In 1982 the heavy metal rock band Judas Priest went to the top of the music charts with their hit song “You Got Another Thing Coming.” This was the band’s only top 100 chart song they ever produced, today they are just another name of the past.
Interesting their name is Judas Priest, looking at each name separately are the ones who handed over Jesus Christ to have Him killed. The Bible Judas had “another thing coming,” that he never expected. The events surrounding Judas has seeped into modern culture through a variety of avenues. Ever heard the phrase, “sealed with a kiss” or the “kiss of death?” These two phrases remind us of Judas kissing Jesus in the dark to identify to the soldiers the actual Jesus.
The chief priests used the money returned to them by Judas to purchase a “A Potters Field.” Today that term is still used to identify a cemetery where unknown people are buried. Hart Island in New York has a “potters field” that is located in the east part of the Bronx, the island is a mile long a quarter mile wide. It is the location of a 45-acre potter’s field for New York City. Approximately 600,000 dead are buried there, approximately 8,000 a year, many of them infants and stillborn. No ceremony is conducted at the burial, and no individual markers are set. Land is currently reused after forty years have passed, allowing for sufficient decomposition of the remains.
Potter’s Field also describes a small cove of the East River just below the Williamsburg Bridge on the Brooklyn side, where bodies that have been in the river from November through the winter season surface in April as the rising temperature causes them to decompose and rise to the surface. The fluid dynamics of the East River causes a collection of these bodies every year off the docks of Potter’s Field.
The betrayal by Judas strikes a nerve in the people of each generation, even those who do not believe the Bible to be God’s inherent word. Judas became a pawn of the devil, and he realized after trying to undo what he had done, he had another thing coming. A thing he never expected nor would he have conceived the years he walked with Jesus as one of his trusted disciples. During this time, if there would have been one discipled titled the most influential it would probably have been Judas. He being the money man and the keeper of the purse for Jesus and his band of disciples.
Judas would have been the one who purchased food and other essentials for the disciples. When people wanted to donate money to Jesus’ ministry they would naturally have gone to Judas. With Judas being such a respected disciple it is hard to imagine how such a person could accomplish such a deed as we are about to look at.
Judas’s name means “may God be praised” (Genesis 29:35). However he obviously did not live up to his name. The writers of the Bible will always attach to this Judas either Iscariot, the traitor or the one who betrayed Jesus, to clearly identify the correct Judas. Judas being a common name in the first century, the writers wanted to clearly identify which Judas is which as we saw with Thaddaeus. The idea of Judas betraying Jesus became so repulsive the name rapidly went out of favor. Today, you will hardly ever hear a person with the name Judas, much less would someone even name their dog after him.
Ecclesiastes 7:1 says a good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. Jesus said it would have been good for Judas to have never been born (Matthew 26:24) if he carries out this betrayal. That should end any speculation as whether Judas went to heaven or not. Judas does not carry a good name and it would have been better for his soul if he would never have shown up on planet earth. How would you like someone to say that about you at your funeral?
Iscariot
The exact meaning of Iscariot is debatable between two possible meanings. Interesting is if you trace the meanings they both point to a startling revelation. The first possible meaning is the name derived from the Greek word “sikarios” meaning assassin . There were a group of radical zealots, remember Simon the Zealot (patriots), in Jerusalem called the a member of the Sicarii.
The Sicarii seem not to be an organized group but are the guerillas of the Zealot movement. They begin to use the (concealed) dagger when Felix (a Roman ruler) takes harsh measures to crush resistance. During the revolt they use the dagger against Jews who are friendly to the Romans. They are motivated, not by lawlessness or fanaticism, but by zeal for God’s honor and the law. They prefer suicide or martyrdom to Roman rule . Using the term assassin could be an appropriate term for Judas did exactly that, he played the part of the assassin, singling one man out to be killed.
