Power Priorities (Matthew 26:1-16)
I am utterly fascinated with the narratives that directly follow the Olivette Discourse. Remember, this is right after Jesus has talked about His people proving themselves by serving Him through serving the hungry, thirsty, poor, etc.
In rapid succession, we see Jesus tell His disciples that He will be crucified, we see the religious leaders plot to seize Him (only not during the feast, lest a crowd be stirred up!), we see Jesus anointed with expensive oil, and we see Judas betray Jesus for some money.
The contrasts are strong. Right after Jesus has just told His disciples that they should be serving the needy, he says “you will always have the poor with you.” This is not a statement that means the poor are a waste of time, nor that we should not try to make a difference in the world. He has just taught us the opposite, after all! But it is a statement about priorities. Our goal is not to make the world a better place, but rather to serve, glorify, and worship Him as He makes the world a better place.
In some ways, you could make the argument that the former approach—that that says we should be fighting to make the world a better place—is exactly the sort of motivation that led Judas to betray Jesus. Maybe Jesus wasn’t being radical enough and Judas finally gave up on Him. Or maybe Judas convinced himself that his actions would push Jesus into taking on the warrior role that the messiah was supposed to. More than likely, Judas was just greedy and had his priorities in the wrong place.
In any case, we see here an important reminder that—while we are supposed to love and serve the needy—it is Jesus and not us that will make the kind of changes that the world ultimately needs.
In rapid succession, we see Jesus tell His disciples that He will be crucified, we see the religious leaders plot to seize Him (only not during the feast, lest a crowd be stirred up!), we see Jesus anointed with expensive oil, and we see Judas betray Jesus for some money.
The contrasts are strong. Right after Jesus has just told His disciples that they should be serving the needy, he says “you will always have the poor with you.” This is not a statement that means the poor are a waste of time, nor that we should not try to make a difference in the world. He has just taught us the opposite, after all! But it is a statement about priorities. Our goal is not to make the world a better place, but rather to serve, glorify, and worship Him as He makes the world a better place.
In some ways, you could make the argument that the former approach—that that says we should be fighting to make the world a better place—is exactly the sort of motivation that led Judas to betray Jesus. Maybe Jesus wasn’t being radical enough and Judas finally gave up on Him. Or maybe Judas convinced himself that his actions would push Jesus into taking on the warrior role that the messiah was supposed to. More than likely, Judas was just greedy and had his priorities in the wrong place.
In any case, we see here an important reminder that—while we are supposed to love and serve the needy—it is Jesus and not us that will make the kind of changes that the world ultimately needs.
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