The Motley Crew
July 20, 2011
Matthew 27:1-10
The Questions
Note Bene: Thankfully, Pastor Eddie provided the Questions and Answers for today's class before he and the family left for vacation. Errors only are my own.
Read Matthew 27: 1-10
1. According to verse 1 who is responsible for Jesus’ death?
2. Who is really responsible for Jesus’ death?
3. Why would they wait until the morning to pronounce the verdict?
4. Of course, none of us ever pick and choose what laws we will follow and what laws we will not follow, right?
5. Why did they need to hand Jesus over to Pilate?
6. What was Judas sorry for?
7. What was wrong with Judas’ actions?
8. Was Judas saved?
9. Why was it not a crime to pay Judas out of the temple treasury for his betrayal and yet it was a crime to put the money back in the treasury?
10. Where is this prophecy found?
All citations from the Holy Bible are from the New International Version, used with permission.
The Motley Crew
July 20, 2011
Matthew 27:1-10
Some Suggested Answers
Note Bene: Thankfully, Pastor Eddie provided the Questions and Answers for today's class before he and the family left for vacation. Errors only are my own.
Read Matthew 27:1-10.
Judas Hangs Himself
1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”[a]
Footnotes:
Matthew 27:10 See Zech. 11:12,13; Jer. 19:1-13; 32:6-9. [Reproduced below]
Acts 1:18-19.
18 (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
At first glance, the account by Matthew is at odds with the account given by Luke in the “Acts of the Apostles.”
The explanation from the Lutheran Study Bible that harmonizes the accounts of Matthew and Luke in the “Acts of the Apostles” is in the note to Acts 1:18.
Verse 18: With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field;
The payment was that which Judas received from the Council for betraying Christ. He bought the field indirectly, because the Council made the purchase with the money Judas returned. Thus it can be said that Judas bought the field.
Verse 18 … there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.
fell headlong. The rope Judas hanged himself with likely broke, causing his already decaying corpse to fall and rupture. As will be noted below, his body certainly hung through the Sabbath, and may have hung through the next week because it was a Festival, and anyone who touched his body would become ceremonially unclean.
There are numerous other explanations concerning these two sections of Scripture.
The Lutheran Study Bible (2009) has these additional notes concerning the account by Matthew.
Note 27.5. Hanged himself. Judas executes himself for murder (cf. Lev. 24.21). As he fell cursed by the Law (Deut. 27.25), so he died an accursed death (Deut. 21.23).
Note 27.6. Blood money. Money used for a violent sin.
Note 27.7. Potter's field. Good clay for pottery in this area; the En-rogel Spring south of Jerusalem in the Kidron Valley is nearby. Burial place. Cemeteries were unclean because corpses were unclean by OT Law (cf Num. 19.11, 14). Tainted money could be used to buy such land, esp. since it was intended for Gentile burials.
Note 27.8. Field of Blood. So called because of the origin of the money used to buy it.
Because dead bodies were unclean, no one would cut down his body since to do so would render them ceremonially unclean for both the Sabbath, the Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was pointed out that since this Feast lasted for a week, Judas' body would have hung from that rope for long enough to putrefy, especially in that climate. Of course, Judas had no friends at that point, so there was no great rush to protect his body, unlike the desire by Joseph of Arithema and others to take down and entomb the body of Jesus before the beginning of the Sabbath.
All citations from the Holy Bible are from the New International Version, used with permission.
1. According to verse 1 who is responsible for Jesus’ death?
Verse 1. “Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed.”
Specifically, the chief priests and the elders are responsible, although we could add all the Jews who went along with it and called out crucify Him, and also Pilate, Caiaphas, the Roman soldiers, and government that carried it out.
2. Who is really responsible for Jesus’ death?
Every sinner – ever.
3. Why would they wait until the morning to pronounce the verdict?
It was not legal at night so they waited until daybreak. It is hard to keep a straight a face as we study which laws they chose to keep and which laws they easily broke. Among other things they had already broken the law by meeting at night in the first place.
Dr. Lenski noted
… the Sanhedrin was determined to rush Jesus to death, for it feared an uprising of the people in case of a delay. So the illegality of the night session was simply disregarded. But the formality of holding a second session was found feasible even though in this case it was illegal because it would confirm an illegal night session; yet it lent a show of legality to the procedure by being a second session. Lenski, p. 1076.
