Join me in worshiping God at this point through the study of His Word. Take your Bibles and turn together with me to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27. We'll be looking at the first 10 verses today, picking up in the second part of a two-part series that we're doing here that I've entitled, A Tale of Two Disciples. A Tale of Two Disciples. Last week we did part one, which was a study of Peter and his triple denial of the Lord Jesus. Today we take a look at Judas. And you'll see very clearly from the details that are recorded for us in Matthew's Gospel that in this case are not recorded in any of the other Gospels, which makes this kind of a unique study as we've been going through Matthew's Gospel. Most of the other Gospels have had an account of the things we've been studying of late, you'll recall. This record is only in Matthew's Gospel, and the reason he records it is not to focus his attention on Judas, but again to focus his attention very clearly on the proof that Jesus is the Messiah. And you are going to see three confirmations this morning that Jesus is innocent, and thereby also the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, just like He claimed and just like He is condemned for being by the Jews as we saw in the last few weeks, today you'll see three confirmations of Jesus' innocence right from these ten verses that again are used by Matthew to attest to the fact that Jesus absolutely is the Messiah. Again, that's the point of the whole of Matthew's Gospel. That's why he arranges the material the way he does. That's why he begins with a genealogy that goes from Abraham through David to Joseph to Jesus to show that he has a rightful claim to the throne. That's why in chapters 1 and 2 of Matthew, he has those fulfillments of Old Testament scriptures that prove that he was conceived of a virgin, etc. That's why it includes in Matthew chapter 3 the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner to the Messiah, identifying him as such. That's why it includes Matthew 5-7 and the preaching of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, because what is most significant is, unlike everybody else, He is one who teaches with what? Authority. And that was the conclusion at the end of Matthew 7. He is different than anybody else because when He shows up and He begins to teach, He teaches as one having authority in Himself. He's the Messiah. He's the Anointed One of God with the right to exercise divine authority. Likewise in Matthew 8 and 9 and the miracles that He does. They're put together not in chronological order, but deliberately in order to show that He has the ability to save us from everything. Every malady, every affliction, every suffering, every hardship, every sickness, every paralysis, and even demon possession. And the rest of the book is arranged very much that same way. When you get to Matthew chapter 27, verses 1 to 10, the whole reason for this account about Judas is not to direct your attention to Judas, but rather to demonstrate through Judas's behavior and his confession and actions here, as well as those surrounding this event, is to show, again, this is yet another testimony to the fact that Jesus absolutely is the Messiah. Now, when you think about Judas, I suspect very much like me and very much like most people, there are some immediate thoughts that you have. If you just close your eyes for a minute and you think the name Judas, what do you immediately think of? You think of a traitor. You think of a betrayer. Judas is Judas's name has become synonymous with betrayal. Right. I mean, it's like in American history, the name Benedict Arnold has become synonymous with betrayal. We even call the sheep that leads the rest of the flock through the slaughterhouse and then goes out through the little door to the side, we call him a what? A Judas sheep. Now, you may not have heard of that before. You can go look it up. But Judas, that name is so associated with betrayal because of this person Judas and how he betrayed the Lord that night. It is synonymous with that. And that's the way we think of him. We remember, as we pointed out as we were going through the last couple of chapters of Matthew's Gospel, that he allowed himself to be an instrument of Satan. Satan took possession of him both in the conversation he had with the religious leaders in discussing the purchase price of betrayal of Jesus, as well as the night in the upper room. John tells us Satan entered into him and he left. And he went and he led back the soldiers and betrayed Jesus later that night. We think of him as distinct from the rest of the 12. And there's an obvious reason for that. If you look at the lists throughout the New Testament, what do you see? You see his name is always listed what? Last. And he's always the one with the caveat. There's always Peter at the head of the list, and then James and John. So you've got the inner circle. And then the rest of them in various arrangements. They're kind of in groups of four. But you've got Peter, the inner circle, the rest, and then at the end is always Judas, who betrayed him, the one who betrayed him, etc. And we think of him as separate from the twelve. We think of him as distinct. But the fact of the matter is, he was one of the twelve for the whole time the rest of them were. He was one of Jesus' disciples. Not just in name, but in association and in privilege and even in the exercise of authority. We went through the discussion of the upper room here not long ago, and Jesus says to them very clearly tonight, one of you is going to betray me. And they don't all go, it's Judas, isn't it? I always knew, you know, he's that you've always treated him as as somebody that's, you know, not really part of us. And when we were out there preaching, his heart was just never in it. You could tell he was all monotone. And oh, and and when we were all doing miracles, he wasn't. Right, none of that, you know, Judas, Judas had all the same experiences the rest of the disciples did. He listened to the same teaching. He saw Jesus do the same miracles. He was treated as respectfully as all the rest of them and rebuked as directly as all the rest of them. Jesus treated him as one of his own. When the disciples went out two by two and preached the kingdom, they all went out and they all did miracles and that would have included Judas. Jesus gave him every right, Jesus gave him every privilege, Jesus gave him every opportunity just like He gave to the rest of them. Now He did focus some special attention on Peter, James and John, the inner circle. But as far as the rest of the nine, Judas was just like the rest of them. Judas had