Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of the Lord which engages us this evening comes from our Gospel lessons (John 13: 1-2, 21-31 & Matthew 26: 1-5, 14-16). ����������������

Clink. Clink. Clink. Judas was undone by the clink of coins. There are two places in the Gospels where money jingles. Both times they do so to the detriment of Judas. Judas' destruction came in the clink of coins. ����������������

The 1st time Judas heard the clink of coins he had come to the priests with a proposition: "What are you willing to give me if I hand [Jesus] over to you?" It was an intriguing possibility. Just a few days before, the priests and teachers of the Law had decided against trying to arrest Jesus during the upcoming Passover celebration. After all, if they got caught trying to arrest Jesus publicly, a riot could break out, and they'd feel the wrath not only of the crowd, but also the Romans in charge of keeping the peace. So they decided it would be safer to put off Jesus' arrest till another time. ����������������

But now Judas came with a stimulating proposition. He would give Jesus' enemies a hand. He would deliver Jesus to them gift-wrapped. He would find a quiet, lonely place � no crowds around to raise a fuss � and let them arrest Jesus there. He knew the places; he knew the times. The only question was whether or not the priests were interested. ����������������

Of course they were interested. They'd be fools to let a chance like this pass by. But they surely wanted to know, why was Judas suddenly willing to betray his Master? And how much would it cost them? ����������������

There's no Scriptural answer to the first question. Why would anyone betray Jesus? For no good reason, and yet, perhaps, for many. Another TV movie is coming out next week -- about Judas. I don't know their take on the story, but throughout history various conjectures have been made about Judas' motives. Some think Judas was disillusioned with Jesus, that Jesus wasn't moving this kingdom thing along fast enough. Others think that Judas was trying to force Jesus' hand into proving he was the Messiah. Some have even believed that Judas was nothing less than the devil incarnate, though the Gospels rule that out. We do know that "Satan entered into him" on Maundy Thursday (Luke 22:3, John 13). In that way the devilish torments seen of Judas in The Passion movie may not be far off. We do know that Judas loved money (John 12: 6). But the truth is, it wouldn't make any difference if we did know exactly why Judas did it. The fact is, Judas betrayed his Lord. That's all we really need to know. ����������������

The 2nd question is easier, quantifiable. "How much?" After some negotiation the priests and Judas came up with a fair price � 30 pieces of silver � three months pay for the average worker. The amount was probably not a coincidence. 30 pieces of silver was the value Moses had set for a slave who'd been accidentally killed (Exodus 21: 32). In the book of Zechariah (11: 12-13) 30 pieces of silver was the amount the townspeople paid the prophet when they fired him as shepherd of the flock. 30 pieces of silver � a small amount, all things considered. And so Judas stood there, hand open, as they counted the 30 pieces of silver into it. Clink. Clink. Clink. Coin clinked against coin as they came to rest in his palm. They jingled together in his moneybag: Clink, clink, clink. How much is a man's life worth? We know now: 30 pieces of silver put away in Judas' purse. ����������������

Oh, it's easy for us to condemn Judas, isn't it? We can sit here in judgment. We would never betray Jesus in such a way, not our Lord! And we certainly wouldn't betray him for a few coins! The very idea is insulting. ����������������

But let's not get too carried away with our own righteousness. We betray our Lord time and time again. Isn't that what we said earlier in the service? Didn't we stand and confess: "I have sinned against God by my fault (clink), by my own fault (clink), by my own most grievous fault (clink)? Right here, we admit before the Lord and each other that we have betrayed our faith, our confession, and our God. But we don't see it that way, do we? Oh, no! We've just made a "mistake." We gave into our "impulses" momentarily. We just "weren't thinking". We might not know Judas' motives, but we can sure explain away our own. We think our explanations will justify us. But God sees sin as something far more serious. Sin is actively collaborating with the archenemies, sin and death, to work against God and his goodness in the world. ����������������

