Matthew 26:15, commentary and pictures

Judas, one of the twelve, went on his own to the chief priests and rulers and offered to hand his Master over to them in secret, asking what they would pay him for it, and they agreed with him for thirty pieces of silver, a trifling sum counted as the price of a slave. The bargain was to guide them to one of Jesus' quiet places of retirement for prayer where they could seize Him away from the multitude, for they feared the people who were His friends. The ruling motive was a fostered love of money that grew into avarice and covetousness until it overbalanced love for Christ and led him to sell his integrity and his Saviour for worldly gain, and by yielding to it he gave Satan direct access and became a fit agent for the tempter. He counted the trade as sharp and safe because he did not believe Jesus would allow Himself to be taken, but expected Him to escape as before and display divine power, leaving the priests cheated while he kept the money. The same spirit of treachery is repeated whenever professed followers sacrifice principle for gain and betray Christ in the person of His saints, showing how one cherished sin of selfishness and covetousness can pervert a whole life and ruin an otherwise noble character.

Bargain and Setting

Judas, one of the twelve disciples, went of his own accord to the chief priests, elders and rulers and willingly offered to secretly deliver Jesus his Master into their hands. The rulers were seeking a secret way to seize Jesus, and they found in Judas one ready to betray Him for money, with Satan working directly through him in the plan. He himself put the question to them what they would give him, and they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. That sum was a paltry, trifling sum, the price of a slave, valuing Jesus at only a few pieces of silver. It was for that paltry sum that greed for gain led him to sell his Master.

The contract was that he would lead them to one of Jesus' quiet resorts for prayer, meditation and retirement, a quiet place where they could seize Him without opposition from a multitude. He was to betray Him in the absence of the multitude, because the priests knew the people were Christ's friends. The bargain was renewed on the second night before the Passover after the feast at the house of Simon, after he had time since that feast to reflect yet kept his purpose unchanged. He went directly from the supper to the priests, and from then on sought an opportunity to hand Jesus over.

By this bargain the Lord of life and glory was sold by one of His own followers to His bitterest enemies, to ignominy, shame, humiliation and death. He sold his divine Master to shame and death and handed his Lord over to those enemies, thereby becoming an agent in the treatment Jesus suffered before His death.

Judas Motives and Expectations

A natural strong love of money fostered into avarice and covetousness became the ruling motive of his life, overbalancing his love for Christ until love of mammon outweighed love for the Saviour. That unchecked love grew until it overcame the good he had received and led him to sell his integrity and his Saviour for money and worldly gain, selling the Lord of glory to shame and death for the price of a slave. He sold his divine Master for thirty pieces of silver, for a small sum, for a few pieces of silver, valuing at so little the One Mary had valued so highly by her costly gift. In this he represents professed Christians who use Christ's name to conceal devotion to self and money.

That love of money perverted his nobler nature and made him a fit agent for Satan in the betrayal. He yielded to the tempter and gave Satan easy access to his mind, and Satan worked directly through him to hand his Lord over to his bitterest enemies. By becoming the slave of one vice he gave himself to Satan to be driven to any length in sin, providing a picture of men who under Satan's influence betray the Lord by damaging His work.

Resentment, envy, unholy anger and revenge after Mary's costly offering and Christ's expressed or implied rebuke of his covetous spirit drove him to the bargain. Provoked by reproof before others, stung by known guilt and provoked to madness because his guilt was known, he refused repentance and instead planned revenge, rising from the table imbued with the spirit of Satan and acting like one bereft of reason. He became angry when his faults were reproved, and like those disappointed in expected honor he responded with revenge, going directly from the supper to the chief priests and from then on seeking an opportunity to hand Jesus over. His greed and envy drove him to accept far less than the ointment he had begrudged Mary for giving Jesus, while the priests who had been offered salvation freely without money and without price refused that precious gift of more value than gold and silver and instead bought their Lord.