all the same privileges. He had all the same opportunities. And from the beginning, he seemed to be just like the rest of them. In fact, I am convinced, you know, the more I study this, and this is like my third trip through this, having already preached Luke and Acts and then having preached John as my first gospel I preached through when I came up here many years ago. Now we go through Matthew together. The more times I go through this, the more times I become convinced that when Jesus says, one of you are going to betray me, and especially you spend a lot of time studying Peter's denials, it becomes pretty clear to me that when most of them are asking, is it me, Lord? You know what they're suspecting? Because when they say, even if all fall away, I will never fall away, they're thinking betraying him means fleeing. Their thinking betraying Him means blowing it, not being faithful to the end, even at the threat of death. That's why they all say, is it me, is it me, is it me? And that's why Peter says, hey, I'm willing to go to prison and to death with you. And then in his own strength, despite the fact it led to a greater failure than any of the rest of the disciples, Peter demonstrated he really was committed to Jesus. Right? They're all thinking they're going to blow it. And I don't believe any of them are thinking that somebody's going to sell him out. But Jesus knows full well what's going to happen. And that's why He identifies Judas as the one who's going to betray Him, and He actually does. He goes and He sells him out for 30 pieces of silver. See, the reason for this, foundationally, is because though Judas was a disciple, Just like Jesus said, you remember the parable of the soils? Judas was a disciple like those who are produced when seed falls on rocky soil. Remember the four soils? Remember the text, Matthew 13 and Luke 8? Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is like a sower goes out to sow. And when he sows his seeds, some of those seeds are going to wind up on the road. They're going to have no impact. The birds are going to eat it up and carry it away. and it'll be like they never heard. Some will be good soil and they'll prove that they're good soil by producing 30, 60 or 100 fold crop. Some will be weedy soil, evergreen but never fruitful, always looking like it's real but never really truly having fruit. But that other one is the one that falls away. It's the shallow soil, it's the rocky soil. Because there's no depth, when the seed hits there, it takes root right away, but the roots can't go down through the rock, so it goes sideways, and all the energy of that plant goes straight up. It grows faster and bigger and looks better than most of the rest because of its zeal. But there's no energy to go down. There's no ability to go down. So when the sun comes, it bakes it away, because there is no root. Right? Luke says it this way. They believe for a while. And then during the time of testing, they depart. That's what apostasy is. Apostasy is believing for a time and then walking away. And that's precisely what Judas did, remember? When Judas says, how much will you give me to sell him out, to betray him to you? They weigh out 30 pieces of silver. Peter blew it big time. We saw that last week. And Peter left the high priest's courtyard weeping bitterly. That's where we left him. Remember? Tonight we're going to see, or today we're going to see, that after Judas betrayed him that night, when the next morning rolls around, and he's there in the temple, and he finds out the religious leaders have definitively condemned Jesus to death, That's when we're going to see the aftermath that hits Judas. And the difference between Peter and Judas is the difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. Godly sorrow leads to repentance. Worldly sorrow leads to destruction. Now, if you'll take your Bibles together with me and look at Matthew chapter 27, verses 1 to 10, The primary point that Matthew is making here is to record this account, which none of the other Gospels do, to record this account to affirm Jesus's Messiah, to prove that he is or confirm that he is one who is innocent. And this comes straight, first and foremost, from the lips of Judas himself. Three confirmations of Jesus's innocence. Are you ready? Number one, the betrayer's confession, or if you prefer, Judas's confession. The betrayer's confession demonstrates Jesus's innocence, that though he was condemned to death, he was not guilty of anything. Verses one and two. Now, when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and they led him away and delivered him to Pilate, the governor. Now, if you've been with us through the last several weeks, you know the order of events quite well that lead up to this text. Remember that Thursday night, Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover in the upper room. Judas left early and he goes to get the religious leaders and the soldiers to come to the Garden of Gethsemane and betray him so they can arrest him. Jesus then instructs his disciples. They leave the upper room. They head over to the Mount of Olives and they go to the Garden of Gethsemane right there on the Mount of Olives. Jesus separates himself from his disciples. He takes Peter, James, and John with them. He sends them down to pray and goes to pray himself. When Judas brings the soldiers along, he comes up and he identifies Jesus as the one that they are to arrest with a kiss. The disciples scatter, Jesus is arrested, and he is led back into Jerusalem to the high priest's estate. Peter, together with the rest of the disciples, scatters, but because there's somewhere between three and eight hundred soldiers with torches and lanterns, it's not too hard to follow them right back into the city and see where they're going. So Peter tags along behind at a distance, and because the Apostle John's family has a relationship, probably through his father's business dealings with the high priest, He is able to gain access for Peter into the high priest's courtyard. So Jesus is then taken to Annas, on one side of the compound, and then across the compound to Caiaphas in a subcommittee, if you will, of the Sanhedrin. They challenge Jesus straight up, and the high priest Caiaphas saying, tell us plainly, are you the Messiah, the Son of the living God? And he says effectively, yes. And they say, what more do we need to hear? And they find him guilty. of making that profession. They condemn him for what they call blasphemy, which, by the way, if he's not Messiah, if he's not the Son of God, it is blasphemy. But if he is, then they've just condemned him for being who he is. That's Matthew's point. Peter, in