DO THE RIGHT THING (MATTHEW 27:1-10)
The parents of a teenage girl received a letter from the college freshman:
Dear Mom and Dad,
I just thought I’d drop you a note to let you know what’s going on with me. I’ve fallen in love with a guy named Blaze. He’s a really neat guy, but he quit high school a few years ago to get married. That didn’t work out, so he got a divorce last year. We’ve been going out for several weeks, and we’re thinking about getting married in the fall. Until then, I’ve decided to move into his apartment. I think I might be pregnant. Oh yeah, I dropped out of school last week so that I could get a job to help support Blaze. I’m hoping I’ll be able to finish college after we get married.
With utter shock and dismay they turned the next page:
Mom and Dad, I just wanted you to know that everything I’ve written so far in this letter is a lie. None of it is true.
But Mom and Dad, it is true that I got a C in French and a D in Math. And it’s also true that I need some more money. Could you please send me a hundred dollars?
Thanks a bunch.
Love Julie
She received a check in the mail from her parents two days later.
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Have you ever felt the shame and guilt of doing something incredibly stupid, despicable and unforgivable? Judas had more reasons than anyone of Jesus’ disciples to feel that way. All of them were deserters (Mt 26:56, Mk 14:50), but Judas was the traitor. He felt the pangs of guilt, the punishment of shame and the penalty of sin compounded by the feeling of hopelessness and friendlessness.
What can we do when we are at the lowest point of our life? What is the alternative to remorse, regret, reproach and resignation?
Don’t Just See Something’s Wrong; Do What’s Right
27:1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2 They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. 3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned (Matt 27:1-3)
A young man came in for an interview with his manager. “Tell me,” the young man asked her, “how did you become so successful?”
“Two words,” she said.
“And what are they?”
“Right decisions.”
He asked, “How did you make right decisions?”
“One word - experience.”
“And how did you get experience?”
“Two words,” she said.
“And what are they?”
“Wrong decisions.”
Tom Watson, the former head of IBM, was asked if he was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. Watson shook his head, and explained, “No, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?” (Ashton Applewhite, And I Quote 78, St. Martin’s Press, 1992)
Judas was symptomatic of someone ignorant of and indifferent to change. He saw the wrong crowd not just before Jesus’ arrest but also after His arrest. The moment he realized the chief priests and the elders were interested to put Jesus to death and not just to put him to shame, he decided to talk to them and return the money. To be fair to Judas, he only knew about the plan of the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to put Jesus to death after he was arrested (Matt 26:59), not before. The word “put to death” shows up after Jesus was arrested. There are about 30 references to Judas “betraying” or “delivering” Jesus to his enemies but none of his intention to kill Jesus.
The Bible was clear: the Pharisees and the Herodians were the ones who plotted to kill Jesus (Mark 3:6) and the chief priests and the elders of the people were the ones with the power to put Jesus to death (Matt 27:1). Later, the same chief priests and the elders were the ones who decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners (Matt 27:7) and to buy off soldiers, telling them to accuse the disciples of stealing Jesus’ body (Matt 28:12-13). Yet Judas had no excuse; twice, specifically in Matthew, Jesus predicted His crucifixion (Matt 20:19, Matt 26:2).
Judas made two wrong decisions. His decision to meet the chief priests and the elders was puzzling. He tried correcting his mistake by making another mistake – meeting the same people for another bargain. It was the type of people and the kind of negotiation that got him in trouble in the first place. Judas was a failing, frustrated and futile opportunist. He did not see what he did was wrong until Jesus’ fate was sealed. Notice he saw no wrong in receiving money, in betraying Jesus but only that it got out of hand. So he was a relativist as well.
The word “condemn” (katakrino) is the strongest possible word to describe Jesus’ fate. It is the same condemnation the men of Nineveh and the Queen of the South would render on the judgment day to the generation that did not repent at Jesus’ preaching (Matt 12:41- 42).
Don’t Just Sense Something’s Wrong; Do What’s Right
he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. (Matt 27:3)
Whenever I see my dentist, I am reminded of the difference between regret and remorse and true repentance. The last visit was really bad. It was not an appointment, but an emergency. My gums were reddish and swollen. The dentist said I had gum disease and he used a small instrument to cut an incision and his brute strength to clean my teeth. It was so painful that he asked me if I needed anesthesia. I figured that I was halfway, so why bother? The moment he continued the onslaught, a teardrop fell from my eyes. Remorse and regret is feeling bad for all that I have consumed.
Repentance is different. The doctor said, “Stay away from snacks, sugar, sweets and soda; they are bad for you. Floss your teeth. Brush after meals. Change your lifestyle. Return every six months.” I tried brushing my teeth after meals, but the discipline was good for two days only!
Judas was remorseful, but not repentant. The Greek “metamellomai’ means “after” (meta) and “care” (melo), to care after the fact, or regret. The same word occurs one other time in the Gospels, beautifully and accurately describing the first son in Jesus’ parable who said “I will not” to his father, but later he “changed his mind” and went and work in the vineyard (Matt 21:29). More accurately, he had a change of heart or care. The son regretted his harsh words, his rash reaction and his insubordinate attitude. Ironically, Jesus used that story to rebuke the chief priests and the elders (Matt 21:23) who did not even have this barest and minimal kind of remorse.
