In re-reading the latter event (Matthew 26:14-16) it struck me this time that the priests did not come to Judas asking him to betray Jesus, but Judas went to them and asked how much they would pay him. Somehow in my mind I had twisted the story that the priests sought out Judas and having to make a quick decision with money as the motive, he decided to betray Jesus. This wasn't the case. With pre-meditation he sought to betray Jesus. It wasn't a decision made on the fly. How very sad. This was another prophecy fulfilled.
As I think about these passages, I wander down many rabbit trails. One I wanted to investigate was just what was the value of 30 pieces of silver. The internet has many different answers and they all don't agree. So, what source is best? The Bible, of course.
In Zechariah 14 when he asks for pay for what they think he is worth, they paid him 30 pieces of silver. He threw it down. A slave/servant gored by an ox was valued at 30 pieces, where a free person was valued at 60. There you have it, the symbolic meaning and prophecy of 30 pieces of silver for Jesus who came as a servant to the people. Side note: poor Joseph was sold by his brothers for only 20 pieces of silver--makes me wonder about the term, "worth more dead than alive".
Skip ahead for a moment, for those who don't know the events, later Judas throws down the money in the temple and goes off and hangs himself. And that brought me to a seemingly unending source of rabbit trails. In researching when Judas died, I am led to believe it was after Jesus rose from the dead sometime. Some sources imply he was with the other disciples when they saw Jesus. I cannot fathom they would have allowed the traitor to be with them, unless he was so wrought with guilt and they somehow took Jesus's teachings to heart and forgave him or in the darkness when Judas kissed Jesus, were they blind to what he had done? Jesus had told them one would betray him, so I think they should have realized. Another rabbit trail I am also surprised that in his greed that Judas hadn't spent the 30 pieces of silver, but still had them, perhaps symbolically weighing down on him in guilt? Having them jingle in his pouch, a constant reminder of what he had done. Perhaps he didn't really believe in his heart that Jesus was the Messiah until he rose from the dead. Was he there at the crucifixion and perhaps the words, "Forgive them not for they know not what they do" were for him too. Did those words break him? There are so many rabbit trails here to explore another time.
One last thought, my mind also wandered as to why wouldn't the priests recognize Jesus after all his appearances at the temple? There are passages where Jesus left the temple without being noticed. This implies that he was ordinary looking. Also they had planned to grab him during the night to avoid any riots and it would be harder to recognize him in the dark--remember no street lights.
I will now remember Wednesday of Holy Week as the day of two preparations: the preparation of the upper room and the day the Judas prepares to betray Jesus, a day of good and evil intentions.
Please note, I am not a biblical scholar and these are just my reflections. I stand open to any corrections one might want to bring to my attention.
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