the meantime, is out in that courtyard and has denied the Lord three times. At the climax of that event, Peter sees Jesus eye to eye from across the compound. and having realized he just fulfilled the words that Jesus said, he is struck to the core with grief and bitterness and disappointment and shame, and he heads out into the night weeping bitterly. Morning rolls around. That's where we pick up in verse 1. Morning came. It's now dawn. And according to Luke 22, if you want to keep your finger here in Matthew and look at the end of Luke 22 with me, You can look at verses 66 to 71, and you'll see this is that third hearing before the Jewish leaders that we've talked about in the past. Luke 22, verse 66, When it was day, the council of elders of the people assembled, both the chief priests and the scribes, and they led him away to their council chamber. Most likely, this is somewhere on the Temple Mount. Some have even considered it to be one of those corner rooms in the temple grounds proper, but it's the official council chamber for the Sanhedrin, the 70 ruling elders. It's no longer just Caiaphas and his cronies. Now it's the whole Sanhedrin that is meeting in the first part of the day, and that's so they can officially condemn him as a governing body. You notice it says, The religious leaders were saying, if you are the Christ, tell us. Then he said to them, if I tell you, you will not believe. If I ask you a question, you will not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. Again, that's a clear declaration that he is Messiah. And the next time they see him, he'll be at the right hand of the Father, the one exercising full authority and judgment. And they all said, Are you the Son of God then? And He said to them, Yes, I am. So they said, What further need do we have of any testimony? We have heard it ourselves from His own mouth. So then, chapter 23, verse 1, the whole body of them got up and brought Him before Pilate. You go back to Matthew chapter 27, this is where we are. Jesus has now been questioned by Annas, questioned by Caiaphas and some of his cronies, and now there's been a formal, complete hearing of the Sanhedrin. Incidentally, you can look at Luke 23, verses 50 to 52, and see that the Sanhedrin, the council ruling was not unanimous. There were some dissenting votes, some who did not vote to condemn Jesus. One was Joseph of Arimathea, who together with Nicodemus took care of burying Jesus. We'll take a look at them in the future. But the vast majority overwhelmingly ruled Jesus is worthy of condemnation. He's worthy of death because he claims to be equal with God. And if he isn't equal with God, that's a right judgment. If he is equal with God, then they're accountable for having rejected their Messiah. That's very clearly the point that Matthew is seeking to make. And so they bind him and they lead him away and deliver him to Pilate the governor. Now we'll come back to Pilate in the future. The most important thing to realize here is the reason they have to take him to Pilate is because at this point, Judea and Jerusalem, generally the land of Israel as we know it, it's no longer a client kingdom. It's more of a military province. And we'll talk about some of those details next time. When Rome conquered a territory, if it was a very pro-Roman area and a very pro-Roman leadership, like in the times of Herod the Great, who was extremely pro-Roman, he was appointed as king of Judea and all the taxes flowed to Rome. He had a great relationship with Rome. They let him exercise his authority however he wanted because he was very much on board with the Romans. When he dies within 10 years, by 6 AD, his sons and the breaking up of that kingdom got in such a bad shape that the Romans had to, because of unrest in the land, they had to appoint procurators or prefects, military governors, to control the people and to bring in the taxes. It became an area that was unruly and difficult to control. So guess how the Romans control things that are difficult to control? You use, like a Jedi, you use the force. And if that doesn't work, you use more force. And that's what they did. They sent in soldiers and military governors, etc. So, Pilate is the military governor at the time of Jesus' crucifixion and trial. This is significant because when you have this kind of a kingdom, this kind of a prefect, in order to preserve the ability to protect Roman property and Roman citizens and pro-Roman people within a land of unrest, what you do is you remove the authority to exercise capital punishment from the people. That's what had happened. The Jews only had the ability to impose capital punishment on the single offense is if a Gentile crossed the line and went out of the court of the Gentiles and went into any of the inner courts. They're on the temple grounds. They had the right to kill somebody, execute them right there. And they had clear signs marked out on the temple grounds, et cetera. But outside of that, they did not have the authority to exercise capital punishment. So when the religious leaders find Jesus guilty of a crime punishable by death, well, they can't meet out that punishment. So they need to take Him now to Pilate and get Pilate to condemn Him and have Him executed. Because they don't have the right to exercise that authority. Now, most of you know that, you understand that. But that just explains why they've found Him guilty And now they're going to another step. Meanwhile, we pick up in verse three and focus our attention on Judas, who is the subject of this text. Then when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, most likely Judas has been tagging along as well to see how this all plays out. And this event takes place on the temple grounds, which again suggests that the council The Sanhedrin met somewhere on the temple grounds. And when Judas finds out that Jesus has indeed been condemned. He felt remorse. The word remorse, it's a strong word in the Greek, it can be used to describe either worldly sorrow, grief and remorse and sadness over something that you're sorry for having done, or it can refer to godly sorrow that ultimately results in repentance. It's the it's the same basic word. It's the same basic idea. Just depending on what you do with that determines whether it's worldly sorrow or godly sorrow. It's a very strong word. It's a word that speaks of being so sorry about something that you've said or done and regretting it so much that you could wish you could undo it. