Then one of the Twelve—the man called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” So they weighed out 30 pieces of silver for him. And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray Him.
Matthew 26:14-16
Our Holy Week Family Devotional is brought to you by the Next Gen Ministry. We pray you and your family spend time reflecting on the life of Jesus this week.
Today’s Devotion
Yesterday, we read a story about a woman who loved Jesus. Earlier this week, we read a story about crowds of people who were excited to see Jesus come to their city. But it’s important to remember that not everyone loved Jesus, nor were they all excited to see Him.
Some people actually hated Him! Many people thought the things Jesus said were lies, and they thought He was very dangerous. They hated Him so much they wanted to kill Him—and they started making plans to do so, picking a good time and place to capture and arrest Him. Today, we pick back up on the Wednesday the plot to kill Jesus takes place.
Judas, one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, realized he could make some money by helping them find Jesus and capture Him. (Since he was close to Jesus and called Him a friend, this was a very bad betrayal.) He went to Jesus’ enemies and asked them how much money they would give him if he helped them.
They told him they would give him 30 pieces of silver, which in the Old Testament was the amount of money paid to a slave-owner when one of their slaves was killed.
Judas accepted their money, and they all began planning how to arrest Jesus and kill Him.
Talking Points
• Was Jesus worth more than 30 pieces of silver? Why or why not?
• Judas was Jesus’ friend, but he chose to betray Him. Discuss what betrayal means and talk about it as a family. Do you think it hurt Jesus to be betrayed by His friend? Have you ever been hurt by a friend?
Family Activity
Supplies needed: 30 silver coins (nickels, dimes, or quarters)
Put the coins in a small bag. Then, dump the coins onto a table and have the children count the coins. After counting the coins, talk about what they would be willing to do for the coins, good or bad. Keep the coins on the table or in a place that is easily seen to remind them how He was betrayed and may have felt on the Wednesday the plot to kill Jesus took place.