Money and Christ's Last Week

Tomorrow is Good Friday, the day that we remember specifically the crucifixion of the Savior.  One news headline about the day this year reads, “Good Friday is the new Black Friday as shops offer 70 per cent discounts.”  This is of course the general attitude about what should be the most meaningful and spiritual holidays, Easter and Christmas—it is today simply a time to buy and shop, to sell and get gain.  I can’t help but think that the Savior would respond to us as He said on that Thursday night so long ago, “Could ye not watch with me one hour?” (Matt. 26:40).  In other words, can’t we learn to focus on what really matters?  It’s interesting to see how money is a part of several of the key stories from the final week of His life, stories that teach us about how we should center our life on what is most important. 

               Three events in particular from the Savior’s last week are related to money.  Near the beginning of that week the Savior went into the temple courtyard and cast out those whose focus was on getting gain as opposed to the reason for the sacred day: “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matt. 21:12-13).  This story, if nothing else, calls us to focus our hearts on the meaning of Easter and not the merchandise around it.  A second story related to money from the Savior’s last week is that which was told by Luke: “And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all” (Luke 21:1-3).  The message of this story is that what we give is not nearly as important as what we give up.  The Savior wants us to be willing to give freely of our wealth, to show that His gospel is more important to us than worldly possessions.  The third story is that of the betrayal of Judas.  He went to the leaders of the Jews, “And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver” (Matt. 26:15).  The account of Judas shows us not only how he let the allure of money cause him to betray the Savior, but it also shows the “deceitfulness of riches” as the Savior taught (Matt. 13:22).  After the deed was done, Judas realized that he didn’t really want the money at all, that he had indeed been deceived by Satan: “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders” (Matt. 27:3).  That deception and his own horror at his own actions caused him to take his own life.  The story perhaps is meant to teach us that money and the things of the world, while constantly trying to allure us, will not bring us what we are looking for.  It is only the “living water” from the Savior—putting Him first in our lives and following His teachings, that brings us what we are truly seeking for.