The other possibility behind Judas last name Iscariot is it alludes to him being from a town called Kerioth, about twelve miles from Hebron in the Judah region. Hebron is approximately twenty miles south southwest of Jerusalem. If Judas is from this area, this would make Judas the only disciple not from Galilee.
Kerioth during the time of Jesus was a Moabite city (Jeremiah 48:24). A Moabite is a descendent from the Abraham’s nephew Lot who had an incestuous relationship with his daughter. Moab is the name of the first born son (Genesis 19:30-38) and his descendents became known as the Moabites. The Moabites God, whose name was Chemosh, shared one similarity to the God of the Jews, they believed in one all powerful God. However the difference being in the Israelites God shows to be a God who claims there is no other god (Isaiah 45:5), and loves His children, but demands they worship Him alone. Chemosh appears to be an angry diety who can not be pleased. Over time Chemosh has evolved into other religions and other gods. But the God of the Israelites is the same yesterday, today and forever with the full revelation being in His Son Jesus.
The Bible says in Hebrews 1:1-3 “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power.”
Chemosh and Judas share something in common, the Mount of Olives. Solomon, toward the end of his life, married wives outside of Israel which the Lord told him not to do. Solomon actually had 700 hundred wives and 300 concubines (not porcupines). In order to please these wives he built alters for their various gods. 7 1 Kings 11:7 says “Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem.” Abomination means something detestable by God, the Moabites had a religion that did not involve the worship of the true God. The hill east of Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives. On this mount is where Solomon built an alter for Chemosh resulting in the anger of the Lord. God told Solomon in 1 Kings 11:9 the kingdom will be taken away from his sons because of this act. Solomon betrayed the God by giving (sharing) his allegiance to a false god.
Fast forward to the night of Jesus betrayal and arrest and you will find this same place, the Mount of Olives, to be the place where Judas betrayed the Lord. The Mount of Olives could quite possibly have been the place where Satan tempted Jesus (Matthew 4:8). There is much more significance to the Mount of Olives, perhaps this is why Jesus liked to go here and pray when He visited Jerusalem and Bethany.
Does Iscariot mean a man from Kerioth or does it mean assassin? We may never know the exact answer until heaven, but either suggestion creates food for thought.
Beginning of the End
The Bible is silent regarding how Judas became a disciple other than that found in Luke 6 12 “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve.” Jesus prayed about who His disciples would be and called them each by name. Jesus also makes it clear that the disciples did not choose Him but He chose them “You did not choose Me, but I chose you,” John 15:16.
This is how we come to Christ today, not by our own choosing, though God’s desire is for all men to come to him (1 Tim 2:4), but he gives us a choice once He reveals Himself to us, Judas is an example of this choosing. Jesus chose Judas but Judas chose self. Jesus gave Judas every chance in the world to believe in Him, through His great teachings, His amazing miracles and His tremendous love for His disciples. When did Judas reject Jesus? Again the Bible does not say, but the important point to note is Judas totally rejected Jesus.
To begin the study of Judas it might be appropriate to start with the warning Jesus gave to ALL of His disciples. Jesus gave this warning as they were going to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. That Passover week would be the last week of Jesus’ life before His death, burial and resurrection.
Spur of Instruction
The Bible says in Matthew 20: 17-19 “Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.” Remember the chief priests and the scribes are the religious leaders of the day. I believe Matthew included the details of this passage letting the world know Jesus warned them, including Judas, about His pending betrayal.
Did Jesus say it had to be Judas? No! Satan could have used anybody he wanted, that is anybody but a true believer in Christ. Jesus is giving this warning a “spur” of instruction. I use spurs on my boots when I ride my horses. The spur is worn above the heel on your boot fastened by a leather strap. The reason for spurs is to cause the horse to move his body away from the discomfort and go in the direction the rider chooses and not the horse. Do I spur the horse for fun, absolutely not! I spur the horse to give him direction so he can be the best he can be, which in turn brings glory to me! Just kidding.
