30 Pieces of Silver:

Last night before bed we were telling the Easter story to my three year old daughter Piper. We got to the part of the story where Judas betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver; which was the price of a common slave and I was struck by how small the amount was that Judas was willing to betray his friend, mentor and Son of God. I mean think about it, Judas had been with Jesus for three years. They had done everything together, he had seen him perform miracle after miracle but yet when the opportunity presented itself and for just a small amount of money Judas betrayed Jesus. Very sad.

As I was standing in judgement over Jesus, God pricked my heart with the simple fact that I (we) betray Jesus for a small amount every single day. Take a minute and think about it. What is your 30 pieces of silver?

We betray Jesus when we gossip about somebody else.
We betray Jesus when we have anger in our hearts towards someone.
We betray Jesus when we steal.
We betray Jesus when we lie.
We betray Jesus when we put other things or people before God.
We betray Jesus when we fail to honor our parents.
We betray Jesus when we lust over someone of the opposite sex or maybe even the same sex.
We betray Jesus when we cheat.
We betray Jesus when we harbor un-forgiveness in our hearts.
We betray Jesus when we are lazy.
We betray Jesus when we don't take care of the poor.
We betray Jesus when we don't submit to the governing authorities over us.
We betray Jesus when we worry.
We betray Jesus when we are gluttons.
We betray Jesus when we compare ourselves to someone else.
We betray Jesus when we are not content.
We betray Jesus when we....

Oh, what a small amount we betray Jesus for.

Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We betray Jesus every time we do not follow these two commandments. The offense maybe small in our eyes but when we compare it to God's holy law we realize how great our betrayal is.

Thanks be to God that Jesus Christ went to the cross to forgive the sins of all those who place their trust in Him. This "Holy Week" we stand in awe and worship of the one who went to the cross, died and rose again to cover the betrayals of all those who trust in Him.

For all of us (myself included) who have betrayed our Lord and Savior may we look to the cross and thank Jesus for dying in our place and dying for our betrayal.