The Disciple Who Came to the End of His Rope (Matthew 27:1-10)

Recapitulation

In Matthew 27 we are now moving from Peter weeping outside in the dark back to Caiaphas’ courtyard where Jesus has been mercilessly beaten and secretly condemned by an ad hoc ‘committee of concerned religious leaders.’  You will recall that this took place upstairs and then Jesus was brought downstairs to the courtyard where Peter was busily denying any association with Him for fear of the servant girls.  Just then, Jesus turned and looked at Peter, the rooster crowed, and Peter suddenly realized with horror what he had done.  At that, he fled the courtyard weeping with remorse. 

Legalizing the Illegal

Matthew picks up the account in 27:1-10.  In vv. 1-2 we learn that at daybreak, the Sanhedrin needed to make the illegal condemnation legal, so they gathered as many council members as they could muster and convened another session that did what could only be done legally in the light of day.  While Matthew doesn’t give us every detail, we understand that they also needed to concur on some charges that Rome would agree were worthy of capital punishment—something treasonous or seditious.  We will follow that thread in our next study as we look at an innocent man condemned to die.  But, Jesus is now in the hands of Pilate, the Roman governor.

Analyzing Peter’s Actions

Now, before we return to lost Judas in v. 3, let’s recall limping Peter.  Last time we looked at his unnecessary dance with death and saw how his good and brave motivation nearly became his own worst enemy.  For Peter, where did it all begin to unravel?

Nothing was turning out according to Peter’s plan.  Jesus was betrayed and arrested—so he got angry and nearly killed a man and then began stalking the man’s friends looking for an opportunity to rescue the kingdom of God and its King.  His frustration had turned to anger.  His anger had turned to hate and hate turned to attempted murder which he tried to cover up with lies.  Sin had found a home in his heart and, as James says, the “wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” and sin does have its own consequences.  But, God can redeem the consequences of our sinful actions.  In Peter’s case, his despair will turn to hope on Sunday morning.  We cannot thwart God’s will by our own willfulness. 

We also noticed that Peter was totally oblivious to the spiritual battlefield he had entered for which he was dreadfully unprepared. This resulted in the bitter pain of broken fellowship with both God and man and with that he fades off the pages of Matthew for good.  John and Luke pick up the story of Peter’s reconciliation and later ministry.  Peter is limping and licking his wounds but he is not lost. It is only the grace of God that preserved him.

Has God ever rescued you from the worst possible consequences of your own misdeeds? 

What about the fact that Peter had “denied the Lord before men?”  Earlier, Jesus said that if we deny Him before men He would deny us before the Father.  So, some people say both Peter and Judas did just that.  But actually, there was a difference.

Analyzing Judas’ Actions

Now in verse 3, Matthew notes the surprise that Judas experienced in seeing Jesus condemned.  He had spent 3½ years with Jesus and he knew this was an innocent man.  He had seen Jesus elude the authorities’ traps in so many astonishing ways that he apparently thought Jesus would get out of this predicament also.  So perhaps he had intended to force Jesus' hand—in any case, he knew Jesus was innocent of all charges, but now He is in the hands of Pilate.  So, Judas too, like Peter, was trying to bring in the kingdom in the wrong way.  But the big difference was that, unlike Peter, it was for the wrong motivation.  Judas was greedy, but Peter was impatient.  In a sense, Judas had not denied Jesus at all.  He came up and kissed Him before everyone!  But greeting his Rabbi in public was not a demonstration of faith in His teaching.  And the kiss was just as fake.

So, now that Jesus was condemned and handed over to the Romans, Judas was shocked and confused.  He, like Peter, was overcome with remorse and he tried to undo his actions by returning the blood money.  But the hypocritical priests, who were ready to murder an innocent man, were not willing to accept the money paid to obtain his arrest!  “See to it yourself,” they said.  Deal with it.  If you betrayed an innocent man, his blood is on you—not us.  We didn’t betray him, you did.  The blood money is yours.  So, in great frustration and anger, Judas threw the money into the temple and fled.

Now, the priests wouldn’t dare put the blood money in the temple treasury so they used it to purchase a plot of ground known for its clay soil that was useless for agriculture and mainly utilized by makers of clay pots.  Alfred Edersheim, a noted converted Jewish scholar, says it was probably located down at the junction of two canyons below the heights of the temple mount where the Kidron joined the Hinnom valley.  There are deep deposits of sedimentary clay there where the bloody runoff from the temple altar flowed day and night especially this time of year.  For this reason, it may have already been called the “potter’s field” and the “field of blood.”  Henceforth, this ground would be used as a cemetery for foreigners.

Fulfillment of Scripture

In an eerie deal reminiscent of both the prophet Zechariah and of the prophet Jeremiah (Matthew credits Jeremiah), the priests unwittingly re-enact both prophecies.  Jeremiah 32:8 tells how the Lord told Jeremiah to buy some land belonging to the priests.  He weighs out the silver and then seals the property deed in a clay pot.  Zechariah 11:12-13 talks about the prophet receiving 30 pieces of silver as wages for some deliberately shoddy shepherding that resulted in deaths among the shepherds.  He took the money and threw it into the temple to purchase the potter’s field.

How did Judas’ Die?

But in Matthew’s day, before this real estate transaction could take place, Judas departed the temple in confusion, frustration, and anger and walked the desolate paths of the Hinnom valley (where the ever-burning piles of refuse in that landfill were used as a metaphor for hell—thus came its name in Hebrew—Gehenna).  It was there he probably came upon this very plot of land—the potter’s field—not yet purchased.  Edersheim concludes that Judas likely found a stunted tree on the side of the canyon to which he climbed up and tying his girdle around his neck and over an ancient branch he hanged himself.  However, as we learn from Luke in Acts 1:18-19, apparently the branch broke and he fell on the jagged rocks there disemboweling himself upon the field of blood.

What Happened, Judas?

What kept Judas from repenting?  He wasn’t just limping like Peter.  He was lost.  He wanted the kingdom only so he could follow his own desires and greed.  His pride would not allow him to return.  In any case, he totally missed the resurrection—the event which turned Peter around.  Judas simply did not believe anything more than that Jesus was innocent.  And he had pinned all his dreams and hopes on this Messiah figure only to have them dashed by his own duplicity.  He could not live with the failure.

What would you have said to Judas that Friday morning if you were manning the suicide hotline? 

Note:  Today we still long for a “kingdom of peace and light.” In our longing, we must be careful that we are following our King’s instructions.  This is a spiritual battle though it has physical consequences.  We pray for this kingdom to come and for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  There is yet a tendency to look at human leaders and human methods to hasten that day—even justifying short term evil for long term good.  Yes, God used a Nebuchadnezzar to chastise His people and a Caesar to crucify His Son but they are accountable to God for their actions as are Judas and Peter.  What a shock to realize that Judas’ actions hastened the kingdom that he will never see!

© 2018 Eric Thimell