My horse is trained for a specific purpose and that is to listen to me. A light touch of the spurs is usually all my horse needs in a moment of decision. However, as the horse gets tired and sets his heart on the feed bucket, occasionally I will need to spur him with a little more pressure. The same is true with our relationship with Christ. Our job is to go where Jesus wants us to go and do what He wants us to do. Will the Lord lead us in an area that is not good for us? Never! Jeremiah 29:11 says the Lord wants to give us a future and hope, He has good plans for us. Are we willing to turn in the direction Jesus wants us to turn?
This little talk Jesus has with His disciples is simply a spur of instruction telling them of his pending betrayal and to turn away from thoughts of betrayal. Jesus warns how this person will betray Him to the chief priests and scribes and they will condemn Him to death. This is a little love tap compared to the spur of instruction Jesus gives to Judas next.
This next spur can be found in Matthew 26:24, “woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” If you back up to verses 14-16 you will find Judas had already cut his deal with the chief priests. “14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.
The next scene involves the last supper with Jesus, notice the dialogue with the disciples immediately after the Lord had washed their feet (John 13:20). Matthew 26:20-25 20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” 22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?” Exceedingly sorrowful, this word means they were experiencing great pain. The original Greek word implies a pain that is so real, it could either be physical or mental. Can you see each of the disciples looking at each other then asking Jesus if they could be the one? Imagine the most intense pain you have ever felt after being betrayed by a close friend, family or church member. If the betrayal did not involve the death of someone close to you, then multiply that pain by ten and you might get the sense of their pain.
Peter might very well have thought this could have been the warning Jesus gave him earlier. Jesus told Peter he would fall away (Luke 22:31), “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” I wonder if Judas choked on his bread at this point, or if he was moved by the pain being felt by his band of brothers whom he walked with for three years. Much less after having his feet washed, a total picture of servanthood, by the one whom he will betray.
Jesus answered them and said starting in verse 23, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” Jesus is stating He will go to the cross according to the scriptures (Son of Man goes just as it is written of Him), but cursed is the one who takes him there.
Some people claim Judas wanted to hurry in the kingdom of God and got tired of waiting as being the motivation to deny Jesus. This scripture clearly shows Judas did not believe Jesus to be the son of God because Jesus stated it would be better for him not to have been born. When a person lives their life and never gives their allegiance to Christ, it could be said they would have been better off not being born. Jesus said in John 14:6, a life outside of Christ results in a permanent home of Hell. The measly seventy plus years here on earth is nothing compared to eternity in Hell.
Ever seen the late 1970’s show Family Feud with Richard Dawson? When a contestant gives a wrong answer there is a loud buzzer and Richard Dawson says “wrong answer.” Judas gives the wrong question in verse 25, “Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it.” Judas has already made his deal with the chief priests, verses 14-16, he has the nerve to look directly at Jesus and ask if it could possibly be him. Judas at this point is so unaware and uncaring of who Jesus truly is. Wouldn’t a person with at least two functioning brain cells remember the miracles of Jesus and how He knew about peoples backgrounds when He first met them. If you know Jesus has miracle working powers, could it be possible He could spot a liar in front of His face?
A horse can become desensitized from using a spur too often with too much pressure. We can become desensitized from the Lord’s promptings, not because of Him but because of us. We can put too much pressure on ourselves by fighting against Jesus’ promptings. We feel the Lord prompting us to go a certain direction, a direction not of our choosing and we fight it. Before long, someone will grow dull and it’s not the Lord, we will start to drown out the Holy Spirit with our own self talk, then 1.2.3 we are right back rationalizing everything about our life and all the problems we face. Heaven forbid, if we were contemplating betraying a close friend or teacher, much less the creator of the universe.
The original Greek word for betray that is found in this passage is the word “paradidomi,” which means to simply give over. The word in itself is not a derogatory word, this word is used of God three times in Romans 1:24,26,28 where He gave men and women over to a depraved mind. The gospel writer chose to use this word, however it is translated as betray in all English translations, specifically the New King James.
