His eyes,

who saw you

first in

eternal

gaze of Love

from everlasting,

and hear Him call

your true

name!

Give Him

your

judas shrunken self,

lost in egoic agony,

and let

His betrayed and bought

blood

purchase for you

instead

Peter's

true tears,

crystalising

into repentant

rock

beneath

Easter's

thrice told

Benediction.

This poem conveys the betrayal of Judas. It speaks of how he turned away from and rejected God. Additionally, the poem expresses how we too often turn our back on God and how we need to repent.

Music

Lacrimosa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Lacrimosa’s melancholy tone performed in D-minor captures the poignant scene of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus. Lacrimosa, meaning weeping/tearful in Latin, was initially composed by Mozart and was continued by his pupil after his death. Lacrimosa’s creation parallels Jesus’s death and resurrection, as much like how the disciples spread the Gospel after Jesus’s death, Lacrimosa carried Mozart’s legacy.

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Spy Wednesday: Greed, Betrayal, Guilt

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