His course grew from cherished selfishness, ambition, love of worldly praise and a divided heart. Though blessed with opportunities, lessons and three years with Christ and throughout His public ministry, and though outwardly professing faith, connected with Jesus, entrusted with money and even given power to heal, he did not commit his eternal interests to Him or live out His religion. He was a thief who stole from the money entrusted to him, a hearer and not a doer who refused to be molded, corrected and converted, and his supposed sufficiency led him to rely on himself instead of accepting counsel. He treasured hereditary and natural defects as precious treasure until they poisoned the whole man in principle, spirit, life and character, and his pride and stubbornness kept him from surrendering and confessing though Christ sought to soften his heart so He could pardon him. His concern for the poor was only an excuse to conceal selfish desire for money, for the money from Mary's ointment would not have helped the poor if it had gone into his hands, showing how covetous people can disguise selfishness as conscientious concern for others. The grace of Christ received into the heart would have converted his selfishness and worked wonderful changes in him as in John and Peter, but by not receiving Christ's words opposition to light arose in his heart.

He counted the bargain as sharp and safe either way because he did not believe Jesus would permit Himself to be taken. He expected Jesus to escape as before, to display divine power, to deliver Himself and to have a new opportunity to give further evidence of divinity, leaving the priests cheated of their bribe while he kept and secured the money for his own use and purpose. He reasoned that if Jesus was to be crucified the event had to happen and his betrayal would not change the result, while if Jesus was not to die the arrest would only force Him to deliver Himself from His enemies, so at all events he expected to gain something by his treachery and imagined the betrayal would lead only to a trial. It was a shrewd deal in his eyes, resting on a mistaken judgment of Jesus' purpose and willingness to be taken and on the wrongful expectation that Jesus would prevent His own arrest.

Remorse After Betrayal

From the garden betrayal onward he did not leave but kept Jesus in sight and followed Him to the trial before the Jewish rulers, amazed that He suffered Himself to be bound and led away. He watched every movement eagerly, expecting Him at any moment to surprise His enemies by appearing before them in the character of the Son of God and setting at naught all their plots and power.

When Jesus instead meekly submitted to abuse and let Himself be tried and condemned to death, his heart smote him and he realized the full guilt and extent of betraying his Master to shame and death. Remembering how kind and considerate and tender Jesus had ever been to him, he was filled with remorse and anguish and despised the covetousness that had tempted him to sell the Saviour. He did not realize what he was doing until it was too late to undo the fearful work, and his mourning afterward was only for the result of sin with no real sense of its grievous character, an example of worldly sorrow rather than godly sorrow which works repentance. In despairing remorse he went out and hanged himself.

Scripture Links and Foretelling

As Joseph was sold by his brothers for a small sum, so Jesus was sold to his enemies by one of his own disciples for thirty pieces of silver. His enemies sought by betrayal and death to prevent him from becoming king and ruler, but God overruled their purpose for good so that through death he became Redeemer, Saviour, and ruler over the world. That overruling did not lessen the guilt of those who betrayed and killed the innocent Jesus, whose crime remained grave.

The paltry price Judas accepted exposed his cold, calculating valuation of the life of the Son of God as worth only a few pieces of silver. It stands in contrast to Mary's costly gift, which showed how highly she prized and valued Jesus. Driven by greed, envy, covetousness and unholy anger, he combined revenge with gain and weighed his Lord against money, accepting far less than the ointment he had begrudged Mary for giving Jesus. The priests who bought their Lord had been offered salvation freely and refused it.

His selfish, avaricious bargaining to get all he could for his own gain without regard to justice, mercy and the love of God was the same spirit that led Lot to choose Sodom as his home for its wealth, attractions and loveliness. Lot's choice did not make him richer, for he went out empty-handed when fire consumed all his gains. The same plague-spot of selfishness and covetousness was touched when Christ told the rich young ruler to keep the commandments and to sell what he had, give to the poor, and follow him. Though numbered with the disciples, Judas was selfish, covetous and a thief, apparently righteous while neglecting his own soul and using his powers to accuse, criticize and condemn others, bracing his soul against truth and obedience and cherishing, cultivating and strengthening hereditary and natural traits until they led him to sell his Lord. He firmly set himself not to be changed by the lessons and example of Christ, refusing to heed the light coming in every lesson and persisting in a course not in harmony with God's plans that will not stand the test of judgment, while Jesus refrained from exposing his hypocrisy and embezzlement to avoid giving him an excuse for his perfidy.

