How Jesus came to be worth thirty silver coins
What you need to know:
- The scriptures reveal that Judas occasionally sneaked away a few coins from the coffers for his own use. He was a thief.
- The Bible offers us a chance to see ourselves reflected in key biblical characters and choose which side we are on and which side we want to be on.
- Hope is stronger that even the pain of the betrayal. With hope, there is an assurance of a future, however bleak it looks.
I received a WhatsApp message yesterday. It said “So this week ends on Thursday and next week begins on Tuesday. Thank you Judas!”
Easter is one of those much-anticipated holidays, which brings with it a dual-holiday package with a weekend sandwich.
It has got to the point in Kenya where no single event is significant enough unless it brings a holiday with it.
Good Friday and Easter Monday are among those festivities that people happily celebrate, but rarely understand and ponder. There are so many more things to be joyful about during Easter time and Judas is the last person to whom our gratitude should rise.
Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday and goes all the way until Good Friday, before the Easter celebrations. Holy Week is, in a sense, a mirror of the various stages in society.
Palm Sunday is a day of joy and celebration, when the king enters the city riding on a gentle donkey. We can draw a parallel here with the exuberance often displayed by many of those in high public office, where there is plenty of hope and excitement for both leaders and supporters.
The weekdays following Palm Sunday centre on the life of Christ and the twelve apostles in preparation for the paschal celebrations. Moses had instituted the paschal celebrations, and every Jew had observed them since Mosaic times.
One event highlighted during Holy Week is Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Jesus . Three years in communion with Jesus have done nothing to soften Judas, who was in charge of the money-box.
The scriptures reveal that he occasionally sneaked away a few coins from the coffers for his own use. He was a thief.
TURNING INTO JUDAS
Judas’s betrayal represents the baseness and senselessness of corruption. A greedy individual can sell off his best friends, family, corporation or country; anything for a meagre price. Just for a little "material advantage".
The Judas story tells us in a graphic way how absurd and destructive corruption is. Judas is only too ready to sell away his trust, loyalty and status as a follower of the Master for just thirty silver coins.
A common quip used to support the argument that everyone is corruptible is ‘every man or woman has their price. Jesus's price was thirty silver coins, but really, it was Judas’ miserly and cruel heart that cost thirty silver coins.
Thirty silver coins was the price of Judas’ greed, but it was also the price of the Pharisees’ hatred of a man who had challenged the status quo.
Betrayal is among the foulest of evils – it destroys trust and friendship and breaks relationships, society and entire nations.
How many elected leaders, appointed officials, businessmen and women, teachers and students have sold their honour for less than thirty pieces of silver?
Every bribe, unlawful act, extortion or exam cheating turns the perpetrator into another Judas, a despicable liar who sells off his or her reputation and country, together with present and future generations.
Holy Week is a time for reflection. The Bible offers us a chance to see ourselves reflected in key biblical characters, and to choose which side we are on and which side we want to be on.
Holy Week is a tough lesson of hope and commitment, for there is no resurrection Sunday without Good Friday, no glory without sacrifice. It brings back hope to a society plagued by corruption and theft in the public and private sector, but this hope is founded on a simple, yet hard message; we have to mend our ways.
A TRAIL BEHIND US
Hope is stronger that even the pain of betrayal. With hope, there is an assurance of a future, however bleak it looks. With hope, there is energy to muster another breath of effort and soldier on against all odds.
We must never lose our hope. Great leaders have risen at the great moments precisely to restore hope to their colleagues, whether we think of Hannibal addressing his weary soldiers with the promise of the riches of the Romans or Martin Luther King’s inspirational dream for Black Americans in the 60s.
There is something infectious about hope. At first sight, it appears illusory but once grasped with honest and sheer determination of will, it transforms mirages to reality.
Hope is communicable. If one person has it, another will get it and if one loses it, the other is not guaranteed his continued possession of that treasure.
It appears that the traitors have sold us out, but before we point fingers at obvious scapegoats, may we spare a moment to watch the trail we have left behind us?
It may just turn out that we are the traitors, that we have betrayed Kenya in our “small” way by demanding certain privileges or treatment not due us, or by failing to accord others the rights and obligations we owe them.
The Holy Week ends in a deafening silence, when gloom covers the entire universe. At this point, we only have to consider that we are at the brink of Easter with its joy and merriment, fun and festivities. There is reason to hope!
Dr Franceschi is the dean of Strathmore Law School. [email protected], Twitter: @lgfranceschi
