The Money Bag
Sermon
At The Cross With Jesus
10 Sermons And Monologues
Judas -- Judas Iscariot
It would have been better had I not been born.
Oh, Lord.
Judas -- Judas Iscariot
I did the most dastardly thing.
Judas, what did you do?
You could have been strong like Andrew, James, John.
You could have been restored like Peter.
No, I was not like Peter.
I was like Pilate.
My hands contain blood.
That money -- thirty pieces of silver -- the price of a slave.
That's blood money.
What promise I had.
What a mistake I made.
Jesus had confidence in me.
He chose me to carry the purse.
Oh, yes, I took care of our bills from this bag, paid our taxes, and bought our food.
He trusts me --ahe trusts me with the money to be used only for the work of the kingdom.
Ah, yes, the kingdom.
Will I ever get it in my head that what he wants is a spiritual kingdom?
Spiritual kingdom.
What we need is a Messiah.
A Messiah with a sword, a club, a spear, an army.
A Messiah who will overthrow Rome, and get rid of Caesar.
I carry a dagger for this purpose.
Spiritual kingdom.
He preached we should love our enemies.
I wanted to kill them.
He preached we should love one another.
It's a dog-eat-dog world.
Spiritual kingdom.
Jesus was never overly concerned about material things.
There was a fateful day when over 5,000 followed him to the hill and sat down.
He preached to them.
He spoke gloriously and authoritatively of God.
When we paused to discern the time of day, it was time to eat.
But no one had anything.
I didn't have enough in my purse to feed 5,000.
Send them away.
We had to send them away.
Let them get their own.
Why should we give to them?
Spiritual kingdom.
That day in Bethany --
A woman with an alabaster jar of precious ointment came to Jesus and poured it on his head.
Precious ointment.
To what purpose such a waste?
I mean why pour costly ointment on anybody?
Even the son of God?
Why not sell the precious stuff and give the money to our purse?
Jesus said she did it for his burial!
He was always thinking of death.
He said, "He who seeks to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it."
I wanted to live.
I liked life.
Or what I thought was life.
But Jesus insisted that he must go to Jerusalem and be delivered up by the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees and be crucified.
Three years -- that's all he lasted.
What a Messiah.
Three years and he didn't even have an army.
Well, he did have a following.
A week before he was crucified, when he was going to Jerusalem, there was such a large crowd of people -- women and children -- following him you could scarcely hear anything but shouts -- Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna!
They waved their palm branches.
They spread their garments before him.
They kept shouting, "Hosanna! Hosanna!"
I thought, at last he can establish his kingdom --
If he can only get them to overthrow the Roman guards.
But he walked away from all that.
He went into the temple.
Again I thought that it was going to happen.
He overthrew the tables of the money changers.
He began to wreck the place.
I didn't like that.
I was concerned about money.
Why waste it?
You get what you can, however you can.
You need money to feed an army.
You need money to buy protection and sometimes power.
But Jesus wasn't concerned about money.
He wanted a spiritual kingdom --
A kingdom in the hearts of people --
A kingdom that would control hate and lust and greed and selfishness.
Oh, how I wish I would have let that kingdom come to me.
During the last week
We disciples met in the Upper Room for a secret meeting.
And before we got down to anything really important, Jesus took a towel and basin and began to wash the disciples' feet.
If only I had given in at that time,
I could have saved myself from this hell.
Jesus could have saved me.
But Satan had his grip on me.
He said he was going to die.
Don't you see?
He said he would be delivered up by the scribes and Pharisees and be crucified.
What a way to go.
Crucifixion.
Oh, why did I ever have to be the one to do it?
It would have been better if I had never been born.
After the last supper,
I met some Parisees just as conniving as I.
They made a deal with me.
Thirty pieces of silver.
What a loot.
I jumped at the chance -- thirty pieces of silver,
The price of a slave.
It's blood money.
I will betray him with a kiss.
I know where he is.
Praying -- praying at a place in the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane.
Then I did it.
It was dark.
I kissed him.
Then I ran, ran as fast as I could.
Clanging swords.
Stomping clubs.
They beat him.
They delivered him to Pilate.
Oh, what a horrible mistake.
They crucified him.
He died on the cross, like a criminal.
He committed no sin.
It makes my blood tingle.
My blood -- my blood is worthless.
My blood can spark no life.
His blood could save the world.
I must get rid of this money.
I don't want it.
Here, take it, you Pharisees.
Take this back -- you deceivers -- you helped to crucify him.
You think you can't take it.
Here, take it. (Throw money bag into congregation.)
I don't want it.
Still as of old
I by myself am priced.
