THE LAST WEEK OF JESUS' PUBLIC MINISTRY AND HIS CRUCIFIXION

The Remorse and Suicide of Judas

-Matthew 27:3-10

-In Robertson’s chronology this account is placed between the third stage of the Jewish

 trial and the first stage of the Roman trial.  In this case, we are following the chronology

 presented by McGarvey and Pendleton in placing it here.

            -“The remorse of Judas, which Matthew relates in this place, as if to dispose of it, may be

             supposed to have occurred after the final condemnation of Jesus.  Matthew does not mean

             by placing his record of the event at this place to say that it occurred  just at this time, but as

             a consequence of the condemnation.  It is not likely that any of the chief priests and elders

             would have been found in the temple until after the sentence of Pilate” (Boles, Matthew,

             pg 525).

            -In regards to the chief priests being at the temple, McGarvey and Pendleton observed: 

             “Having obtained from Pilate the condemnation of Jesus, they hastened back to the temple

             to discharge their morning duties.  This gave the soldiers time to mock Jesus, and Pilate

             time to order and prepare the crucifixion” (pg 720).

-As Judas observed the proceedings against Jesus “...he felt remorse and returned the thirty

 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders” (Matt. 27:3, NASB). 

            -The KJV states that Judas “repented himself.”  The Greek word translated as “felt remorse”/

             “repented” means “to regret” (Vine’s).

            -Unfortunately, even though Judas displayed regret for his betrayal of Jesus, he did not

             display proper repentance which would have pursued forgiveness, reconciliation and a renewed

             course.  As Paul stated, one “...should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to

             repentance” (Acts 26:20).  Unfortunately, Judas failed to do so.  How sad!

-Pilate had declared the innocence of Jesus.  Through their actions, Judas and the Jewish leaders

 confirmed this fact.

            -First of all, notice the words spoken by Judas upon returning the money to the Jewish leaders: 

             “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood” (vs 4). 

                        -Judas declared himself guilty and Jesus innocent!

                        -Obviously, the events of that morning and the previous night were weighing heavy upon

                         Judas’ conscience.  If he could have produced a single, legitimate and substantiated charge

                         against Jesus, his conscience would have been eased.  Yet, after spending approximately

                         three years with our Lord, Judas knew that such a charge simply didn’t exist. 

                        -The confident realization of the innocence of Jesus also led Judas, a covetous individual, to

                         reject thirty pieces of silver.  Again, this strongly confirms the true character of our Lord.

            -Secondly, notice the response of the Jewish leaders.

                        -They had received what they wanted for the thirty pieces of silver and were simply not

                         interested in the reaction and/or thoughts of Judas.  Therefore, they simply responded to

                         Judas with uninterested and uncaring words:  “What is that to us? see thou to that” (vs 4).

                        -It is their next statement regarding the money (cast down on the floor by Judas) that clearly

                         confirms Jesus’ innocence even if done inadvertently by the perpetrators of the crime:  “It is

                         not lawful for to put them in the treasury, because it is the price of blood” (vs 6).

                                    -“If the money given to Judas was properly expended for the arrest of a real criminal,

                                     it was justice money, and not blood money at all” (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 721).

                                    -“The capacity of those men to ‘strain out the gnat and swallow’ [a camel - rc]...is

                                     almost unbelievable.  They were not above hiring perjured witnesses, bribery, plotting

                                     to murder the Son of God, or doing any other evil thing that might have seemed

                                     expedient; but to take back their own money from repentant Judas, that was

                                     unlawful!” (Coffman, Matthew, pg 459).

-The thirty pieces of silver, the price of a common slave, were used to purchase the potter’s field

 to bury strangers in which, according to Matthew, was in fulfillment of “...that which was

 spoken through Jeremiah the prophet...” (vs 9).  However, we do not find this prophecy recorded in

 the book of Jeremiah.  Instead, we find similar wording in the book of Zechariah (Zech. 11:12-13). 

 For this reason, skeptics have criticized Matthew’s comments for many, many years. 

-However, there are several possibilities regarding Matthew’s statement. 

            -First of all, note that Matthew referred to that which was “spoken” by Jeremiah, not that which

             was “written” by him.  As Wayne Jackson has aptly noted, “It is possible, therefore, that

             Jeremiah could have spoken the prophecy initially, and that Zechariah, during his ministry,

             incorporated the prediction into his own message (with some alteration; Matthew’s quotation

             does not exactly conform to the prophecy in Zechariah).  Matthew may have cited the original

             source...Zechariah suggested that at least some of his message was a reflection of what the

             “former prophets” had spoken. “Should you not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the

             former prophets?” (7:7)” (www.christiancourier.com/articles/150-did-matthew-blunder ).  Even

             though this seems to be the most likely explanation, there are additional possibilities.

            -Secondly, “...in Jesus’ day, rabbinical practice entailed identifying quotations by the name of the

             first book in a group of books that had been clustered by literary genre” (Miller, Lyons). 

             According to Jewish traditions, Jeremiah was placed first amongst the prophets.  Therefore, a

             quote from within the group of prophets may have been referred to as Jeremiah. 

            -Third, rather than referring to a specific passage of scripture, Matthew could have been

             presenting a compilation of statements and thoughts presented throughout the writings of

             Jeremiah.  (For a more complete presentation of this possibility, see the previously referenced

             article by Miller and Lyons.)

-Having thrown the silver to the ground, Judas departed and hanged himself.

            -Acts 1:25 states that “...Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”  Such

             a statement does not bode well for the eternal condition of his soul.  If only he had allowed his

             regret to lead to true repentance.  Instead of a tragic death there could have been a wonderful