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been there? Ever said something and wish you could have it back, sometimes as fast as it came out of your mouth? Ever done something and afterwards thought about it and felt bad about it and wish you could take it back? Still remember when the kids were young? I remember Liam saying, I wish I could hit rewind on the tape and play it back different, erase it and try it again. Some of you kids are into video games. Well, what do you do when you get beat by the boss, right? You go back to a previous save and try it again? Or just respawn or whatever and keep doing it until you finally win and that's the only one you remember? See, our world is built like that because that's what we all want. That's what we all feel. And that's Judas right here. Judas now finding out that Jesus has been condemned. He regrets what he's done. He felt remorse. And you notice it says he returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. You know what? That's true, isn't it? He has. That's a good confession. I sinned by betraying innocent blood. Now, before we go any further here and focus on Judas, what did Judas just say about Jesus? He's not guilty. He didn't do anything wrong. You know, it's really fascinating as we play through this. Do you know what normally happens in a human heart when you do something that's wrong? You just check your own heart and conscience on this with me for a minute, OK? We won't do a raise of hands or anything, but let me ask you a question. You ever done anything wrong? You ever been in what my pastor used to call heated fellowship with your wife or your husband? And as you replay the conversation or you replay the event in your mind, You keep changing the details a little bit and you focus in more and more on the ways that she was wrong to kind of justify yourself. Ever done that? No? How about you ladies? You ever done that? You just focus on his side of it and you get better and better every time you play it over in your mind. Next thing you know, you've got angel's wings and a halo and the old Catholic yellow circle around. And you're coming down from on high with the glow around you and that horrible husband that God stuck you with. Right? Right? See, that's what our sinful human nature does. We look for ways to justify ourselves. And if we can go, well, she started it, or what she did is worse. Well, he said it first. Well, you know, if we can find any of those kinds of things, guess what we do? We use those as a means to kind of change the narrative in our thinking, in our mind, to absolve ourselves from responsibility, to soften the conviction that comes knowing that what we did was wrong. You know, Judas can't do that in the case of Jesus. You know why? Because he was tempted in all points like we are, yet without what? Sin. There was never, ever, ever, ever a time when he did anything except exactly what God says. You try to justify yourself before you're going to lose. And that's what happens with Judas. That's why he's in such a hopeless, helpless situation here. That's why he goes back and it says he returned the 30 pieces of silver. You could even more accurately at this point say he tried to return the 30 pieces of silver. You say, well, why do you say that? Because when you get to the next verse, you're going to see that he has to throw them into the temple because the priest won't take them. He comes and returns the 30 pieces of silver to give them the 30 pieces of silver saying, I have betrayed, I sinned by betraying innocent blood. They won't take it! No! What's Judas trying to do? He's trying to absolve himself of responsibility for what he's done that's wrong. But from our perspective, from Matthew's Gospel, the most important thing to catch first and foremost is what? What does this prove? The one who betrayed Jesus is right here saying, what I did was wrong, Jesus is innocent. That's why Matthew records it. That's why the other gospels don't have it, because they're not trying to make a case out of Judas that proves Jesus is Messiah. They're focusing in on Jesus. Well, the reason that Matthew is bringing this up for a Jewish audience is to prove we rejected our Messiah and there was no biblical, legal or God honoring grounds for doing that. Period. He was innocent. The only thing he was condemned for being was the Christ, the Son of the living God, which, by the way, the resurrection proves what? He is. He is. That's why Matthew's recording this. When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he felt remorse. He felt shame and sorrow and sadness and grief. Ever done something and it resulted in a break in a relationship? You ever done something and it just causes calamity and tragedy or you wind up in trouble? See, that's this word for remorse. This word for remorse can describe all of those types of emotions and experiences. See, the difference between godly sorrow over sin and worldly sorrow over sin is that worldly sorrow is focused on self. Godly sorrow is focused on God. Worldly sorrow says, boy, I wish I could undo this because I'm really sorry. I really feel miserable. I don't like the way it's playing out. I don't like the way this makes me feel. I don't like this sense of shame and guilt and responsibility that I have. It's a focus on me. This is what most people do most of the time. all too often even I think some Christians when when they sin instead of truly seeing it as sin and simply this is like what David says is against you and what you only that I have sinned remember that remember David we did Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 these last two weeks as our scripture readings very deliberately why cuz cuz in that context of the sin with that she but David says Lord, it's against you and you only have I sinned. Wait a minute. What about Bathsheba, who he took for himself? What about Uriah, her husband, who not only did he take his wife, but then he had him murdered. What about the nation of Israel that suffers all the consequences? No, no, no. You know who your sin is against? Who you're accountable for your sin to? God. God. Godly sorrow is grieved for sin. because it's an offense against God. Not because I don't like the way that it's going for me. Not because I don't like feeling this way. Not because of me, but because of Him. Not because of what has resulted in our relationship with each other, but because of the result in my relationship with God. Worldly sorrow is personal. It's focused on self. Godly sorrow is relational, is focused on the relationship between a sinner and a holy God. That's why in the Beatitudes Jesus says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth, etc. Right? True kingdom citizenship begins with recognizing that you are a sinner. And mourning over the sins you commit against God and the result becoming one