Jesus Knew Judas Could Not Live with His Guilt
In our last topic, we saw that we want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain the difference between true repentance and false repentance. In our topic today, we will explain what is meant by false repentance as we look in more detail at what Judas said and did because of his false repentance.
It was against the Jewish law to hold a trial or to condemn a man to death in the middle of the night. As a result, we see what the religious leaders did as soon as it began to dawn. Matthew 27:1-2 says, “When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.” Mark 15:1 gives us a little more detail about the events, in the early morning, when that verse says, “Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.” In these verses, we see that the Jewish religious leaders wanted to make it look like they had followed all of the laws as they condemned Jesus.
We also see that the real goal of the chief priests and elders was to get Jesus put to death. However, they did not want to be held responsible, by the people, for murdering Jesus. As a result, they delivered Jesus to Pilate so that he could give the death sentence. The religious leaders were not actually allowed to carry out an execution because they were under Roman rule. Later on, the religious leaders even violated that rule. In Acts 6:12-7:1, we see that Stephen was brought before the council and the high priest. Then, Acts 7:54 says, “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.” Acts 7:57-59 adds, “Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’” Here, we see that their hatred against Jesus was so great that they started killing His followers without permission from the Roman government.
Meanwhile, we see that Judas felt guilty when he saw that Jesus was condemned. Matthew 27:3-5 says, “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, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ And they said, ‘What is that to us? You see to it!’ Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.” Judas felt guilty when he saw that Jesus was condemned. In the previous topic, we said that Peter had true repentance while Judas had false repentance. Here, we see that the verse says that Judas was remorseful.
In 2 Corinthians 7:8-10, we read, “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” In these verses, we see that Paul did not rejoice because the Corinthians were made sorry. Instead, he rejoiced because their sorrow led to repentance. Here, we see that there is a clear difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow.
Godly sorrow is defined in 1 Thessalonians 1:9, where we read, “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” In this verse, we see that godly sorrow involves a turning from idols (or sin) and a turning to God. That kind of turning is true repentance. In contrast, we see that Judas felt remorse or guilt. There was no turning to God or confession of sin to God. Instead, Judas repented himself (felt guilty within himself) and confessed his sin to the chief priests and elders. No priests or elders can forgive sin because they are all sinners. John 8:7-9 says, “So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.” All the religious leaders present that day were convicted by their own sin.
In contrast, Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Jesus is the only High Priest who did not sin. He is the only One who is able to enter into the presence of God and make intercession for us. Hebrews 9:27-28 adds, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” Every priest throughout history has either died or will die, if he is still alive. Only Christ rose from the dead because the Father was satisfied with the payment that He made for our sins.
When Judas tried to confess his sin of betraying innocent blood to the chief priests and elders, the only thing they could say was, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Judas now had no way he could get rid of his guilt because he was unwilling to go directly to Jesus. Jesus had said just a few hours earlier, in John 14:6, “‘…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” Although Judas had already left the upper room when Jesus made this statement, Jesus made it very clear that He is the only One who can come to the Father on behalf of anyone. Judas knew that there was no way for him to get rid of his guilt. As a result, he threw the thirty pieces of silver down in the temple and went out and hanged himself.
That created a new problem for the chief priests. Matthew 27:6-10 says, “But 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.’ And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 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.’” The chief priests had to admit that the money paid to Judas was the price of blood.
We see that the chief priests had to admit their own guilt to one another. Here, we see one of the many consequences of sin. In Genesis 3:10, Adam said to God, “‘…I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’” Here, we see that Adam was immediately filled with fear, guilt and shame when he committed the first sin. In addition, Adam also experienced separation from God and tried to blame God, and Eve, for his sin. Those five things – fear, guilt, shame, separation from God and blame – controlled the chief priests and caused them to do what they did to Jesus. Now, when Judas threw the money back at them, they had to admit to themselves that they were guilty.
As a result, the chief priests talked together and decided to buy the potter’s field as a place to bury strangers who died in Jerusalem. Because of the fact that this field had been purchased with the money thrown down in the temple by Judas, the field became known as the Field of Blood. The sins of Judas and the chief priests could not be hidden from the people. Moses had reminded the two and a half tribes that stayed on the east of the Jordan River about the importance of keeping their promise. Numbers 32:23 says, “‘But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out.’” That statement, made to the two and a half tribes, was also certainly true for Judas and the chief priests. The name of this field continued to point to their sin.
Their actions also fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy. Zechariah 11:12-13 says, “Then I said to them, ‘If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.’ So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter.” The chief priests certainly did not understand that they were fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy right down to the smallest detail of their sin and decision of what to do with the money. We saw that when Judas went to the chief priests, he was willing to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Exodus 21:32 says, “‘If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.’” This verse shows us that thirty shekels of silver was the price the Jews were to pay to the owner of a slave who was killed by an ox. In that topic, we saw that Judas had no more respect for Jesus than he had for a slave, since that was the Old Testament price for a slave.
In the same way, the chief priests also showed their total contempt for Jesus by offering to pay Judas the price of a slave to betray Jesus. The fact that the field became known as “The Field of Blood” was really a message to all of the people about the contempt of the chief priests for Jesus. We want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain why this action showed the total rejection of Jesus by the chief priests. May the Lord richly bless you as you help your children learn to explain this rejection.
