Holy Thursday

Text: “14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.” (Matthew 26:14–15)

{Slowly stack 30 silver coins on edge of the pulpit.}

There it is. That is what it took. That was the price of your Savior’s life— 30 pieces of silver.

To be clear, it was not this style of coin, specifically. But it gives you an idea of what we’re talking about. Also, those 30 pieces of silver were more valuable back then than these are now. (The money Judas received was equivalent to about 6 month’s wages for the average worker.) But this is the price that was put on Jesus’ life. This is what it took for Judas to betray Jesus.

Is it more than you expected? Less? To me, it doesn’t seem like very much, although the fact that it was 6 months’ wages at the time changes that a little. That makes it a little more tempting. Still, you’re probably thinking that it does not sound like a lot to betray a friend, let alone the Son of God.

Before you go too far down that road, though, ask yourself: What would your price have been? Before you act like Peter and insist that you would die before you denied Jesus, let’s think about what it has actually taken.

{Pick up 10 of the coins.}

You have actually made that promise. Like Peter, you promised that you would suffer all, even death, rather than deny your Savior— rather than betray Him. But it has actually taken far less to get you to deny Him.

{Set down first coin.}

All it took was the chance to satisfy your sinful pride— to be more popular to the people around you. That was enough to get you to betray Him.

{Set down second coin.}

All it took was your anger— the chance to get revenge on someone who hurt you. That was enough to get you to deny what Jesus has made you.

{Set down third coin.}

All it took was the chance to satisfy your covetous heart— to get a hold of things that you could not or should not have.

{Set down the fourth, fifth, and sixth coins saying after each:}

All it took was a bigger payday (4);

all it took was as “keeping up with the Joneses” (5);

all it took was your own convenience (6);

{Set down seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth coins, saying with each:}

All it took was…; all it took was…; all it took was…; all it took was…. You and I are very good at finishing that sentence in new and creative ways.

{Motioning to the 30 silver coins…} This is far more than it takes for you and me.

Now I’m going to say something that I would not have expected to say and something that you would not have expected to hear. Brothers and sisters in Christ: follow Judas’ example.

No, not the example of going out and hanging yourself. Before that. “3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood”” (Matthew 27:3–4). Follow that example.

Regardless of what your price has been, you have betrayed innocent blood. You sent Jesus to be condemned. Return and confess your sins. Offer back the countless pieces of silver that you have stacked up for yourself in exchange for your betrayal. Offer them back in the confidence that your High Priest will not say to you ‘What is that to me?’ It was— and is— everything to Him.

It was what drove Him to chose to be condemned in your place. He was hung from the tree of the cross so that you would not have to be. By His blood, He has purchased for you something greater than a graveyard: an eternal inheritance in His Kingdom.

By His blood, the grave that He has purchased for Himself is yours. So that, on the Last Day, He will raise your body to life again and you will look upon your Savior with your own eyes.

{The silver coins are taken to the cross in the chancel and placed there at the base.}

Bring back each of those pieces of silver and lay them at the foot of His cross— everything you gained by your sinful pride, your vanity, your greed, your wrath, your gluttony, your lust, your sloth, your despair. Leave them there at the foot of the cross, knowing that He was condemned there in your place.

Leave them there at the cross and take with you, in exchange, His humility, His patience, His kindness, His faithfulness, His temperance, His chastity, His charity. Each of those are now yours in Christ Jesus.

Let me go one final step. So many of those silver coins were purchased at the cost of someone else— their property, their dignity, their love— whatever it was that you took from them, if you can, restore it to them fourfold (Luke 19:8). Whatever you can do in order to try to undo the harm that you have done to them, do it.

Learn from your Savior to repay the sins of others with love, forgiveness, and grace instead of vengeance. Learn to love those who can not possibly hope to repay. The gift that you have been given as Christ was condemned in your place is truly priceless. How can you be any less generous with those around you?

There {pointing to the cross with the silver coins at its base} you see the price that was placed on your Savior’s life— and the price that He paid for yours.