The Tragic Story of Judas: Matthew 26:7-15
“7) a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. 8) But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste? 9) For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” 10) But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. 11) For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. 12) For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 13) Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”” Matthew 26:7-13
John 12:1-8 adds some significant detail to this story. We discover it was Mary the sister of Martha who took the pound of very costly perfume of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus. It was an act of worship.
It was Judas Iscariot who became indignant at Mary and openly condemned her for wasting the perfume instead of selling it to help the poor. He sounded pious, but his motives were impure. John 1:6 points out that his motives were driven by greed. Judas had calculated the resale value of the nard at three hundred denarii.
This indicates that Mary, Martha and Lazarus had a good degree of wealth. Simon the former leper may have also had significant financial means because he owned his own home in Bethany. Judas was not concerned about the poor, rather he was a thief and used to pilfer what was put in the money box.
When Jesus rebuked him, Judas became bitter and from that moment sought a way to betray Jesus and profit from his actions. According to Matthew 26:14-15, he went immediately to the chief priests to make a deal to betray Jesus to them. They weighed out to him thirty pieces of silver.
From this story, we discover that Satan exploited two sinful strongholds in the life of Judas. He was both greedy and he became angry enough when reproved by Jesus to seek revenge. The book of Proverbs warns that ill gotten gains do not profit.
In the end, Judas could not live with himself. Thirty pieces of silver could not change the fact that he had become a thief, traitor and accessory to murder. Satan wove his guilt and self condemnation into a rope and Judas hanged himself. Beware of what you become in the pursuit of what you want!
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