Why do we betray everything that we stand for? Most of the time we have no idea. When I was a kid, I once walked through a muddy sheep lot with my good dress shoes on. Why? I have no idea. It must have seemed wise at the time. Once I was in trouble, it seemed pretty foolish. The truth is we don't often know why we do some of the things we do. We act, we sin, we betray our Lord and our faith. We just do it. And the price for which we're willing to betray our faith is ridiculously low! A good feeling (clink), the desire to lord it over another (clink), the right to pick out someone else's faults (clink), the desire to feel superior (clink). The reward for our sin is absurdly low. ����������������

Time passed. Judas betrayed Jesus just as he had promised. Jesus was taken away. Judas realized what they intended to do � to crucify Him. Judas was filled with shame and guilt. Never in his life did he feel so miserable, so low. The guilt was oppressive. Where could he go to relieve this guilt? ����������������

He ran back to the place where sin and guilt was supposed to be relieved, back to the temple. Clink, clink, clink. The money jangled in his purse as he ran. Now the money was calling to him, laughing at him: "Murderer. Betrayer. Liar." The money bag weighed a ton. Arriving at the temple, he ran to the priests, those who were to intervene for sinners to God. "I've sinned" he cried. "I've betrayed innocent blood!" There. He'd said it. Jesus was innocent. He knew it. Certainly they would see it too. ����������������

They only looked at him (Mt 27:4) "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." With that they walked away. That was it? This is how they helped in his time of need? The guilt was killing him, and all they could say was "That's your problem. You got your money. Now go away from us." ����������������

Oh, the money. He'd almost forgotten about the money � the stinking, filthy, dirty money. "I've betrayed innocent blood" and the threw the money on the ground after them. Clink, clink, clink, clink. The coins rolled and fell. Judas didn't care. He ran from the temple and hanged himself. What did Judas get for his betrayal? Nothing but death. He died, and his money was used to buy a field for death. 30 pieces of silver � the price of death for a slave, the price to buy off a prophet. Again and again, our sin leads us to betray God and everything we stand for. And what do our sins get us? Nothing but death. Death in our lives now as we hurt ourselves and would hurt those around us, death at the end of our lives, and deserving of death in hell for eternity. Romans 3: 23 "The wages of sin is death." Our 30 pieces of silver only kills us. Clink. ����������������

So what do we do with the guilt and shame? What do we do with the sentence of death that hangs over us? Can anything be done? Can anyone do anything? Yes, there is one. Jesus himself. Jesus � who literally paid blood money � his blood given on the cross � pays the punishment for us who betray him by our sin. Judas truly is a sad man. He never knew, he never listened, he never trusted that Jesus could forgive even him. He didn't wait to hear Jesus say (Luke 23: 24) "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Instead Judas killed himself to pay the debt of his sin, a murder that only increased the debt he owed. ����������������

But he didn't need to give in to the despair and pain that overwhelmed him, and neither do we. We can confess our sin, even our most grievous sin, and hear the good news of God's grace. For Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of the whole world � Jews and Gentiles, yours and mine and even Judas'. Jesus gave his life freely, he came for the cross, so that we could be rescued and forgiven. Instead of bearing the guilt and shame, we can take it to the cross. We can put our burden there and know that Jesus has forgiven our sins. We cannot pay the price on our own. 30 million pieces of silver or gold wouldn't pay the price. Only the "holy and precious blood and innocent suffering and death" (Small Catechism) can bring forgiveness. ����������������

When we pray the Lord's prayer we normally say "forgive us our trespasses." But in the King James version the Greek is translated "forgive us our debts." We own our Lord a debt of sin, a debt no one could pay. Judas hoped so desperately that he could pay the debt of sin with the clink of coins that he thought he could return. But the truth is nothing can pay the debt of sin but blood money � the price of Jesus' blood on the cross. Know and believe that our debt of sin has been paid. Jesus has paid the price for us and we are forgiven.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 7)

(Note: This sermon and sermon series comes from Rev. James Butler and published in Concordia Pulpit Resources, February, 2004. Modified slightly)