who is meek and in submission to God, hungering and thirsting for righteousness to live a life that honors God. See, it's all relational. It's not personal. It's relational. It's not just about me and my life and the way I feel and what I'm experiencing. It's about God. And my relationship with him, in fact, when we get into comparing this a little bit with Peter. You see, Peter goes out of the high priest courtyard, weeping, bitterly distressed. That he had sinned and denied his Lord." Judas is going to go out and hang himself because he can't live with the guilt and shame of having betrayed an innocent man. It's about him. It's not about God. Notice in verse 4, they said, what is that to us? See to that yourself. You know what they just said? You're right. You're right. But that's not our problem. It's not my job. Right. That has nothing to do with me. That's that's your deal. So he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed, and he went away and hanged himself. This is. This is worldly sorrow. Why did he want to give the money back? Why do you want to give the money back? Think about it. Why would he want to give the money back at this point? Because it made him feel guiltier. It made him feel more ashamed. It was a reminder. If he could give it back, if they would take it back, then guess what would happen? Maybe it would ease his conscience. And at least I didn't take the money so I'm not fully responsible for it anymore. Kind of like a making up for some of it. Listen, that's what all the world's religious, all the various forms of religion the world has invented, and most world views and philosophies of man, they're all predicated on this whole idea. When you feel bad about something, when you feel ashamed about something, you either need to shirk responsibility for it onto your circumstances, or to your parents, or your upbringing, or your culture, or your society, or the weather, or how your favorite team did, or your neighbors, or the way somebody looked at you when you were in line at Walmart. OK, you need to find some way to blame it on your anatomy or your DNA or your hormones or whatever. Somehow it's got to be somebody else's responsibility instead of mine, because the alternative would be me accepting responsibility for my own sin and my own sinful behavior and accepting responsibility to things that I think, say and do. All the world's religions, except for biblical Christianity, are founded on the premise that what you can do is either transcend your existence or go through some form of making up for what you've done or paying for what you've done in order to ease your conscience. All this is is Romans 1. Suppressing the truth in your own unrighteousness. This is what all forms of religion except for biblical Christianity do, is push responsibility. That's what Judas is trying to do here. He takes the money back and says, take this back. I have betrayed innocent blood. Jesus has been condemned to death, and I don't want any part of it now. It's wrong that this happens. That's why Matthew's recording it. But if you look at the nature of this worldly sorrow, I think there's a good lesson for us here, too. Why is he trying to give the money back? He wants to absolve himself of it. He wants to separate himself from it. He wants to remove himself from some level of responsibility for it. And they say, huh? Why? Because you're right. You've betrayed innocent blood. But that's not our problem. That's your problem. And then he takes the coins and he throws them. Notice it says here in the text into the temple sanctuary. That's actually the technical term in the Greek for the holy place. He's actually right there at the base of the steps where the sacrifices take place, discussing this with the priests. And when they won't take the money back, he takes those coins and he throws them right through those big front doors into the holy place, a place only priests can go. And he turns and he leaves. The priests have to go in there and retrieve them. And when he leaves, he goes and he hangs himself. You know, the Old Testament, Makes it very clear that. Whoever is hanged on a tree, that's a that's that's an illustration of someone who is cursed. Someone who is anathema. Everyone cursed is everyone who is hanged upon a tree, Deuteronomy 21. The Romans had the same view as well. And that's why they that's why they adopted the ancient form of execution, crucifixion. Because that fearful and humiliating form of capital punishment was a humongous deterrent, not just because of the painful and horrific way that you die, the hanging up there naked for everybody to spit on you and mock you and whatever, that your last time on earth would be such a humiliating demise. So when Judas goes out and hangs himself, Perhaps, as some commentators have suggested, he hanged himself because he thought that was the form of punishment that was most grievous and that he was most deserving of. It's also possible, as others have suggested, he went and hanged himself because he could not deal with his sin and his guilt and his shame, and so he took his own life looking for that as an escape. An escape. You know what? We're not told what's going on in Judas's mind. Maybe it was a combination of those two things. In any case, this is the out that people take when you can't deal with the weight of your sin, with your own responsibilities in life and the way things are going. Some people say it's a sign of low self-esteem. I would challenge that. outright. It's not a matter of low self-esteem. It's quite exactly the opposite. It's a matter of such high self-esteem that you say, listen, I am so unhappy with my situation and so miserable in this situation. I love myself so much that I am just not willing to put up with this. I'm not willing to go through this. So I'm going to take my own life as an escape. Sadly, in Judas's case, as in everybody's case, he doesn't actually escape, does he? There's no escape here. All he did was exit this life and enter immediately into the presence of God, now awaiting eternal judgment at the great white throne. This is the sadness of the lost state of humanity. I hope this doesn't create in you a disdain for Judas. I hope this creates in you a love for God and an appreciation of just how merciful God is. Jesus spent three years in ministry with Judas and did for him what he did for everybody else, called him to repentance just like he called everybody else to repentance. I would hope that this would provoke you to see the lost people around you as in a hopeless state, just like Judas, maybe not to the extent that he has, maybe not with the amount of privileges that Judas has had. But