What Price for Jesus?

(Here is another communion meditation from a few years ago. I pray that it helps us to remember the reason we gather together on Sundays as the family of God.)

Did you ever want something that you didn’t have? Maybe as a child your friend or your sibling had a toy that you really liked. If only you possessed that toy…your life would be so much better. But there was a problem. It wasn’t yours. And you didn’t have the money to buy it. But you really wanted it. So you started bartering for it. You start the conversation by saying something like, “Can I trade you something for that toy?”
To which the owner of the toy says, “What are you willing to give me if I hand it over to you?”
You quickly start showing off your treasures. A piece of bubble gum, some army men, a sling shot, and a marble. As each treasure comes out of your pocket, your friend’s eyes light up a little bit more until you finally get that last marble out. And before you can retrieve anything else, he shoves the toy toward you and grabs his loot. The deal was done.
In much the same way, Judas approaches the chief priests during the week before Jesus was crucified… “Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.” (Matthew 26:14-16)
I can’t answer the question of why Judas would go to the chief priests. Some say he was greedy, some say he was trying to get Jesus to start the revolt he thought was going to take place. All I can do is watch his eyes as the treasurer slowly begins placing the coins on the table.
One…two…three. He barely looks at the table.
Seventeen…eighteen…nineteen. His stomach begins to knot, his feet shift.
Twenty-eight. Eyes wide.
Twenty-nine. He is sweating with anticipation.
Thirty. Dirty hands scoop up the coins and Judas quickly slinks away.

The irony of that moment. While Judas saw Jesus as something he could sell, Jesus saw Judas as someone he could save. And so he gave himself.

Judas gave something he did not possess for something he would not keep.
Jesus gave himself, his life, a thing he did possess for someone who would not have him.

But the exchange Jesus made was not just for Judas, it was for all of the Judases, all the Adams, all the Eves, all of you, and all of me. And so, we gather to remember the life that was betrayed for a measly price. We remember the great debt that life paid. We remember that our sins are forgiven. Let us, therefore, accept the memorial feast with thanksgiving and awe.