With prophetic eye Jesus discerned beforehand that this disciple who was with him, blessed with opportunities and receiving lesson upon lesson, line upon line and precept upon precept yet not transformed in character, would deliver him into the hands of sinners. That delivering led to his being delivered by Pilate to be scourged and crucified, and his blood as Son of the Infinite God being mingled with the sacrifices of men as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Jesus foretold this terrible work of betraying his Lord for thirty pieces of silver to his disciples in a portion of his parting address when he was about to leave them. He spoke it before Judas left the presence of Christ to perform it and immediately before declaring that now the Son of man is glorified.

Doctrinal Teachings

Judas was united with Christ and the other disciples to receive education and training for character building, yet he was not converted because he did not receive Christ's words and improve. He cherished selfishness, ambition, and love of money as precious treasure and refused to correct his course despite the painstaking lessons of the divine Teacher. Grace received into the heart would have converted him from selfishness and worked wonderful changes in him, as it did in John and Peter, but by not receiving the words opposition to the light arose in his heart until his defects poisoned the whole man in principle, in spirit, in life, and in character, ending in selling his Lord for thirty pieces of silver for a trifling sum. His pride and stubbornness kept him from surrendering and confessing and ruined him, though Christ sought to soften his heart so He could pardon him, showing that forgiveness requires repentance. This history stands as a warning that defects must be refined, changed, and overcome, for indulgence only feeds appetite and strengthens the passions.

The bargain for thirty pieces of silver was an act of selfishness and covetousness done in uncontrollable passion and gives evidence that man in such fits cannot be trusted. The best religious culture and the highest advantages have no power to sanctify man or to preserve individuals or nations from falling into such degeneracy. The shame and guilt of that selfishness and covetousness belong to man alone. The sinfulness of members of God's church is not chargeable to any neglect on God's part, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that believers should not perish but have everlasting life, and the Lord of heaven has bestowed abundant labor upon the human race.

His presence as a covetous member of the church Christ formed on earth shows that the church can include unfaithful members without ceasing to be God's church. Though not perfect he was accepted as one of Christ's chosen disciples and even given power to heal the sick and cure diseases after betraying a sacred trust under great privilege, proving that having a name registered on the church books never makes anyone a Christian, and only doing the Word makes men sons and daughters of God. Because he failed to be converted daily into a sanctified and polished instrument for the Master's use, Satan was able to use his old hereditary and natural tendencies to dishonor Christ, imperil his own soul, and sell Him for money. Those in the church who know the truth without being sanctified by it will come to the same result, depart from the faith, work out wrong characters that do more harm because of their knowledge, confederate with apostates, and betray sacred trusts, while God calls for whole-sided, undivided consecration. His bargaining to deliver Christ for thirty pieces of silver was a disappointing result in the ministry in Christ's day that caused great sorrow and needed correction, yet the ministry retains its sacred, holy character and is not to be belittled or ignored because of such failures.

Jesus knew Judas had betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver, yet washed his feet, showing that humble service was not withheld even from His betrayer. All people belong to Christ, who died for the poor and uneducated as well as the learned and those who consider themselves great, so no one is to receive special honor or service above others. The setting teaches humility, impartiality, and service, and shows that God's ways and thoughts differ from ours. Selling a meetinghouse devoted to His work would feel like selling the Saviour recalled in the sale.

Warnings for Believers Today

The question what will you give me expresses a spirit of treachery that is repeated whenever people reject Christ and turn from truth to falsehood and under deception choose another leader. That same bargain is repeated today whenever principle is sacrificed for worldly gain, for those who do so betray their Lord and crucify Christ afresh and put Him to open shame, and Christ is betrayed again in the person of His saints. Judas had wonderful opportunities through three years with Christ, daily listening to His instruction and witnessing His marvelous works, yet covetousness grew stronger and stronger until he sold his Master for thirty pieces of silver because he loved gain and thought as a speculator to manage church finances to make money.

Those who accuse and betray their fellow believers serve Satan just as Judas did when he asked what he would receive for delivering Jesus and agreed to thirty pieces of silver, even when they do so unknowingly or ignorantly, because their actions reveal his spirit. To attack fellow believers by magnifying and distorting their faults is to act like Judas despite claiming to love and fear God. Through harsh and uncourteous treatment that drives vulnerable souls into Satan's hands, spiritual caregivers follow the same example of betrayal for an agreed price.

