Then
one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, and said, “What are you willing to give me, that I should deliver him to you?” They weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver. From that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
Matthew 26:14-16
Matthew 26 [10.] However, knowing this, Jesus said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? Because she has done a good work for me. For you always have the poor with you; but you don’t always have me. For in pouring this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of as a memorial of her.”
Matthew 26 [14.] Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, and said, “What are you willing to give me, that I should deliver him to you?” They weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver. From that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
Matthew 26 [17.] Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
Meaning:
Straight after the woman at Bethany gave Jesus her most precious possession, one of the twelve went to sell him. The contrast is deliberate. She poured out ointment worth a year’s wages; Judas asked what he could get. Mark records the same visit to the chief priests (Mark 14:10-11), but only Matthew names the price: thirty pieces of silver.
- “Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot”
The tragedy lies in the words “one of the twelve.” Judas had been chosen by Jesus, sent out with the others to preach and heal, and trusted with the group’s money. The name Iscariot probably means “man of Kerioth”, a town in Judea, which would make him the only one of the twelve not from Galilee. The betrayal fulfilled the bitter words of the psalm: “Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9).
- “What are you willing to give me, that I should deliver him to you?”
The chief priests had just decided they needed to seize Jesus “by deceit” and away from the crowds (Matthew 26:3-5). Judas offered exactly what they lacked: inside knowledge of where Jesus would be at night. His question shows his motive. John had already exposed him as “a thief” who stole from the money box (John 12:6). Greed had grown in him unchecked. Jesus had warned, “You can’t serve both God and Mammon” (Matthew 6:24), and Judas chose Mammon. As Paul wrote, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).
- “They weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver”
Thirty pieces of silver was not a great sum. Under the Law of Moses it was the compensation paid when a bull gored a slave: “thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master” (Exodus 21:32). The leaders valued the Son of God at the price of a slave. Matthew also hears an echo of the prophet Zechariah, who, acting as shepherd of the people, was paid off with an insulting wage: “So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver.” God told him, “Throw it to the potter, the handsome price that I was valued at by them!” (Zechariah 11:12-13). The very word “weighed” links the two passages. Later Judas threw the money back into the temple, and the priests used it to buy a potter’s field (Matthew 27:3-4).
- “From that time he sought opportunity to betray him”
From then on Judas lived a double life. He ate with Jesus, travelled with the others and joined in the Passover, while he watched for the right moment. His end was terrible. When he saw Jesus condemned he “felt remorse”, confessed, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood,” but found no comfort from the priests (Matthew 27:3-4). Acts records that he died in the field bought “with the reward for his wickedness” (Acts 1:18-19).
The Significance of Matthew 26:14-16
- Closeness to Jesus is not the same as faith
Judas heard every sermon and saw every miracle, yet his heart was never surrendered. Being near holy things does not make a person holy. Each of us must ask whether we truly follow Jesus or only walk with his followers.
- Small sins can grow into great ones
Petty theft from the money box became the betrayal of the Lord. Sin that is tolerated in secret grows. We should deal with greed and dishonesty early, confessing them before they take control.
- How do we value Jesus?
The woman gave her best; the priests paid the price of a slave. Every person decides what Jesus is worth to them, and our choices show our answer. Paul counted “all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).
Cross-References:
Mark 14:10-11: "They, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money." Mark’s account of the betrayal deal.
Zechariah 11:12-13: "So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver." The prophet’s wage that foreshadowed the price of Jesus.
Psalm 41:9: "my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me." Betrayal by a close companion.
1 Timothy 6:10: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." The root of Judas’ fall.
Conclusion: Matthew 26:14-16 tells how Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests and offered to deliver Jesus to them for money. They weighed out thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave and the wage foretold by Zechariah, and from then on Judas looked for a chance to betray him. The passage warns that greed can destroy even someone close to Jesus, and challenges us to value him above everything.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible