The Price You Required - Matthew 26:14–30

William Shakespeare wrote a play called The Merchant of Venice. Most people are not as familiar with the play as compared to, say, Romeo and Juliet, but the play coined a phrase that many people know and still use today. In one scene, one man approaches another man wanting to borrow money for a friend. The man with the money says he will lend the money, but if it is not repaid on time, he will require from the borrower “a pound of flesh:” to cut from him one pound of his body. The borrower agrees to the brutal demand, which is actually about more than just the money. It’s about deep-seated vengeance and bitterness. The man holds a grudge.

Do you know that phrase? Do you know what it means to demand “a pound of flesh?” We use the phrase today to refer to a ruthless demand for justice when someone feels they have been done wrong. They may, in fact, have a case. But we use it to describe a scenario where forgiveness is bitterly withheld and the unforgiving person requires payment. A “pound of flesh” is demanded, born out of a deep desperation for revenge.

All of us wrestle with these feelings at some time or another. We have been done wrong, and we want the guilty party to pay. We are blinded by bitterness and we don’t see the ruthlessness of our demands. Let me ask: what price have you required of your spouse or sibling or parent, or someone else? What awful words have you spoken to retaliate and inflict pain? What have you done to cause hurt to another, to extract “a pound of flesh” as repayment for what was done to you? We may feel the need for payment and refuse to forgive. 

But to do so is a death trap because it may put us in the path of God’s vengeance. How? Well, through Jesus Christ, God has already made a sufficient payment for sins. We underestimate how God views our sin against Him. Sin is treason against God.  It is a cosmic crime demanding divine justice. To display unforgiveness and the need for a pound of flesh reveals, in the end, an unregenerate heart and a soul still dead in sins. A need for vengeance reveals that a person does not understand that because Jesus paid the full price for the believer’s sin against God and against others, there are no grounds for harboring unforgiveness and exacting vengeance.

We need to apply these principles of the gospel in our relationships. But how? Well, we need to understand the price we required so we could be forgiven by God, the price Jesus paid so God could accept those whom He would save. But what price did Jesus pay? He was sold at a cheap price, betrayed by a close friend, sacrificed on a shameful cross. But as a result He purchased, befriended, and forgave His people.

Now, interestingly, in verse 13, Jesus says that wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the world, Mary would be remembered for anointing him with her precious perfume, valued at a year’s wages. Matthew then goes straight into Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. In much the same way, Judas is remembered for this wherever the gospel is preached. To call someone a “Judas” is to call them a traitor or a backstabber. 

Judas was one of the original twelve, called by Jesus, face to face, to follow him. He had been with the group for a long time, but it took time for his true colors to shine through. Jesus is not the king or messiah that Judas is looking for.

Many people who begin to follow Jesus will turn away when they discover that Jesus will not do what they want. Do you think Judas was planning to use this money to feed and clothe the poor? Of course not. Judas loved money. Paul may have had Judas in mind when he wrote in 1 Timothy 6, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” That passage is often misquoted. The Scriptures do not say that money is the root of all evil. God is not anti-money, but he is anti-greed. Idolatrous love of money sends us toward evil and away from God. 

So it appears that Judas has had enough. Jesus insists he’s going to die, he’s not going to conquer Rome and set up a kingdom, and something is better than nothing. He doesn’t demand a specific price. The amount the chief priests offer him fulfills a prophecy. In Zechariah, a rejected shepherd is paid off for 30 pieces of silver. In Exodus 21, we learn that 30 pieces of silver was the value of a slave’s life. It was not a high price. 

The chief priests got Jesus for a discount. They were after him anyway; Judas made it easy. They bought the life of Jesus for a cheap price. Jesus subjected himself to this to purchase his people at a high price, the cost of his own life. 1 Cor. 6, We “were bought with a price.” Acts 20, We were “obtained by his blood.” His priceless life, bought cheaply, so he could pay dearly. 

This is the price You required. What price do you think you have a right to make others pay for what they’ve done? Jesus does not make us pay for his forgiveness. He gives it freely and continually. And make no mistake: Jesus knows the price of forgiveness. It hurts to forgive. Someone has to absorb the injustice. Sure, it is hard for us to forgive others. It is hard for others to forgive you? How hard was it for Jesus to forgive. Let’s continue to see.

Judas’ betrayal precedes the Passover feast, also called the feast of Unleavened Bread. This was a seven-day feast celebrating and remembering when God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Exodus 12 records God’s instructions to the people. They were to prepare a meal that could be eaten in a hurry. They ate with their sandals on and their staff in hand, ready to go. They made bread with no leaven because they could not wait for it to rise. 

There was unleavened bread to eat, as well as the meat of a lamb cooked with bitter herbs. It was the lamb that was killed for its blood to be smeared on the top and sides of the door. After that, until the time of Jesus, this meal was observed and no leaven was used for five more days. The meal was the “Passover,” but also the seven day feast was called “the Passover,” but it was also called “the feast of Unleavened Bread,” or just “Unleavened Bread” for short.

