In The Word
Read: Matthew 27:1-14
Judas’ Remorse
27 Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; 2 and they bound Him and led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.
3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You shall see to it yourself!” 5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and left; and he went away and hanged himself. 6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them in the temple treasury, since it is money paid for blood.” 7 And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. 8 For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One whose price had been set by the sons of Israel; 10 and they gave them for the Potter’s Field, just as the Lord directed me.”
Jesus before Pilate
11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “So You are the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” 12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not offer any answer. 13 Then Pilate *said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they are testifying against You?” 14 And still He did not answer him in regard to even a single charge, so the governor was greatly amazed.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
In today’s reading, we get to the pivotal point of the road to the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. He had been put to public shame in the company of His peers; one of His peers in particular that witnessed this event was Judas. This was the disciple that betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver to force Him to lead a revolt against Rome. During Jesus’ persecution, Judas realized his error in his assumption of how Jesus would come into power. He was overcome with grief and tried to return the money, but the priests would not take it back because the blood of Jesus was already bought with it.
Just like Judas, we sometimes make assumptions of how we think the Lord will cause us to triumph. When He doesn’t act the way we want Him to, we take matters into our own hands. Most of the time, when we get ahead of Jesus, we put our hands in the way of God’s divine purpose for our lives. When we finally get the revelation of what Jesus was trying to do, we become too full of grief and want to change what we have done.
We can learn from what Judas did in response to his folly. Instead of allowing grief to drive us to killing ourselves, we should allow it to push us to repentance to Jesus. Man cannot heal what only Jesus can. Do not allow the things you have done with good intentions cause you to give up on God’s plan for you. His grace is sufficient.