I would hope that this would cause you to look at the people around you who do not know Christ, who have not come to a saving relationship with God and see their hopeless condition. And share Christ with them. Judas went away and hanged himself. And again, this is just the desperation of somebody trying to escape from that sense of shame and guilt when they know what they've done is very, very wrong. Every man-made religion and worldview, from Catholicism to paganism secularism, humanism, and any other kind of ism that you want to discuss. It's all dealing with the sense of shame and guilt for having done something you know is wrong. It's a focus on trying to undo what you've done, to shift the blame for what you've done to someone or something else, to justify what you've done, or to make up for what you've done. And having tried to shift the blame, having tried to undo it with no ability to justify it or make up for it, what is Judas left with? Hanging himself. But before he does so, he bears witness to the fact that Jesus was absolutely innocent. Number two, the second confirmation of Jesus's innocence is not just the betrayer's confession, but the Jews admission. Notice verse 6, the Jews' admission. The chief priests took the pieces of silver and they said, and I love this, they said, it is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury since it is the price of blood. This is hilarious. The word lawful means biblical in a context like this. We can't do this. This would be a sin against God. We can't take these coins. So they have to go up into the temple and they have to retrieve them. And when they retrieve them, they get them all together and they say, you know what? It wouldn't be biblical for us to put this into the treasury. Now think about this. Who paid Judas to betray Jesus to begin with? The priests. Well, where did they get the money? The temple treasury. It was blood money when you gave it to him to start with. Now he throws it back. Well, if we can't put it in the treasury, that would be unbiblical. Unlawful, meaning against scripture. Deuteronomy 23, verse 18. Money obtained in a sinful manner cannot be offered to God. Well, we can't put it there. And by the way, as a footnote for those of you that are into the Greek, or even those of you that were paying attention back when we went through Mark 15, excuse me, Matthew 15 and the parallel in Mark 7, Remember when Jesus is addressing the religious leaders and they're challenging Him about violating their traditions, and they say, well, why do you violate Scripture? When the Scripture says, honor your father and mother, but then when your parents come to you saying, hey, son, I need some money to make the bills, you say, well, I'd love to help you, Dad, but it's all Corban. That's the word Corban here. It's literally the technical term that refers to the temple treasury. We can't put it in the temple treasury. It's blood money. It's money that's that's been used for an evil purpose to to betray Jesus. We can't put that back in the temple. Well, what does that confirm? They're right here, the priest testimony and the priest behavior confirms Jesus's innocence yet again. That's why Matthew is giving us this account. It isn't just so that we tie up all the loose ends and know what happened to Judas. Verse seven, they conferred together. Oh, we better talk about this then. What do we do with these 30 pieces of silver? So with the money they bought the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. For this reason, that field has been called the field of blood to this day. Now, the potter's field is just a field that was originally used by potters. It would be in something of not exactly a quarry where you're digging out stone, but it would be a place where there was a lot of clay. And so the potters would go there and they'd dig out clay and dig out clay and dig out clay. And after a while, all the clay is what? It's gone. So now what good is the field? It's all pockmarked and dug out and anything of value in that area has been taken. So you sell it cheap. Thirty pieces of silver, the normal price for a slave. The priest say, well, I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll just go by the potter's field. It's about 30 pieces of silver. And we'll let that be just a common burial site for all the strangers, Gentiles, poor people that don't have anybody come in to make arrangements for them when they die, and criminals, etc. This will just be the burial ground. We'll make it the common burial ground for strangers. And everybody knew that this is what the priest did with the money. And that's why it has been called the field of blood to this day, because it was bought with blood money. Now, keep your finger here in Matthew 27. I do want to resolve one little harmonization. In Acts chapter 1. Turn to Acts 1 with me. Verse 15. Now, Luke isn't really worried about explaining to us what happened to Judas. He is concerned about explaining to us why Peter had Judas replaced. That's why the rest of the text, after you get down past verse 19, that's why the rest of the text is Peter citing Old Testament passages to prove this is what they're supposed to do in replacing Judas. But in Acts 1.15, we're told that at this point, after the ascension, At this point, Peter stands up in the midst of the brethren. They're there in the upper room again. There's about 120 people there. And he says, Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was counted among us and he received his share in this ministry. Now, verses 18 and 19 is kind of like a little footnote. It's a parenthetical statement. That's why there's a parenthesis at the beginning of verse 18 and the end of verse 19. This is just a little background information so that you know what we're talking about before we move on. He says, This man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all of his intestines gushed out. And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field was called haqqadamah, that's Aramaic for field of blood. Now, say, well, It says in Matthew 27, he went out and hanged himself, and it says here that he bought a field with the money, and that when he died, he fell and burst open and his intestines scattered all over the place. You say, eww. Well, yeah. Well, how does he buy a field? Well, what did he do with the money? Threw it back into the temple and left. Who had the money then? The priests. But they wouldn't keep it for themselves. So what did they do? When they went out and they bought the field, whose name did they buy it in? Judas's. Whole major interpretive issue solved, quite simply. Now, when you look at what happened with