Few of the gospel narratives associated with Holy Week are more powerful than those concerned with Judas Iscariot and the events leading up to his betrayal of Jesus. There’s the tension of his sharing the Last Supper with his fellow disciples, none of them, bar Jesus, knowing what he would shortly do; the effrontery of his handing over his master in the garden with a supposed kiss of friendship; the pathos of his all-consuming remorse as he goes out into the Potter’s Field and hangs himself. And then, of course, there’s the moment when he first agrees to betray Jesus, being paid thirty pieces of silver for his troubles. Why does the story fascinate us so? Is it because, in part at least, we recognise that we ourselves are not so very different; that each or us in our own way – through the things we do or those we fail to do – betray Jesus more often than we would care to admit? That’s the premise of the following reflective prayer, taken from my book Touching the Seasons.
The coins
It was innocent enough –
just a handful of change,
hardly enough to tempt anyone –
but it set me thinking of other coins –
thirty pieces of silver:
enough to betray a closest friend
and sell one’s very soul.
My price may be higher, Lord,
but I’m not as different as I like to think,
money shaping my life in all kinds of ways,
controlling my thoughts and influencing my decisions,
holding me under its spell.
Forgive my foolish ways,
for too often,
without knowing it,
I sell out to the highest bidder
and betray you in turn.
Amen.
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