Diagnosing evil’s logic in Matthew 26:14-15; 27:3-5.
Rev. Prof. Paul Sciberras
S.Th.B.(Melit.), S.Th.L.(Melit.), SSL(PIB), S.Th.D.(Melit.)
The dynamics of evil frequently unfold through a progressive distortion of truth: a spiral sustained and deepened by falsehood. This pattern is already evident in Matthew 26:14-15, where Judas Iscariot initiates the betrayal of Jesus by entering into a transactional negotiation with the chief priests. The narrative exposes a fundamental irony: Judas offers to “hand over” one who does not belong to him. Matthew has previously emphasised Jesus’ authoritative claim over the Twelve: “He called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority” (10:1). The Greek possessive pronoun underscores the relational and vocational belonging of the disciples to Jesus. Their identity and mission derive from him, not vice versa.
A parallel dynamic emerges in Matthew’s account of the chief priests and the thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 27:3-5). Although they dispense the money in exchange for Judas’s betrayal, they later acknowledge that the coins no longer “belong” to the Temple treasury (see 27:6). Their admission reveals a profound moral dissonance: the very agents who instrumentalise the silver for an unjust purpose now recognise its defilement and its incompatibility with sacred space. The economy of exchange in this episode—Judas offering what is not his, and the priests attempting to return what they can no longer claim—exposes a broader pattern of incoherence characteristic of evil.
Thus, the spiral of evil is constituted primarily by lies: lies about possession, lies about agency, lies about moral consequence. Yet such deception is often misperceived as benign or even attractive, like a carousel offering diversion and harmless amusement. In reality, it functions as a vortex, one that draws its participants ever deeper into disordered desire and moral disintegration. This Matthean vignette illustrates that one cannot “play” with such a dynamic without eventually being claimed by it.