Reflection for April 16 Wednesday of Holy Week: Matthew 26:14-25

Gospel: Matthew 26:14-25

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.  

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.'" The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.  

When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said,

"Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?" He said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born." Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" He answered, "You have said so."

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Reflection:

What happened to Judas Iscariot? He killed himself. But what if, instead of taking his own life, Judas had simply approached Jesus and said, “I’m sorry, Lord, for betraying You”? How would Jesus have reacted? Jesus would have forgiven him. 

But the sad part is that humbling himself before Jesus never came to Judas’ contemplation. For thirty pieces of silver, Judas Iscariot sold his soul to the devil. Obviously, Judas loved money more than the Lord—otherwise, he would not have betrayed Jesus.

Indeed, “the love of money is the root of all evil. Because of this greed, some have wandered away from the faith, bringing on themselves afflictions of every kind” (1 Timothy 6:10).

What power does money have that many of us are willing to sell our souls to the devil just to obtain it? What power does money have that we are willing to punish ourselves, even to the detriment of our health, just to have it?

Money per se is not evil; It becomes evil when we greed for it, and when we allow it to possess us. But what price are we willing to pay just to have money? Judas betrayed the Lord and eventually destroyed his very life because of his greed for money.

There is always a heavy price to pay when we allow ourselves to be possessed by greed. Just observe those people who are greedy for money—what happened to them? Where are they now?

The betrayal of Judas, bought for thirty pieces of silver, sends us a chilling lesson:
That our greed and love for money will bring us no good—only misery, and countless more miseries.

All the money in this world cannot buy us harmony in the family. All the money in this world cannot buy us peace of mind—and so forth. — Marino J. Dasmarinas