Selling Christ for personal gain recurs when dishonest business practices and speculation for selfish gain sacrifice Christ, for Judas' bargain grew from selfish ambition, love of worldly praise and a divided heart while outward profession concealed failure to meet the Bible standard and a false expectation that Jesus would prevent His own arrest. The same sin is still committed by professed disciples when they sell honor and sacrifice integrity to secure worldly advantage through pretense and sophistry, policy and underhand dealing, a kind of ingenious sinning common in health institutions, and by betraying sacred interests their unconsecrated lives become Satan's most effective argument against Christ and the truth. Selling the truth of Christ in business is done just as truly when those professing truth oppress a brother or neighbor, obscure what is due to Jesus Christ, and practice deception, fraud and robbery under fair names, as verily as Judas sold his King for thirty pieces of silver. Corrupt dealing can lead people to betray their Lord often without realizing where their course will end, and professed disciples including physicians also betray Christ when they sacrifice honor and integrity for worldly advantage or use deceitful means even for worthy aims. Selling Christ for personal gain betrays the Lord and His cause into the hands of its enemies and brings reproach on the truth, including betraying sacred trusts to ward off embarrassment or to take revenge and hurting and robbing God's cause.

Judas' covetousness led him to value Jesus at only a few pieces of silver and agree to sell Him, and his bargain illustrates how selfishness can overtake one who professes loyalty so that professed followers trade generous principles for earthly gain. Covetousness and unholy anger led him to combine revenge with greed and sell his Lord for a paltry sum, weighing the life of the Son of God against money in contrast to Mary's costly gift which showed how highly she valued Jesus. Like Judas, selfish and covetous people will trade good principles and a generous character for a little gain and will be sifted out from God's people, for selfishness and love of money lead professed followers to abandon good principles and a generous spirit. The same cold, calculating spirit appears when people withhold or grudgingly give to His cause under plausible excuses such as claiming money should instead go to the poor, while true Christian faith is shown by works and by giving to the cause of truth. His concern for the poor was a cover for selfish desire to possess the costly ointment, showing how covetous people disguise selfishness as conscientious concern for others by valuing Jesus so little as to hand Him to wicked men for a few pieces of silver.

He who for thirty pieces of silver sold the Lord of glory stands as a beacon of warning at the byways leading from the path of life, showing the result of even one wrong act and the peril of even one departure from right both to the wrongdoer and to all whom his influence reaches. A life otherwise virtuous, honorable and noble, in which one sin is fostered and one vice indulged, becomes the strongest bulwark of vice in the world and a powerful enticement to the soul struggling in secret against temptation on the verge of the precipice. He who wilfully transgresses one precept of God's holy law perverts noble gifts into a lure to sin, so that genius, talent, sympathy and even generous and kindly deeds become decoys to entice souls over the precipice of ruin, because indulgence feeds appetite and strengthens passion unless defects are refined and overcome.

His selling of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver after becoming provoked by the Lord's reproof before others arose from a spirit of revenge and warns against letting hatred and revenge take possession of the heart. It is the fearful result of cherishing sin by rejecting light and instruction, becoming angry when faults are reproved, and betraying the One who sought his good, and it illustrates giving in to unbelief and rejecting light and evidence to sacrifice Christ for material gain or something else valued. The same betraying spirit is revealed in a course prompted over many years, such as instigating suit in controversy with Christ, showing what a person would do if permitted his own way and putting him in danger of making shipwreck of the faith through a wrong unfaithful course God's Word will not tolerate, while the One betrayed reads every motive and impulse. Though connected with Jesus and given opportunity to learn from Him, Judas betrayed his Lord by relying on his own supposed sufficiency instead of accepting counsel, correction and instruction from Christ. Valuing the kingdom less, men barter eternal security and the soul for a mess of pottage, for temporal gain or for Satan's bribe of gain for worship, and by threatening, abusive and neglectful treatment of others they show the spirit of Judas in contrast to the spirit of Jesus, severing the last link to God and brethren.