Mark 14:10-11 (ESV)
Judas to Betray Jesus
Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.
It is important to understand the word “then” that opens this section of Mark’s Gospel. We have to go back a few verses to learn the context. It will give us some clue as to “why it was this moment” that Judas decided to betray the Lord:
Mark 14:3-9 (ESV)
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Judas was the one who held the “bag.” The “bag” was the money bag. Judas appears to be the elected “treasurer” for this group of twelve. Rather than rejoice that the woman had sold the perfume and given it to Judas, he was frustrated. He wanted the money. He cared less about the poor and more about filling the “bag.”
This is why it was time to betray Jesus. Judas was denied by Christ when He rebuked Judas (and other disciples) over the ointment. This became a trigger for Judas to do the unthinkable. But, he so loved the world’s financial system that he gave away his soul to it. That was true in the early church as well:
Acts 5:3 (ESV)
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
2 Timothy 4:10 (ESV)
For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
A few chapters back in Mark we read were Jesus warned the disciples of this very thing:
Mark 10:25 (ESV)
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Paul warned young pastor Timothy about this issue:
1 Timothy 6:9 (ESV)
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
James also warned the early church:
James 5:1 (ESV)
Warning to the Rich
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.
Make no mistake, this trigger for Judas was something that would be repeated in man’s heart for the early church and the ages to come. Why is this so mentioned in God’s Word and why is the story of Judas relevant for us?
Luke 16:13 (ESV)
No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
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