HOST: Ron House
SPONSOR: Start2Finish
Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”
Matthew is alone in recording the tragic end to Judas’ life, and he does so seemingly for the sole purpose of demonstrating the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in every detail of Jesus’ death. I still believe there is a valuable lesson to be learned from this text. As Judas saw the result of his betrayal of Christ, he was overwhelmed with remorse; so much so that this man, who was driven by greed and love of money to hand Christ over to His enemies, went back to the chief priests and elders to return the thirty pieces of silver that had been the price of his betrayal. He was well aware of his sin and was filled with sorrow because of it. Many have asked the question, “Could Judas have been forgiven and saved?” While I believe the answer to this question is a resounding, “Yes!”—sadly, Judas did not choose the path of forgiveness and restoration. He chose rather to try to escape his guilt by taking his own life, and in so doing, robbed himself of the opportunity to overcome his failures. The lesson? We must remember that there is no sin that is unforgivable except the one that we are unwilling to seek forgiveness for and restoration from.
Why do you think Judas did not seek forgiveness?
Don’t forget to pray and have a great day!
