Betrayal or Devotion?

 

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told din memory of her.” Jesus Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 26:16-26 ESV).

 

There were many reactions to Jesus during the last week of his life, but two stand out: the devotion of a woman and the betrayal of a disciple. The woman who anointed Jesus was probably Mary, Lazarus’s sister (cf. John 12:3). She was a good friend of Jesus. She loved her Lord. She showed it by taking a jar of expensive perfume and pouring it on Jesus as an act of love and devotion. One gospel says that this costly perfume “could have been sold for more than a year’s wages” (Mark 14:5). But for this devoted follower, nothing was too much for Jesus.

 

Contrast her devotion with Judas’s betrayal of the Lord. For three years Judas had been a disciple of Jesus. He experienced the closest relationship to Christ that anyone could hope for. But he looked for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to the authorities. For what? Thirty pieces of silver — about four months’ wages.

 

I wonder if a price tag could be put on Jesus, how much would he be worth to us? We certainly know what we’re worth to Him. Enough to die in our place. Jesus said his anointing with perfume was preparation for his burial. Judas’s betrayal set the wheels of Jesus’ death in motion. Knowing that we mean so much to him, how will we express our love in return? It is a question worth pondering during this season of Lent.