Judas Hangs Himself

Matthew 27:1–14
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Since Jewish law required trials to be conducted during the day, the chief priests and elders reconvened in the morning and delivered the official verdict against Jesus, so that the people could not say that their hastily - called night meeting was unlawful (v. 1). The court decided that Jesus must die, but they did not have the authority to exercise capital punishment. Jesus was therefore bound and brought by the Jews to Pilate the governor (v. 2).

As Judas watched them take Jesus to Pilate he realized the consequences of his sin and “repented himself (v. 3).” In the original language this was not a sorrow for sin that leads to a change of mind and action, but a regret of being caught. He knew he had betrayed innocent blood so he took the money back to the officials. They refused to accept it (v. 4). They had what they wanted from Judas and were no longer concerned with him or his problem. Totally frustrated Judas went to the temple and threw the money into the holy place. Then he went out and hanged himself (v. 5).

Judas’ act of throwing the betrayal money into the temple caused these religious leaders some problems (v. 6). The law would not permit the use of this kind of tainted money for temple purposes (Deut. 23:18). They decided to take the money and buy a parcel of land (apparently in Judas’ name) in which to bury foreigners which became known as the “the Field of Blood” (vv. 7-8). All of this fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah (vv. 9-10) (Zech. 11:12). The parallel between Zechariah and Matthew 27 is not exact. In Zechariah the money is paid to the good shepherd and in Matthew it is paid to Judas. However, in both cases it ends up purchasing something that points to destruction.

Application

There is a big difference in being sorry that I get caught in doing something wrong and being sorrow to the point of genuine repentance. May I be a person who is quick to repent.