Thoughts on Easter Weekend

I was thinking about this weekend. Historically, Good Friday signifies the death of Jesus Christ, savior to the world. It is not a good day, but in a selfish, thankful way it is good. Here is what I was thinking: Jesus was crazy--or crazy in love with his creation. Before his betrayal and crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples that these events were going to occur. He knew that one of his closest friends and companions was going to literally give him away to his enemies for 30 pieces of silver. I did some research online. The silver that Judas was paid with was the denarii. A denarii is valued at $20 US. Thus, Judas was paid roughly $600 dollars to betray Jesus.


Let us stop to think about that. I know some people who love money. I mean, they would sell Grandma's heirloom bodoir to get some extra cash. Then there are people who actually need money. They are usually willing to do just about anything to get the cash to pay their bills and feed themselves and their kids. But let's be honest. I do not know anyone who could possibly have it in them to sell me out for $600. That money would be gone pretty quickly. It's only about a week's pay for a laborer. In fact, I think if anyone ever propositioned me to betray someone I loved I would scoff at such a sum. Not even a million or a billion dollars could persuade me. Yet, Judas accepted such a pittance to destroy the purest and most noble, kind, and good man he had ever known.

I tried to find information, but the Bible is not clear what motivated Judas to betray Jesus. Most of the gospels just give an objective account. But in Luke, Judas' betrayal is chalked up to the work of the Devil, who entered into Judas (NIV). My theory is that Judas was driven partly by fear. Jesus was saying some pretty scary things about himself and his demise. All of the disciples probably harbored fear. We know that Peter denied knowing Jesus three times for fear of being captured with him. But I digress. This fear opened Judas up to worrying and gave the Devil an opportunity to twist his mind and heart. How many of us know that if we start worrying, then unless we capture that worry and fling it away, more worry comes; fearful thoughts and conjectures fill us until we start to doubt our place as children of God, doubt that God is in control, doubt that he is big enough to handle our situations. Just like that we are deceived by the Devil. I kind of feel bad for Judas. Someone had to betray Jesus, and Judas will forever go down in history as an acronym or betrayal.

Good Friday is only the beginning of the weekend. It ends with the fantastic and amazing resurection of Jesus Christ. The great and humble messiah. Such a wonderful story. This is a reminder that although things may be tough, resurection and hope may be just around the corner! Hold on!