Welcome and thank you for taking a bible break to test your knowledge of God's word. This week's question:

Jesus hand picked His disciples with a word or two as He did with Philip when He said, "Follow Me." (John 1:43).

These twelve men walked with Jesus and saw the miracles He performed and heard the words He spoke both to the multitudes and to them privately. Jesus makes sure they understand something about them that He knows, "'Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is the devil?' Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him." (John 6:70-71).

That brings us to our question, "Why did Judas want to sell Mary's perfume?". Earlier in the ministry of Jesus a woman who was a sinner came in and wiped Jesus feet with her hair and tears in sorrow for her life style. Jesus was in the house of a Pharisee names Simon who said to himself, "If this Man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner." (Luke 7:39). Then Jesus told Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." (Luke 7:44-47).

A similar event takes place five days before His crucifixion as Jesus is reclining at a table in the home of Simon the Leper (Matthew 26:6) along with Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead just a few months before (John 11:38-54), and Lazarus' sister, Mary (John 11:2), comes in and anoints the Lord's head and feet with an alabaster vile of very costly perfume of pure nard (Matthew 26:7). When Judas Iscariot saw this he said to Jesus, "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor people?" (John 12:5). Now the other disciples chimed in with similar comments, "But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, 'what is the point of this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.' But Jesus , aware of this, said to them, 'Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. For the poor you have with you always; but you do not always have Me. For when she poured this perfume upon My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of in memory of her.'" (Matthew 26:8-13).

Now, eleven of the disciples were truly concerned for the use of the money for the poor, but there was one who had a little different slant on things, "But Judas Iscariot , one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, 'Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii, and given to the poor people? Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put in it." (John 12:4-6).

So there we have the answer to our question, as Judas wanted to have that money in the box so he could pilfer some more without the others except Jesus being the wiser. Judas was already intending to betray Jesus as he had already talked to the council about it (Luke 22:1-6), but this loss of revenue for him seemed to step up the timetable as he went out Thursday evening to cut the final deal of thirty pieces of silver for betraying Him (John 13:21-30 & Mark 14:43-46).

Let us not covet the riches of this world as Judas Iscariot did and although he later sorrowed for the things he did, even telling the chief priests and elders, "'I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.' and they said, 'What is that to us? See to that yourself!' And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself." (Matthew 27:3-5). Let us also take a lesson from his final act and recognize that Godly sorrow does not include suicide as Judas Iscariot performed.