For thirty pieces of silver
I sold myself
Not Christ.
It would have been better had I not been born.
Oh, Lord.
Judas -- Judas Iscariot
I did the most dastardly thing.
Judas, what did you do?
You could have been strong like Andrew, James, John.
You could have been restored like Peter.
No, I was not like Peter.
I was like Pilate.
My hands contain blood.
That money -- thirty pieces of silver -- the price of a slave.
That's blood money.
What promise I had.
What a mistake I made.
Jesus had confidence in me.
He chose me to carry the purse.
Oh, yes, I took care of our bills from this bag, paid our taxes, and bought our food.
He trusts me --ahe trusts me with the money to be used only for the work of the kingdom.
Ah, yes, the kingdom.
Will I ever get it in my head that what he wants is a spiritual kingdom?
Spiritual kingdom.
What we need is a Messiah.
A Messiah with a sword, a club, a spear, an army.
A Messiah who will overthrow Rome, and get rid of Caesar.
I carry a dagger for this purpose.
Spiritual kingdom.
He preached we should love our enemies.
I wanted to kill them.
He preached we should love one another.
It's a dog-eat-dog world.
Spiritual kingdom.
Jesus was never overly concerned about material things.
There was a fateful day when over 5,000 followed him to the hill and sat down.
He preached to them.
He spoke gloriously and authoritatively of God.
When we paused to discern the time of day, it was time to eat.
But no one had anything.
I didn't have enough in my purse to feed 5,000.
Send them away.
We had to send them away.
Let them get their own.
Why should we give to them?
Spiritual kingdom.
That day in Bethany --
A woman with an alabaster jar of precious ointment came to Jesus and poured it on his head.
Precious ointment.
To what purpose such a waste?
I mean why pour costly ointment on anybody?
Even the son of God?
Why not sell the precious stuff and give the money to our purse?
Jesus said she did it for his burial!
He was always thinking of death.
He said, "He who seeks to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it."
I wanted to live.
I liked life.
Or what I thought was life.
But Jesus insisted that he must go to Jerusalem and be delivered up by the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees and be crucified.
Three years -- that's all he lasted.
What a Messiah.
Three years and he didn't even have an army.
Well, he did have a following.
A week before he was crucified, when he was going to Jerusalem, there was such a large crowd of people -- women and children -- following him you could scarcely hear anything but shouts -- Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna!
They waved their palm branches.
They spread their garments before him.
They kept shouting, "Hosanna! Hosanna!"
I thought, at last he can establish his kingdom --
If he can only get them to overthrow the Roman guards.
But he walked away from all that.
He went into the temple.
Again I thought that it was going to happen.
He overthrew the tables of the money changers.
He began to wreck the place.
I didn't like that.
I was concerned about money.
Why waste it?
You get what you can, however you can.
You need money to feed an army.
You need money to buy protection and sometimes power.
But Jesus wasn't concerned about money.
He wanted a spiritual kingdom --
A kingdom in the hearts of people --
A kingdom that would control hate and lust and greed and selfishness.
Oh, how I wish I would have let that kingdom come to me.
During the last week
We disciples met in the Upper Room for a secret meeting.
And before we got down to anything really important, Jesus took a towel and basin and began to wash the disciples' feet.
If only I had given in at that time,
I could have saved myself from this hell.
Jesus could have saved me.
But Satan had his grip on me.
He said he was going to die.
Don't you see?
He said he would be delivered up by the scribes and Pharisees and be crucified.
What a way to go.
Crucifixion.
Oh, why did I ever have to be the one to do it?
It would have been better if I had never been born.
After the last supper,
I met some Parisees just as conniving as I.
They made a deal with me.
Thirty pieces of silver.
What a loot.
I jumped at the chance -- thirty pieces of silver,
The price of a slave.
It's blood money.
I will betray him with a kiss.
I know where he is.
Praying -- praying at a place in the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane.
Then I did it.
It was dark.
I kissed him.
Then I ran, ran as fast as I could.
Clanging swords.
Stomping clubs.
They beat him.
They delivered him to Pilate.
Oh, what a horrible mistake.
They crucified him.
He died on the cross, like a criminal.
He committed no sin.
It makes my blood tingle.
My blood -- my blood is worthless.
My blood can spark no life.
His blood could save the world.
I must get rid of this money.
I don't want it.
Here, take it, you Pharisees.
Take this back -- you deceivers -- you helped to crucify him.
You think you can't take it.
Here, take it. (Throw money bag into congregation.)
I don't want it.
Still as of old
I by myself am priced.
For thirty pieces of silver
I sold myself
Not Christ.
