Headed to
Easter – Wednesday
Judas Takes a Bribe
He was good at handling money.
Why else would the Master put him in charge of the purse-strings. He could keep a good set of books, make them
balance any way he chose, if he chose, and nobody was any the wiser.
And that is how Judas’ life was turning. He had already been pilfering a bit here and
there from their stash of cash. And he
always wanted more.
He had caught wind of a bribe being offered to anyone who could
deliver this “Messiah” into their hands.
It was easy money, he thought.
And so, late one night he slipped away to a secret meeting. (Matthew
26:14) He met with the chief priests.
“Ah, you’re here,” the leader said. The others in the room just grunted, and
looked at Judas with suspicions and skepticism.
“Well, up, yeah.”
“Did anyone see you slip out.”
“No, I don’t think so. They
seemed caught up in what HE was saying.
Well, anyway, I’m here. So,
what’s the deal?”
“What’s the deal?” They
laughed, they sneered, and laughed some more.
“Yeah, I want to know what I’m getting into. And I wanna make sure this is worth my while,
and my risk.”
“Never you mind about that, youngster. We’ll make it worth any risk you may take.”
Judas was perspiring. Great
beads of sweat formed on his brow. He
wiped at them with his sleeve.
“So, if I can pull this off, how much?”
“We’ve got to be sure you can pull this off?” They looked at each other as if some kind of
consensus was in play, and finally the leader spoke again.
“Okay. Here’s what we
need.”
Judas replied, voice thick, wishing he could have one long pull
from whatever was in that flask on the table.
“I’m listening.”
“We need to find a good time and place when we can take him with
the least amount of trouble. We will
have our men in place and you will give us a signal when you see its all
clear. Got it?”
Judas blinked. He was
breathing heavily. He thought of five
signals to give and finally settled on one.
“Okay, I’ve got it. Most of
us will be going with him up into the mountains Thursday night. He likes to go off alone. That’s probably the best time. It will be dark, and most of the men in our
band are not armed, so no problem.”
The high priests were listening and nodding in agreement.
“Sounds good. Dark you
say?”
“Dark, darker than dark,” replied Judas
“Okay, we’ll have a few torches.
Now, about that signal?”
“When I see your men coming around that big outcropping of rocks
I’ll move in place and be standing next to him.
Get your men and torches in there as quick as you can, cause ... cause he’s the
one I’ll kiss.”
“Good. Good.”
And Judas grew anxious, and nervous, for he had one more part of
this agreement to settle.
“Ah, one more thing.” He
paused. “You haven’t told me how much
I’m to get paid?”
And with one simple toss from somewhere off to his right, a bag of
coins was thrown. It
landed at his
feet. He bent, picked it up, and moved
swiftly for the door. He was so glad to
be out of that room.
As he made his way, he felt of the bag – and knew. The price was thirty pieces of silver. Easy money - or was it?
And
thus, ends Wednesday before Sunday.
Hope Encouragement Inspiration
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