Z'kharyah 11:12 I said to them, "If it seems good to you, give me my wages; if not, don't." So they weighed out my wages, thirty silver [shekels, that is, twelve ounces].
When Yeshua had finished speaking, he said to his talmadim, "As you know, Pesach is two days away, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be nailed to the execution-steak"
Then the head cohanim and the elders of the people gathered in the place of Kayafa the cohen hagadol. They made plans to arrest Yeshua surreptitiously and have him put to death; but they said, "Not during the festival, or the people will riot."
Yeshua was in Beit-Anyah, ad the home of Shim'on, the man who had tzara'at. A woman who had an alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume approached Yeshua while he was eating and began pouring it on his head. When the talmidim saw it, they became very angry, "Why this waste?" they asked. "This could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor."
But Yeshua, aware of what was going on, said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. She poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. Yes! I tell you that throughout the whole world, wherever this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told in her memory."
The one of the Twelve, the one called Y'hudah from K'riot, went to the head Cohanim and said, "What are you willing to give me if I turn Yeshua over to you?"
They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to Y'hudah. From then on he looked for a good opportunity to betray him.
Yeshua is a jewish Messiah, sent for the whole world. Jewish foundation, Global mission. This story is for everyone. Easter time should be the greatest time of the year for evangelism, and the greatest holiday of the church. How sad it is that we have followed culture into celebrating christmas as a commercial holiday, rather than the resurrection and passover as a true Holy Day.
Yeshua has just finished his last public teaching. We have seen the end of his sermons, parables and lessons to crowds. Now everything is changing gear to his death and burial. Remember this is all happening within the context of passover celebrations. The connotation and connection from the jewish celebrations of the passover lamb to the Lamb of G-d who takes away the sin of the world. Yeshua is predicting his crucifixion. The antagonists of the story are becoming clear.
During a dinner a woman comes into the room and anoints Yeshua. She is rebuked by the talmidim, who sound spiritual at first. Remember that they have just come off of the last teaching of Yeshua about giving to the poor as a sign of salvation. But in ther attempt to sound spiritual, they cheapen the value of Yeshua.
Yeshua checks the priorities of the talmidim. He rightly places himself over the service of the poor. In their attempt to do good works, the talmidim would have taken away from the reason for those works, Yeshua. We place value on works because we value Yeshua, and the two are not of equal importance.
Yeshua is being prepared for burial. He says as much. Don't miss this. He is going to change the entire spiritual landscape of all of creation within the next two days! What is going to happen is the most important event in history! If you get that, then take a look at this action again! Look at the love this woman shows for him. Yeshua is right, this is a beautiful thing!
Moments later, the scripture records the ultimate betrayal. We aren't given a reason for Y'hudah's betrayal, but even if Yeshua were an ordinary person, this is harsh. Thirty pieces of silver is a miniscule sum. The book of Z'kharyah mocks this amount as not even worth working for! Look at the comparison. We have the woman who gives the best she has in honor of Yeshua, then Y'hudah who betrays him for nothing. The amounts involved make it clear how much these people value Yeshua.
The spiritual forces of the world are at war to define in the mind of every individual what the value of Yeshua is. The change of salvation is a change in the value of Yeshua to you on a personal level. Repentance and trust in yeshua require a deep love for him. You see, how you see Yeshua, how much value you attribute to him controls how much you follow him. If Yeshua is only of a value you to you mentally, that is you understand but don't really believe what he did for you, then following him will be hollow and half hearted. Valuing Yeshua means we follow him out of deep love and attraction, and are willing to suffer hardship for him because we love him.
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