Before You Bash Judas: How Much is 30 Pieces of Silver?

The worst betrayal of innocent blood in human history took place during Passover week in A.D. 33, when Judas Iscariot, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, connived with the enemies to sell Jesus out.

As the treasurer of the group that travelled with Jesus of Nazareth, Judas was in tune with the value of money. On one occasion a female admirer of Jesus took a bottle of costly perfume and smeared Jesus with it from head to toe.

The extravagance got Judas so upset that he convinced the other disciples to rebuke Jesus and the woman for such a waste of costly perfume and precious currency.

Judas became so obsessed with money that he began to see "dollar signs" everywhere. As the moneyman, Judas realized that the religious establishment really wanted Jesus out of the way. "Wonder how much they'll pay for Jesus?" Judas might have thought. Judas reckoned that if the religious elite wanted Jesus dead badly enough, they would probably be willing to pay to get it done. But Judas also knew it would be nearly impossible for the high priest and his ilk to get a hold of Jesus without insider information. They needed an informant within the ranks of Jesus' close friends.

Aha, Judas saw his chance to strike it rich. In short order, he scheduled a secret meeting with the religious authorities, and he revealed to them the perfect plot to hand Jesus over with one kiss. Soon the religious leaders were all over Judas' plan, and they eagerly offered him 30 pieces (shekels) of silver on the spot. Judas had become their hit man. But how much money was 30 pieces (shekels) of silver? Was it that big a deal?

In Bible days, 30 shekels of silver was the price of a slave. The amount equaled 120 Roman denarii (plural). A denarius (singular) was one day's pay for a laborer. So 120 denarii equaled a worker's salary for 120 days or 4 months' pay.

But still, how much is 30 thirty pieces of silver in "dollars and cents"? Well, I checked some websites, including Gospel Mysteries, and here is what I found. If you convert 30 pieces of silver to dollar, it comes to about $950. According to the Professional Coin Grading Service, if you adjust the amount for inflation over the last 2,000 years, it becomes a whopping $250,000. "Such a sum likely would have purchased a small farm. Quite a bribe for the time"

So, what could you do with $250,000 cash in Kentucky, where I live? I can buy a brand new house cash down. With what's left, I can purchase one green vehicle (hybrid, electric or CNG) for cash. Next, I can put some money in a CD (certificate of deposit) or money market account to earn interest for months or years to come. (I wouldn't touch the stock market right now may be later.)

Just like the bribe was attractive to Judas, it would be most sumptuously tempting to the typical follower of Jesus Christ today. And it doesn't have to be blood money either.

Look, how many Christians would not accept $250,000 to never set foot in a church again, to never read the Bible again, or to flat out say, "I'm no longer a follower of Christ"?

The offer would become even more attractive if it came from someone of a different religion, asking you to switch from Christianity to their religion, or from mainline Christian faith to a cult that claims to be Christian.

People jump religious ship all the time for far less than 30 pieces of silver, for amounts much smaller than $250,000. All it may take is a scholarship, a job offer, an opportunity to work for double overtime on Sunday instead of going to church. It may take as little as one month's utility bill to get some Christians to shack up and hook up, switch loyalty, or hop from one church to another!

Selling Jesus out is easier and more frequent than we may want to think.

So before we get down on Judas, let's check our own hearts to see how tempting a $250,000 bribe would be to us today. Many of us might do the same thing, if we knew we could take the money and sell Jesus out without paying any obvious price or without being caught.

Hey, hey, don't forget the rest of the story: Judas was caught. With a rope around his neck. He hanged himself.

Betrayal can be fatal.