Verse 17 describes Thursday morning and midday, when the prep was done for the meal (getting the lamb, etc.). Jesus tells his disciples to go to “a certain man.” That was a common phrase indicating that Matthew didn’t want to use the man’s name here.

Now, notice verse 20. They ate the meal on what we would think of as Thursday evening, but Jews saw sundown as the start of a new day, so according to the Jewish calendar, it was now Friday when the Passover meal was eaten. Jesus had many followers, but he shares this final Passover with his closest friends. These are the ones he trusts the most, the ones he has poured his life into the most. Obviously, Judas is the betrayer.  

It is common to struggle with the relationship between man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty. Does God control all things or does man have free will in all things? It’s an age-old question. But look at how Jesus describes it in verse 24. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

The betrayal of the Messiah was foretold. It was foreordained by God before the foundations of the world. And yet Judas alone is responsible for what he does. He is not a puppet. He makes a choice. Part of knowing God in this life is trusting Him with the relationship between the responsibility of man and the sovereignty of God. Our human understanding of this is limited; the Word of God is clear.

But notice how the relationship between those two things makes it possible for Jesus to be betrayed by a close friend. We shouldn’t assume that Jesus and Judas were not close or that Jesus never really trusted him. There are indications in the gospels that Jesus, in his human nature, only knew what the Spirit revealed. This was a true betrayal, one which hurt Jesus deeply. 

Perhaps you know the feeling of betrayal by someone you love. There is great pain. Trust is violated. Jesus came from heaven to earth to endure this pain, partly for the full human experience as our Savior, but also, to pursue the cross. At the cross, Jesus made a way for God’s betrayers - God’s enemies - to become His friends. Jesus endured betrayal for the sake of those He would save. He absorbed the pain. 1 Peter 3 says, Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. The only faithful One suffered for the many betrayers.

Do you see yourself as a betrayer of God? What would you trade for God? Earthly wealth? Pleasure? Comfort? Power over another? Having your selfish way? What about holding your precious grudge? Don’t we betray God when we sin? Applying this principle of the gospel means forgiving and befriending others because Christ first forgave and befriended you.

Now, many of you are familiar with these final verses. They are often called “the words of institution.” This is where Jesus reframed or redefined the bread and the cup of the Passover meal. Remember I said earlier that Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal on what was technically Friday. It was also on Friday that Jesus was crucified. Jesus died on the day of the Passover. 

In 1 Cor. 5, Paul says that “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” This was not a coincidence. The events of Exodus 12 and the Passover lamb pointed to this. This is clearly sacrificial language. “This is my body; this is my blood.” We want a pound of flesh. But a whole body of flesh has been given, the body of the incarnate Son of God.

And look at verse 28. Jesus says of the cup, “This is my blood of the covenant.” His words here recall a ceremony in Exodus 24, when God’s covenant with the Israelites was confirmed. Animals were sacrificed, some blood was poured on the altar, and with the rest of the blood, the Scripture says, “Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you.”

We would say this was actually a precursor to baptism. It was a type of baptism. The blood signified cleansing from sin so that the covenant relationship with God could exist. It also highlighted the underlying reality that the penalty for breaking the covenant was death.

Now notice again at verse 28. Jesus changes the wording slightly. Moses said, “the blood of the covenant.” Jesus says, “my blood of the covenant.” Jesus guarantees all the blessings of the New Covenant for the people of God. He guarantees them by his own blood. He seals those blessings for those He saves. The Lord’s Supper, when we practice it in worship every other week, symbolizes that Jesus has sealed our salvation and our blessings in the family of God. No blessing is greater than that of forgiveness for sins.

Jesus says he would pour out his blood for our forgiveness. And yet he would not stay dead. Verse 29 speaks to his resurrection. He would restore the joy of those who watched him die, and he would overcome the finality of death and hell.

I understand there are consequences for wrongdoing in this life. God has established that. We reap what we sow. How we live matters. When someone has done us wrong, we don’t have to pretend like it never happened. The pain is real. But see, what Jesus is doing with the bread and cup in this Passover meal is communicating that the guilt of sin and the punishment it deserves has been transferred from us to him. Just as the OT Israelites understood that the blood of the sacrificial animals was accepted by God instead of their own blood. Jesus says, “My body instead of your body; my blood instead of your blood.” 

Stop trying to make people pay for their sins. God doesn’t make you pay for yours. Have you received this forgiveness from God that only Jesus Christ would secure for you? Have you prayed and confessed to Jesus that you are sinner? Have you turned from sin to follow Jesus and trust in his sacrifice for your sin? It is the only way to receive the power to truly forgive. 

It is freedom from the need for a pound of flesh. You won’t need to demand that others pay a price, because you will know that Jesus paid the price you required.

Let’s pray together.