Sold
Is there anything that you own that you wouldn’t sell if the price was right? From cars to couches, from books to broaches, there is a price that you would consider if someone were willing to pay.
The tragedy of Judas is well-known to us. One of Jesus’ twelve, Judas was able to spend more personal time with the Word who became flesh than almost every other human being ever. He was present for Jesus’ public teachings. He listened to the Master teacher’s sermons. He saw the mercy of the Son of Man. His feet were washed by the Son of God.
Judas was given power over unclean spirits, and he could heal every disease and affliction (Matthew 10:1). He was given a position of responsibility as he had charge of the moneybag (John 12:6).
But Judas loved money. He “used to help himself to what was put into” that moneybag (John 12:6). John describes him bluntly as a “thief.”
To Judas, everything had a price, even his integrity.
Judas was not the first to put a price on that which should not be sold. Esau sold his birthright (Genesis 25:29-34). The nobles and officials sold their kinsmen into slavery (Nehemiah 5:7, 8). Ahab “sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD” (1 Kings 21:20, 21). The people of Israel followed the example of Ahab, and “sold themselves” (2 Kings 17:17).
It is this selling of oneself that has the most disparate of outcomes. Jesus once asked, “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (Matthew 16:26).
No matter what a man gains in the selling of himself, he always comes out a loser.
It seems fair to assume that Judas’ love of money had a part to play in his betrayal of Jesus. He was already used to selling himself. Why not put a price on someone else? Judas knew that the chief priests wanted Jesus dead, but they needed to apprehend him quietly. Judas knew where Jesus went to be alone. He sold out his Lord and his own soul for 30 pieces of silver.
This son of destruction sealed his fate when he ended his life. Unlike the other disciples who departed from Jesus but repented and returned, Judas left no avenue for forgiveness. Sin collected on his debt.
We should be careful not think too lowly of those in Scripture and too highly of ourselves. While we have certainly never sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, I wonder to what paltry sum we have agreed?
Perhaps we’ve sold Jesus for our life, as Peter thought he did (Luke 22:54-62). Perhaps we’ve sold Jesus for our possessions as the rich young ruler did. Perhaps we’ve sold Jesus for pride like Diotrephes, or for passion like Demas. No matter the perceived gain, we will always lose that transaction.
We will sin (1 John 1:8, 10). But remember that when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1). The One we betray or deny is the One who will speak for us when we repent. Jesus valued us so highly that he redeemed us from sin (Titus 2:14), giving up his life for us (1 Corinthians 6:20).
He will never sell us.
by Lee Parish