WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK: Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:1-6

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. Matthew 26:14-16

What happened: Judas plotted to betray Jesus.

Key thoughts: The Bible does not tell us precisely why Judas betrayed Jesus, so we have nothing but speculation regarding Judas’s motivation for committing this highest act of treason. Might it have been that Judas felt like Jesus wasn’t moving fast enough, or deliberately enough, to overthrow the Romans and establish His earthy kingdom? Might Judas have reasoned that he could speed things up a bit? We really do not know. What seems unlikely is that Judas wanted Jesus to be crucified, otherwise, why would he have been sorrowful that Jesus was indeed being crucified (Matthew 27:3-5)? All we can do is speculate, and be careful not to allow our theories to become dogma.

Application: All of us, at times, and to varying degrees, are given to speculate about other people’s motives. That is dangerous business because we cannot see what is in other people’s hearts. And, by the way, we ought be thankful that other people cannot see our hearts either! We can take two applications from this:

First, let us be wary about thinking we can accurately judge other people’s motives because we can’t. And when we do, we usurp what is only God’s domain.

Second, let us not rationalize our misdeeds because we insist that “we meant well.” Doing what is wrong, with even the best of intentions, cannot excuse sin. Let us not forget Jesus word’s concerning Judas: “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born,” regardless of Judas’s intentions.