The word for traitor is “prodotes” which means betrayer or treacherous traitor. The only time Judas is called a “prodotes” is in Luke 6:16 “Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor,” where Dr. Luke is giving a list of the original twelve disciples that were called by Jesus.
I can’t figure out why the gospel writers used the word for gave over rather than traitor. The word for “gave over” is a verb (an action word), verses the word for traitor is a noun (name). The primary difference I believe is the writers do not call Judas derogatory names, just simply describing the action he committed. Perhaps this is an example of the grace that filled these men’s lives and we too can learn from this. Next time we are betrayed, lets call an ace an ace and not add to it with derogatory names. Jesus said in Matthew 4, blessed are the peace makers and blessed are you when men persecute you.
A word of warning to all people involved with other people, when a person is openly acting like a hypocrite, saying one thing and doing another beware, the betrayal is coming. There is never a doubt, you will be asking someone to pull the knives out of your back. Judas did it to Jesus why would we be any different. Think about a Twinkie, those crème filled pastries surrounded by angel food cake. When dealing with the hypocrites in your life, the angel food cake represents the nice appearance on the outside and the cream filling of bitterness on the inside. The cream filling of bitterness will be the fuel that causes hypocrites to drive the inevitable knife coming in your back.
Judas completed the Twinkie in the Garden of Gethsemane, located on the Mount of Olives, in Matthew 26:48-50, 48 Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.” 49 Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 50 But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” Oh the knife slammed directly in the back of Jesus. This happened shortly after Jesus told Judas to do what he is going to do quickly in John 13:27.
Judas had plenty of time to turn from his ways, he already made his deal with the chief priests, but he could still change his mind at the last supper. When Jesus told Judas to go and do what he was going to do (John 13:27) Judas could have said “Lord, I repent, I have changed my mind about betraying you, please forgive me.” I believe Jesus would have forgiven him on the spot. Furthermore, from the time Judas went to the chief priests, perhaps three or four blocks away, to the time he approached Jesus in the Garden, approximately a half mile walk, he had plenty of time to think and turn around.
The Devil Made Me Do It
What caused Judas to “buck” the system? Jesus spurred him three times Matthew 20:18, 26:14 and John 13:27. In John 6:70 Jesus said “Did I not choose you the twelve to myself, and one of you is a devil.” Jesus spurred Judas long before they got to passion week. Judas didn’t turn from the pressure, he started mentally bucking. One time at Cowboy Church my horse suffered from a leg injury and a friend of mine brought his horse, Snickers, to the arena for me to rope with. I saddled up Snickers, put the bit in his mouth and mounted up. As soon as Snickers felt my spurs he commenced to bucking. Snickers bucked me all the way away around the arena, at times becoming totally vertical trying to make me totally horizontal on the ground. I held on to ole Snickers and finally rode the buck out of him.
Not all horses buck because of spurs. The bucking horses and bulls you see at the rodeo buck because they have a “flank strap.” A flank strap goes around the back end of the male animal putting pressure on his private parts. The flank strap is actually what makes the animal buck and not the spurs. The devil became a flank strap for Judas and this is what caused him to buck.
In times of turmoil, like on a bucking horse, you never know what might come out of your mouth. The arena being totally full that night with many families and youth I became concerned a “word” might have slipped out. I rode up to one of our youth, Bailey Danielson, who sat upon his horse watching the show. I rode up to him and asked Bailey, “Did you see what just happened?” Which Bailey replied, “Yes, sir I sure did.” I then asked him, “did you hear any unkind words proceed from my mouth?” “No sir,” he replied. Relieved I held my mouth I told Bailey “Good, let that be a lesson for you!” If he would have affirmed an unkind word did slip from my mouth I had that answer ready as well, “The devil made me do it!”
