I’ve often wondered about the significance of Judas being
offered thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus. I mean, why not more? Why not less? Did they haggle over the price? How about not at all! You would think he would have negotiated for
more money, right? After all he was driven by greed. Like a used car salesman- can you imagine? What I am offering you esteemed noblemen is
someone who is really not guilty of anything.
He has performed countless miracles: walked on water, fed multitudes,
turned water into wine, and began teaching in the synagogues as a youth. Surely you can do better than thirty pieces
of silver. Since I want to get the best
deal for you I will present your offer to my manager, Satan, and see what we
can come up with for you. Today is your
lucky day, fine gentlemen. Not only is
your offer acceptable but I will kiss Jesus on the cheek to seal the deal for
you at which point He is all yours. No
need to shake hands on it or sign paperwork.
The kiss is our covenant, deal?
Deal!
There is a popular worship song called “Here I Am To
Worship” by Chris Tomlin and the lyrics include the phrase “I’ll never know how
much it cost to see my sin up on that cross”.
One would think thirty pieces of silver is the easy answer. Well, it is the easy answer but who likes
easy answers? Me for one but I just
couldn’t shake the thirty pieces of silver “thing” from my mind. I did, however, file it away in one of the
deep recesses of my mind for use at a later date. Until one day, oh, about a year or so ago
when I was looking through an old Bible dictionary most likely looking for
something else but the word slavery caught my eye. Perhaps because of my presumed national origin
and the fact that somewhere in my lineage I can assume someone in my family history was a slave. Maybe that was why. Who knows?
In the description of slavery, as it relates to Hebrew slaves, it states
“thirty shekels seems to have been the average price of a slave.”[1]
Finally I had my answer! (I didn’t know what to do with it, though). I thought about it but obviously filed it
away with the question of why thirty pieces of silver somewhere in the deep
recesses of my mind. Today, like bad
indigestion, the phrase thirty pieces of silver keeps repeating on me and here
I am furiously pecking out this post with two fingers and a thumb from each
hand running late for class.
It is common knowledge, I think, (I hope) that Jesus died on
the cross for our sins. Not so common
knowledge is He was essentially sold into slavery for it prior to dying. Just as we have been slaves to sin Jesus went
through similar bondage in our place. What
is interesting to me is the type of slavery itself. Hebrew slavery in and of itself in not the
institution it was in Egypt. It also was
not like American slavery. A Hebrew
slave owned by a Hebrew master could marry into the master’s family. In biblical times it was not uncommon for
Hebrew slaves to rise into positions of authority during captivity. Think of Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in
Babylon. Not to mention a slave could be set free after
six years of service during the year of Jubilee. Can you imagine a year of Jubilee during
American slavery? Serve six years then freedom
in the seventh! Neither can I. So why,
then, did the Jews treat Jesus so poorly?
They were doing as the Romans do.
Oddly enough in Romans 12:2 Paul says “be not conformed to this
world”. What Paul said; they were doing
the opposite of. They were acting like
Roman masters and treating Jesus as the Romans did their slaves with contempt
and derision. A perfect example of how
satan treats us when we are slaves to sin.
When we continue in the slavery of sin satan is virtually spitting on us
and whipping us across our backs just as Jesus was. Our crown of thorns is a crown of shame. We
don’t have to live like that. Jesus was
sold into our bondage to sin, carried the burden of it and then died on the cross for it breaking the bondage and setting us
free. People of God Jubilee is now!
Have you ever wondered how someone can quit a bad habit cold
turkey? One way is to realize, believe,
that Jesus did the work on the cross.
Believe it and your deliverance will come immediately. If you believe your deliverance is a long
drawn out process then that’s what it will be.
It is what you believe it is. It
is what the devil tells you it is- a long drawn out process that’s long enough
for him to get you to fall off the wagon. It’s long enough for him to chain you
to slavery yet again. Don’t believe the
lie! Get delivered, think on good things
and stayed delivered.
Father God I thank you for sending your one and only
begotten and precious Son to die on the cross for our sins. I thank you for breaking the bonds of our
slavery to sin and setting us free. We
have been delivered and we have been set free.
We are now redeemed; reconciled unto You and it feels great! I pray, Lord, that whoever reads this prayer
realize that they have already been set free from whatever holds them in
bondage. They have only to receive the
work that was done on the cross. By your
stripes we are healed; by your blood we are cleansed. Thank you doesn’t seem to be enough but
sharing our freedom is a start. You
meant for all of us to be free from sin and if each one could reach one, we
will be that much closer to the goal. We
should declare our freedom with boldness and help others do the same. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness and
mercy. It is a true help in our
continued deliverance. I pray, Father,
that all who read this may come to know you by confessing that Jesus is your
Son that died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later
claiming victory over death and bondage to sin.
There is no way to you but through Him which is why we call Him
Savior. We accept Jesus into our hearts
and lives to continue the work He started.
Many don’t believe that miracles exist but the wages of sin is death but
we are now destined to eternal life because of what Jesus did via the
resurrection. The miracle is that we can
similarly die to sin and resurrect unto you.
For that we thank you all the more.
In the name of our Savior, Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Suggested reading: Philippians
4:6-9, John 3:16, Galatians 5:1, Colossians 1:13-14, Romans 8:1-2
John 8:31-36, 2 Corinthians 4:1, Matthew 26:14-28, 47-49
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