regard to his demise, all Matthew says is he hanged himself, which he did. And in the process of hanging himself, I think it was MacArthur that I heard say this first, he botched it. And he hangs himself, and the branch gives, and he falls and splat. Okay, maybe that's what happened. Maybe he hanged himself and died and then the tree came down or whatever and he went off the precipice. In any case, yes, all this stuff factually happened. The key point as we go back now to Matthew 27 is to see this. When the religious leaders got the money, they said we can't put it back in the temple treasury, that would be unbiblical. So let's go buy the potter's field and turn it into a common graveyard. And since they wouldn't accept the money, they made that purchase in Judas's name. And to this very day, Matthew says, and this is about 15 years after the event, for this reason that field has been called the field of blood to this day. Now, some have suggested it's called the field of blood because that's where Judas splatted. I suspect it's more likely it's just tied to the fact it was purchased with the blood money, which was the point that Matthew was making here. In any case, their testimony that the money was used to betray innocent blood shows what? Jesus was innocent. He was innocent. That's getting pretty clear, isn't it? As we've been going week by week by week through Matthew 26 and into 27 and then all the way through Matthew 28, Jesus is convicted and condemned for being the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And of any crime or any offense, He is absolutely innocent. That's the case that Matthew is making abundantly clear. Now, the last point, and this is in verses 9 and 10, is not just the betrayer's confession and the Jews admission, but the scripture's prediction. Notice that Matthew goes on to tell us that all of this happened as a fulfillment of scripture, even down to the purchase price of the betrayal and the purchase of the land. 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, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed Me." Now, a large portion of this comes right out of Zechariah 11 that we looked at in the past, so we're not going to go back through this. The rest of it is a composite from Jeremiah. And the reason that Jeremiah is the only one that's mentioned is because Jeremiah is the major prophet and his name goes then forward just to show you this comes from the prophets. I think your study Bible suggests that Jeremiah was in some of the old rabbinic lists listed as the first name in the prophets. I guess that's possible, but I cannot find one historical confirmation of that fact. Isaiah is almost always listed as the first of the prophets. In any case, Jeremiah is the more significant between Jeremiah and Zechariah. Jeremiah is the major prophet. Zechariah is a minor prophet. And this is scripture that is fulfilled. They took the 30 pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set. And they gave those 30 pieces of silver for the potter's field, just as the Lord directed me. Even the burial, the burial plot that is purchased with the blood money was predicted in the Old Testament. You want to know what all this confirms? That all this happened because this is the innocent one the Lamb of God, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, who came and died for us. He did not die because he had done anything wrong. He did not die because he was sinful or committed even one sin. He was betrayed and even what happened to the burial price proves Jesus is the Messiah. That is the point that Matthew is seeking to make here. The betrayer's confession that he had betrayed innocent blood. The Jews' admission that they can't put the money back in the treasury and the Scriptures' attestation all prove Jesus is the Messiah. He is absolutely innocent and He is the Messiah. Now, before we close, I just want to prime the pumps of your mind for a minute and help you to see Practically speaking, a couple of other lessons we can learn from this. I want you to just briefly, as we consider the difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow, think about how similar Judas is even to Pilate that we're going to see next time. Think about this. They both admit Jesus is innocent. You're going to see that Pilate says, I find no fault in him. I find no fault in him. I find no fault in him. At one point he says, I find no fault in him, so I'll have him flogged and then release him. If he's innocent, why are you punishing him? Judas says, I have betrayed innocent blood. They both attempt to blame others. Pilate keeps trying to escape, making the decision to condemn Jesus because he knows he's innocent. First, he sends him off to Herod. Then he offers to punish him and let him go. At the end, he even tries to pull off the rescue with Barabbas. You know why he picks Barabbas? He's the ugliest, dirtiest, meanest guy in the place. Everybody should hate Barabbas. I got all beat up. Jesus all he does is good things and miracles and cures people. And here's Barabbas, a robber, a criminal. OK, which one of these two guys you want me to release? We'll take Barabbas. What? Then what do I do with Jesus? Pilate knew right and wrong. Judas knew right and wrong. Pilate tries to blame others. Pilate tries to get out of it. Judas goes back to the priest, trying to give the money back, trying to escape from what he's done. When they both attempt to escape responsibility, ultimately, you watch as Pilate tries to wash his hands. Remember when he makes the big show? Bring me a basin of water, and he washes his hands. This man's blood's not on my hands. He's on yours. And he gets the people to say, his blood be on our heads and on our descendants. Jesus' blood is on the Jews' heads and their descendants. But you didn't wash it off your hands. You're still accountable. And that's the key. Even though Judas threw the money back into the temple and then went and hanged himself trying to escape the guilt and shame of what he's done, he is still ultimately going to be responsible before Almighty God for his actions. And that's the key. There is no escape from worldly sorrow. You cannot undo your sin. You cannot make up for what you've done. You cannot absolve yourself. You cannot excuse or justify yourself, no matter what your circumstances were. You're responsible to God for every thought, every word and every deed according to his standard of perfection. And don't say nobody can do it because he came and did. There is no one righteous, not even one. This is the whole reason Jesus came, because we are all sinners. We have sinned in thought, word and deed by what we've done and by