“The devil made me do it” is not a response for the Christian. The devil can not possess a Christian, because the stronger man already lives inside, Jesus (John 14:23, Luke 11:21). “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world,” 1 John 4:4. Jesus statement in Luke 6:70, “One of you is a devil” came right after Peter said “We have come to believe you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” I believe one aspect of this statement involved Jesus trying to prick Judas’ heart, to soften it so he would not be condemned to hell.
If there could possibly be one person who had the right to say “the devil made me do it” perhaps that person would be Judas. Satan entered Judas heart before the last supper, when Judas went and bargained with the chief priests and cut his deal. Luke 22, “3 Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. 4 So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.” The word for entered means to move into a space, either two-dimensional or three-dimensional The idea carries much more meaning compared to the idea of Satan popping a thought in Judas’s mind.
The second time this word is used concerning Satan and Judas is in John 13:27. Came after Jesus dipped some bread in the sauce and he gave it to Judas, another act of friendship. John says Satan entered him again and I believe Jesus immediately recognized His long time adversary. Resulting in Jesus’ statement to Judas, actually speaking to Satan, to go and do it quickly. The scripture is clear, Satan entered Judas and not a demon.
Satan is a created being and can not be every where at one time, he must be at one place at a time. Jesus encountered several demon possessed individuals (Matthew 8:16, 28, 9:32, 12:22, 15:22, 17:18) but none of them were said to be possessed by Satan himself. Satan recognized Jesus as the Son of God starting with the temptations (Matthew 4:5-11) that occurred when Jesus first begun His ministry. You can believe Satan watched every move Jesus made and listened to each word he spoke. Jesus told the disciples he would be betrayed and crucified on their way to Jerusalem (Matthew 20:18-19), so Satan started strategizing who he could use.
Somewhere along the way Judas probably could not help to give away his selfish motives. Judas became the centerpiece of all his thoughts, he probably followed Jesus believing Jesus would truly rule the world and he wanted to be a part of it. It appears from his betrayal actions Judas probably started to become dismayed as Jesus spoke more and more that His kingdom is not part of this world and He would soon die. Some say Judas betrayed Jesus to accelerate Jesus plans, but that idea falls through the cracks the moment Judas accepted payment from the chief priests for his betrayal.
The devil himself used Judas like a pawn, and when he finished the task at hand, Satan threw Judas away like a piece of trash. Judas possessed the power to lie to Jesus, betray his friend and turn his back on the other disciples. After Satan finished with him, Judas didn’t have the power to face tomorrow which resulted in a suicide.
The Bucking
When I got on Snickers I entered the point of no return. I could not get off, voluntarily, until the bucking stopped. Similarly, Judas once he betrayed the Master and became consumed he couldn’t dismount. This is similar to Romans 1:24 where God gave people who continually ignored God up to their own lusts. Romans 1:21 says “ Although they knew God, but did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” This is exactly what happened to Judas, he suffered from a darkened heart. Once Judas realized what he had done we see him asking the chief priests for a re-ride, a rodeo term used by a rider when the animal does not perform as he should.
John brings out the aspect of light and darkness as a main theme of his gospel. Jesus said in John 12:35 “A little while longer the light is with ou. Wlak while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. Judas left Jesus during the night time which John points out in 13:30 “Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night. Judas walked in total darkness, typical of person who is possessed by Satan. That person does not know up from down or right from wrong.
Re-Ride
As stated before, a re-ride is when a bucking horse or bull does not perform as he is expected when he comes out of the chute. Matthew 27:3-10 shows Judas asking for a re-ride from the chief priests. Too little too late, this is actually a picture of judgment day for a non Christian who will also beg for a re-ride.
Remorse and Confession
Let’s glean what we can from the details Matthew has given in 27:3-10 concerning Judas asking for a re-ride. “3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” This sounds a lot like repentance and confession doesn’t it? The word for repent means to change ones mind, but the word used above is translated as remorseful. Are these words the same? The answer is no.
