Matthew 26:14-25 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 26:14-25 on biblegateway.com
Verse 14Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests Verse 15and said, "What will you give me if I betray him to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver. Verse 16And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.
Verse 17On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?" Verse 18He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'" Verse 19So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal. Verse 20When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; Verse 21and while they were eating, he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me." Verse 22And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, "Surely not I, Lord?" Verse 23He answered, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. Verse 24The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born." Verse 25Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" He replied, "You have said so."
Devotion
Why is this night different from all other nights? Because thirty pieces of silver would become a fortune and a man with a dagger for a heart would do our dirty work. There is a mystery to evil that defies our logic. What was Judas thinking? We will never know…but what are we thinking? All we know that once we are tempted to rise, there is little that can stop us. So Judas isn’t so different after all. But the night is.
Prayer
The good that we seek to do, O Lord, we do not do, and that which we do not want to do is ever so attractive. Help us, God. Help us now. Amen.