Remorse is a poor imitation of and a poor substitute for the real thing, which is repentance. It can also be an enemy to repentance. Some people cry over spilt milk but would not clean the floor or pour another drink. Remorse is about feelings, repentance is about actions. Remorse is emotional, repentance is volitional. Remorse is sorrow, guilt and disgrace; repentance is about choice, decision and responsibility – doing the right thing.
Katherine Mansfield says, “Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can’t build on it; it’s only for wallowing in.”
Alexander Graham Bell says, “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.”
Remorse’s problem is not in disliking past actions but in dwelling on present inaction. Remorse is an unending pity party tiresome to all but the host. Remorse is passivity in disguise as activity and concern substituting for correction. It is buying jewelry for a spouse to buy time, silence and peace. It is unfulfilled potential, wasted energy and wishful thinking. Remorse is wishing you did not do something; repentance is ensuring you will make amends. Remorse had no intention to change. It’s been said, “Guilt is a reason to drink, regret is a reason to get wasted.” Remorse is a dime a dozen, too little, too late. Remorse is hopeful, repentance is helpful. Remorse is the halfway house, repentance is the penthouse. Remorse is the starting block, repentance is the finish line.
Don’t Just Say Something’s Wrong; Do What’s Right
4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” 5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. 6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. (Matt 27:4-7)
The funny thing about guilt and shame is the conscience within. Note that no one but Judas knew about the betrayal, not even the apostles at that point, but it ate and bit at him, chewing him up. In fact, its bark is worse than its bite.
In the States, about 1,300 college students a year commit suicide, experts say. Though university students are less likely than other age and occupational groups to take their own lives, suicide remains their second-leading cause of death. At UC Berkeley, 45% of students surveyed in 2004 said they had experienced an emotional problem in the previous 12 months that significantly affected their wellbeing or academic performance. Nearly 10% said they had seriously contemplated suicide. (“Suicides a Symptom of Larger UC Crisis” Los Angeles Times May 23, 2007)
The New York Times reported that South Korea hires six social workers to troll the Internet to combat a disturbing trend in South Korea: people using the Web to trade tips about suicide and, in some cases, to form suicide pacts. The number of suicides, which nearly doubled from 6,440 in 2000 to 12,047 in 2005, the last year for which government figures are available. Figures released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show that South Korea’s suicide rate stood at 18.7 per 100,000 people in 2002 — up from 10.2 in 1985. In 2002, Japan’s rate was the same as South Korea’s, but the rate in the United States was 10.2 per 100,000. Divorce and unemployment were leading contributors. (“Tracking an Online Trend, and a Route to Suicide” New York Times May 23, 2007)
Several years ago, the World Health Organization reported that violence kills 1.6 million people each year and around half the deaths are suicides. One third is homicide and 20% were war-related. Three times as many people over 75 kill themselves as 15-24 year olds. (“Half of World’s Violent Deaths are Suicides” New York Times, 10/3/02)
Judas’ words must be put in its proper perspective and context. “I have sinned” is a logical, biblical but half-hearted confession that falls apart on careful examination. Comparison with the prodigal son and others’ true confessions puts this confession to shame. The prodigal son confessed in earnest and in concrete terms: “I have sinned against heaven and against you.” (Luke 15:18, 21) What is missing? There is no person to address or no one on the receiving end to Judas’ confession, no one to confess to. He did not confess to sinning against the chief priest and the elders; neither did he confess to sinning against Jesus and the apostles. In the end, readers are not sure who is the object of his confession.
Further, a true believer in his right mind would not hang himself. He would live to make amends, to prove himself over again, to be a testimony to the power of God’s forgiveness. That was the story of Paul, the violent persecutor of the church.
Suicide is avoiding responsibility, not accepting or facing responsibility. It is the termination of your life, not your problems. It is the typical do-nothing-for-yourself, solve-nothing situation, all-about-you, not about the issue at hand or stake. Suicide is not stopping the pain; it is transferring the pain - to others. Committing suicide is not taking one’s own right to live, but taking God’s given gift of life. It does nobody a favor; it is an act of selfishness, self-hate, self-love and self-abhorrence. There is no bravery to suicide; only cowardice. The believer, on the other hand, knows there is no despair in God’s forgiveness, no limit to God’s grace and no rejection in God’s forgiveness. Regret is turned inward, but repentance is directed outward- turning to God. Repentance results in actions, regret in wishful thinking.
Conclusion: It’s been said, “Falling is easier than rising.” (A Treasury of Irish Folklore and Humor) Do you walk away when you see a person in need? See someone who is hurt? See an opportunity for ministry? Have you allowed the devil to condemn you and control you? Do you worry about things you cannot change instead of working on things you can change? Dr. Wilbur Chapman, the famous evangelist, had this which he called “My rule for Christian living.” The rule that governs my life is this” anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away the taste of Bible Study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it.” (Tan # 3108). In sports language, do you replay in your memory the dropped passes, the defensive blunders, the concentration lapses and the missed goals? The remedy is not to change the ball, jersey or boots, but to change your attitude, unlearn bad habits and practice makes perfect.
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
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