what we've left undone. That's the whole reason Jesus came and died. He didn't die because he did anything wrong. Every passage we've looked at leading up to the trial before Pilate, which is next, All of it confirms Jesus's innocence. Well, then why did he have to die? Because he was the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. That's our Lord and Savior. You want to escape from the sense of guilt and shame for your sins, for your sinful thoughts, your sinful attitudes, your sinful actions, the things you've done that you wish you hadn't and the things you knew you should have done, but you didn't. You want to escape from all the weight of shame and guilt? Then you come to Jesus. Because when He died, He died in our place. You know, when you look at Peter that we saw last week, when he denies the Lord three times, that's a sin. Matthew chapter 10, what does Jesus say? If you confess Me before men, I'll confess you before My Father who is in heaven. But if you deny Me before men, I'll deny you before My Father who is in heaven. And yet when you get to John chapter 21, I want you to turn as we close, turn to John 21. Look at verse 15. John 21, three verses as we close. After they finish breakfast, Jesus then says to Simon Peter, this is after the resurrection. He comes to Peter and he says, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? The word love there is phileo, okay? No, I take that back. The word love there is agapao. It's the word for super love. It's the word for divine love, for perfect love, for total love. Do you love me more than these? Some people say he's talking about the fish. He's not talking about the fish. He's talking about the other disciples. You want to know why he asked Peter that question? Because what did Peter say in the night in which Jesus was betrayed? Scripture says you're all gonna fall away. Peter says even if everybody falls away, I won't Peter you're gonna deny three times tonight. You even know me. No, no No, I'm willing to go to prison into death. Even if everybody falls away. I will never fall away So he says point-blank now after the resurrection. All right, Peter, you've blown it three times Just like I said you fell away. Just like I said, let me ask you a question. Do you love me more than these? Do you super love me more than all the rest of these guys because that's what he claimed even if all fall away Notice what Peter says. Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Interestingly, he doesn't say Agapao this time. He says Valeo. He doesn't say I super perfectly love you. He says, I really like you a lot. It's a friendship word, not a total devotion love word. So Jesus says, 10, my lambs. take care of my little ones." And then he said to him a second time, Simon son of John, do you love me? Do you super love me? Agapao. And he said to him, yes Lord, you know that I Phileo. I really like you a lot. You notice what Peter has learned from his great failure? He's learned he's not perfect. He's learned that he can blow it. Remember what I told you last week? Peter blew it because he didn't think he could. And you and I can blow it, even if we think we can't. What comes before a fall? Pride. So Jesus asks him a third time, verse 17. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Now here Jesus changes from agapao, super love, to phileo. Do you really like me a lot? Notice how Jesus steps down. Peter's grieved because he said to him the third time, do you really like me a lot? You want to know why? Because Peter knows. He thinks he's already stepped down. No, I don't have a perfect love, but I do have a love and a commitment to you. No, I don't have a perfect love, but I do have a love and a commitment to you. And the third time, OK, do you just have a love and a commitment to me? And now I'm grieved because I know even that's not perfect. You see the change that happened in Peter? This is what real repentance looks like. It looks like humility. He said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. You know, I really do like you a lot and I am committed to you, but I'm not going to say more than that because you know what? I already know I've blown it. And that's why Jesus restores him and puts him back in place as the first of the apostles. See, that's the difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow, which leads to repentance. Worldly sorrow is focused on self. and is looking for a way to justify itself, absolve itself, or make up for, or undo what I've done that's wrong. It's all about the way I feel, and what I'm living through, and what I'm experiencing. Godly sorrow is chiefly concerned about my relationship to God. And that's it. That's it. Loves God. and is dependent upon God to forgive, and trusts when God says He'll forgive you, that He means it. And if you want a proof of God's love and commitment to forgive even the worst of your sins, even the sins that you do over and over again, how many of you do the same sin more than once? How many of you do the same sin more than once in the same day? The same afternoon? The same five minutes? How many of you take a while before you recognize your sin and are willing to repent? And yet, God forgives all of those, for those who come to Him in repentance and faith, right? Why? Because He proved His love to us when Jesus came and died for us. The Lamb of God took away the sin of the world. Listen, Matthew's point is very clear. When Jesus died, He was the sinless Lamb of God. And when you compare Peter and Judas, you know what you see? You see the difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is hopeless and ends in eternal destruction because there is no way to make up for, undo, or escape what you've done. Godly sorrow results in humility and repentance and restoration in your relationship with God and into a position where you are useful in His hands. Father, thank you for this day and for the way in which you have blessed us with your son who died in our place. Thank you that, as the Apostle John writes in 1 John, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness because of what you did for us at the cross. I pray that those among us who do not know you, that you will bring a mighty conviction of sin. and direct them to Yourself as the means of forgiveness. And for those of us who belong to You, I pray that You will humble us by helping us to see our sins and empower us by Your Spirit to repent first and foremost to You and then toward one another. I pray that we would be forgiving because we have been forgiven so much. And I pray that we would be indeed humbled because Almighty God died for us in Jesus name and for his glory. I pray amen