Judas attended the arrest and observed the beating and spitting on Jesus from his business partners the chief priests. Judas approached his business partners when morning had come (Matthew 27:1) so this could have been about three to six hours later. Satan used Judas like a pawn and when he left Judas, probably entering one of the chief priests, Judas came to his senses where we find him being remorseful.
The Greek word used for remorse in this verse is metamelomai which means to feel sad about something. This word is a change in emotions not a change in mind as in repent. This is what spiritual blindness looks like, Jesus already told Judas in Matthew 20:18 what was going to happen, He would be betrayed and condemned. Why would anyone expect anything differently, unless they walked in total darkness?
This reminds us one day we will stand before the judgment seat of God (2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10). At that day we (Christians ) will all feel sad for the times we could have stood up for Christ but didn’t, those times we did not honor Him as we should have in our thoughts and deeds. As the movie of our life plays, we will openly confess all of our sins and take ownership. The Christian will not be punished for his sins because Jesus paid the price to erase our sins. However, a non Christian will be very sad for not accepting Christ as his master and lord. He too will confess and be remorseful but it is too late to repent. Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed for man to die once then comes judgment. We must confess and repent before we die, waiting till afterward will leave us like Judas, too late.
Judgement
The last part of Matthew 27:4 shows the chief priest response, “What is that to us, you see to it.” “What is that to us” basically means this is no concern of the chief priests and “you see to it” turns the problem back on Judas. In other words the chief priests said “not our problem, you deal with it.” This shows the blindness and darkness of the chief priests. A priest is one who ministers to the people, except these priests were not ministers but power brokers who wanted to keep their power. These men shared no concern for Judas and basically just turned their backs. This is could have been the straw that broke the camels back when Judas decided to commit suicide.
Similar to the day of judgment, the chief priest’s (representing God) is similar to what God will tell the non Christians. The non Christian will beg not to go to hell and in essence God will pass judgment and say, not my problem you must deal with it. God provided a light of faith to each individual (Romans 1:19), they must choose to follow that light or God will wash His hands of them and turn them over to themselves (Romans 1:24). Remember, God did not force Judas to take the bribe, and God does not send anyone to hell, we choose to send ourselves by not trusting His Son.
Act of Repentance
Once judgment is pronounced any act of repentance becomes a mute point. The Bible says in Matthew 27:5 “Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.” Judas throwing the money down is a clear picture of what Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. The word despise (Greek word kataphroneo) means to not be concerned about. Judas’ actions show him having more concern over the money than his Holy Friend, Jesus.
I worked ten years as a Certified Financial Planner and experienced the opportunity to work with people and their money. I can boil the general concerns about money down to two observations. People either concerned they have too much money or not enough. Whether a person has too much or too little creates problems in themselves. I have seen people who are so consumed with their money they show no regard for nothing or anyone else. You can not love both money and Jesus. Judas shown through his actions he loved money and despised Jesus.
Regarding judgment day, we too will puke over our money. We will think about all the time we wasted, worrying and being too focused on money. We will then realize, like Judas, our money is not a means to end, but could be a means to a dreadful end. Judas internally begged for a re-ride but discovering a re-ride would not be granted he probably replayed it over and over in his mind how greedy he became and wished it never have happened. Judas demonstrated remorse, with an act of repentance. Like judgment day, it will be too late to show acts of repentance, your ticket is already punched.
The Law
In Matthew 27:6 the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” The chief priests decide to start following God’s law. They totally neglected the part of the law that clearly states bribes against the innocent are not to happen. Deuteronomy 27:25 “Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.” Psalms 15:5 “He who does not put out his money as usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.” All of sudden the priests now remember the law, ain’t that convenient! How come no concern for the law in Matthew 26:15 when Judas and the priests shared the guilt of the bride?
