No Turning Back | Matthew 26
Matthew 26
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Chapter Notables:
The chief priests and elders plot against Jesus - verses 1-5
The lady with the alabaster box - verses 6-13
Judas agrees to betray Jesus - verses 14-16
Last Supper - verses 17-30
Jesus tells Peter he will deny Him - verses 31-35
The prayer of Jesus Gethsemane - verses 36-46
Judas betrays Jesus, Jesus arrested - verses 47-56
Jesus stands at judgment before the Sanhedrin - verses 57-67
Peter denies Jesus - verses 69-75
Trade Offs | Lemuel Ayudtud
There are trade-offs when you give something of value for another. Some are equals others are not. Some of them can affect you momentarily others can affect you for a lifetime. The issue is that most of the time you don’t know which one is which. What may seem good right now may actually be terrible in the future. Then there are things that may look terrible right now that actually would be great later on.
Back in July 2010 Bitcoin was but $0.0008. If you had bought 100,000 Bitcoins, people would have told you it was a very bad idea no matter how cheap they were. Nobody knew exactly what it was and only geeks and nerds were “mining” it. Leap 12 years since then, right now Bitcoin is around $50,000 a coin. If you had bought 100,000 of them, you would be $5 billion richer right now. Your cost back 2010? $80.
The trade of $80 for $5 billion in 10 years or so is ridiculous. Not sure if anything like this will ever happen again. But most trade-offs are not that drastic. Sometimes it could just be an hour of prayer of your day to gain peace, or a few hours for work to gain a wage. Some trade offs can be very drastic. A moment of pleasure can lead to a lifetime of brokenness. A short fling can become a prolonged nightmare. One puff can lead to a lifetime of addiction. The ultimate trade-off is trading the temporary life for the eternal one.
In this chapter we find the Pharisees looking to trade Jesus for their convenience and their laws. Again instead of seeing Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, they saw Him as a maniac a menace. With that mindset they could not see past their own conceptions into what Jesus was giving them.
When Jesus was anointed by the woman with the alabaster box, that she poured before Jesus, Judas, along with the rest of the disciples, thought it was a waste of money. They didn’t realize that she was anointing Jesus for the death that He’s about to experience for the lost world. To them the oil was valuable, and it was wasted on Jesus. Wow! And, of course, Peter, esteemed his life so valuable, more than the gospel that he heard or the person that is Jesus. He betrayed Jesus so that he can get away from the possibility of pain.
When we study early church history we find that Peter ultimately gives his life for Jesus. It is said that people want to hang Peter like he did Jesus on the cross, but Peter refused requesting to be nailed upside down instead.
An old song sings, “take this whole world but give me Jesus“. There’s nothing really so much more valuable than our soul. Sure $5 billion would be a ton of money, I mean 30 pieces of silver was a lot for Judas, not regardless 100,000 Bitcoins or 30 pieces of silver, nothing in this life is more valuable or is worth the trade off against our relationship with Jesus.
Lord, help me to value You most. Teach me to honor You above all. Lord, let me cherish You more than gold, or silver, or Bitcoin, or any other temptation. Give me the strength to push on and fight. In Your Name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.