Remember betrayers are like Twinkies, angel food (nice appearance) on the outside, cream filling of bitterness on the inside. Suddenly the chief priests appear to be angels wanting to uphold the law and do the right thing. The cream filling of bitterness driven into the back of Jesus shows up in Matthew 27:20 when the chief priests persuades the people to kill Jesus and release Barabbas the murderer.
Blood money can not go into the house of God. Like heaven, those who repeatedly crucify Christ with their unwillingness to follow him continue to fill their spiritual bank account with blood money. There are only two kinds of people in the world, those who are covered by the blood of Jesus and those who shed the blood of Jesus. When the unbelievers die they come to heaven with blood money and blood money can not go into the house of God. They will be cast into the place of those who are not known by God (the potters field). This is the law of God that says the “Wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 6:23.
Hell
Matthew 27:7-8; “And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.” The potters field the chief priests purchased lied on the south end of Jerusalem, south of the Hinnom valley. The Hebrew word for this valley is ge-hinnom which was directly south and west of Jerusalem. This valley translated in the Greek is Gehanna which is used as a descriptive term for hell nine times and three times for hell fire in the New Testament.
The Hinnom valley is the place where the sewage from Jerusalem would flow and this valley had a fire burning day and night burning trash. Gehanna is a graphic word picture for hell. During the monarchial period of Jerusalem, kings would perform human sacrifices in this area, hence the term the “abode of the dead,” (2 Chron. 28:3; 33:6; Jer. 7:31; 32:35).
It is unclear if Judas, after hanging himself and falling to the earth (Acts 1:18), fell into the Valley of Hinnom or the field the chief priests purchased to bury strangers. The potter’s field received the name “field of blood” from the blood money used to purchase the field. The actual term potters field describes an area that is unsuitable for growing crops due to the amount of clay. People would come to this field to get clay for making pots and other clay items.
Similar to judgment day, Judas went into hell for not accepting Christ. Hell is a place where there is no fertile ground and place of fire and torment.
Prophecy
Like a good father does with his children, God always gives us a warning of the things to come including pending judgment. He has made this very clear in His word the Bible. Following the last part of the life of Judas and this clear example of pending judgment Matthew concludes this section with the prophecy that foretold this event, Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me” (Matthew 27:9-10).
The quote in the above verse is found in Zechariah 11:12-13 but Matthew attributes the quote to Jeremiah. Problem? According to one Bible scholar “St. Matthew has made (as in ch. 2:23, and so Mark 1:2, 3) a patchwork of passages derived from Jer. 18:2, etc.; 19:1, 2; 32:8–14, combined with the prediction in Zechariah, and attributed the passage thus formed to the most celebrated prophet. Plainly the evangelist has not confined himself to the actual words of this author or authors, but has written a Targum (a paraphrase of the Old Testament)thereon, being divinely guided to see in the present transaction a fulfilment of an obscure announcement and prefiguration in olden days.
This appears to be logical argument, but yet one of those things that we will not know until we can ask God in heaven.
Thirty pieces of silver is ironically the legal price of a slave gored by an ox (Exodus 21:32). It is unclear what kind of coin this would have been, so it would be pure speculation to equate a dollar amount to the thirty pieces of silver. Jesus’ crucifixion proved to be a goring, another reminder of how the Old Testament law is a shadow of God’s plans through His Son Jesus.
Trails End
Jesus says in Luke 12:4-5 “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” Judas tried to please the wrong side of this battle and chose not to fear God.
Let us remember about the betrayers who are like Twinkies, angels on the outside but possess bitter cream filling on the inside. Remember the holy spurs, how God urges us to follow him and will apply pressure in our minds to heed His voice. Judas and the chief priests gave Jesus a value of thirty pieces of silver.
Value Christ, value Him more than all your money, your family, your job and your hobbies. Make Jesus a priority, I pray this will burn into your mind there is a cost to not being obedient to Christ and how easy it is to place other things before Him.
And lastly remember the picture of judgment day where we will all stand and a change of heart will be too late. Make the decision to follow and pursue Christ today, right now!