We have noted in earlier weeks some of the laws which had been broken. Those notes are available at the Prayer and Study Resources web page including the notes for June 29 and July 6.
Again, the Sanhedrin wanted to move quickly, not only to get the matter concluded before the Sabbath, but also because of their worry about mobs and riots.
4. Of course, none of us ever pick and choose what laws we will follow and what laws we will not follow, right?
Like speed limits and little white lies and tax returns and …
5. Why did they need to hand Jesus over to Pilate?
The Roman govt. had taken away from the Jews the right to carry out the death penalty. Another humiliating blow to the Jewish nation. No wonder they hated the Romans. The study notes say there was an exception for a foreigner who invaded the sacred precincts of the temple.
It was interesting that the Romans would allow the Jews to carry out the death penalty in one area and not any others, for example, the stoning of the deacon Stephan, Acts 7.
One additional aspect is that Jesus was handed over to the Romans as someone who claimed to be the Son of God, which was a challenge to the Romans whose Emperor believed that he was a God. To an extent, it was in their interests to take care of this potential challenge to their power (although it did not seem to be a pressing concern to Pilate).
The Sanhedrin, of course, was also anxious to shift the blame from themselves to the Romans so that the crowds that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem the previous Sunday wouldn't turn on the Sanhedrin itself.
6. What was Judas sorry for?
He saw His Savior condemned.
Verses 3 & 4. “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
Innocent blood - Αιμα αθωον, a Hebraism, for an innocent man. Clarke's Commentary on the Bible
Although Pilate had not yet condemned Jesus, Judas saw what they intended to do to Him. This caused him to have deep regret, but not repentance (that is sorrow at sin and faith in forgiveness). Lutheran Study Bible, Note 27.3, p. 1644.
Dr. Lenski wrote:
Judas repented of the consequences, not of the sin itself. Already that shows the spurious nature of his repentance. Many a criminal is exceedingly sorry when the consequences of his sin catch up with him, but the sin itself does not frighten him. Lenski, pp. 1077-78.
I have sinned. When Judas took a bribe to shed innocent blood, he thereby fell under a curse. See Deut. 27.25. Lutheran Study Bible, Note 27.4, p. 1644.
Deuteronomy 27:25. “Cursed is anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.”
Dr. Lenski continued:
His true sin Judas did not realize or confess. To him, Jesus is no more than “innocent blood,” a guiltless man who is now being regarded as guilty of death. Because Judas' betrayal was leading to this result, he is sorry, he makes confession, and he wants as much as possible to free himself from these bloody consequences by returning the money to the Sanhedrin. Lenski, p. 1078.
Although Judas had seen Jesus forgive others throughout the three years of His ministry, Judas evidently didn't see that he could be forgiven of this sin. He couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel, and despaired, taking his life.
For what ever reason, Peter did not despair to that extent.
We must remember that at that point, none of the apostles understood that there would be a Resurrection, and therefore there was no real hope of the kind of forgiveness that Peter would eventually receive from our Lord.
7. What was wrong with Judas’ actions?
Verses 3 & 4. “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
He repented to the wrong people. Jesus would have forgiven him – the chief priests could not have cared less for him. Otherwise, it was a very good confession.
Judas seeks absolution from these corrupt priests, but they refuse to give it to him (“What is that to us?”). Despite their sacred calling, they hate Jesus more than they love to minister to sinners. In addition, when they say “That's your responsibility,” they are leaving Judas to deal with his own sin rather than directing him to God's Grace. Lutheran Study Bible, Note 27.4, p. 1644.
Dr. Lenski notes: “What a fool Judas was to expect relief from such men! But the one who could have helped him he did not find.” Lenski, p. 1079.
Three additional points:
1. When Judas said “I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood,” he might have thought that this would re-open the case against Jesus. The Jewish law demanded that if new testimony was offered after condemnation the case should again be heard. Perhaps Judas thought his testimony of the innocence of Christ might, under the circumstances, be heard. People's New Testament But, of course, the Sanhedrin was moving along a course that they had set some time ago, and would not be turned from that course by a mere technicality of the law, considering how many laws they had already broken.
Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Book XIV. Sefer Shofetim, Part 1. Hilchot Sanhedrin V'HaOnshin Hamesurim Lahem (The laws of the courts and the penalties placed under their jurisdiction). Chapter 7, Halacha 6:
When a person was obligated by a court, and then brought witnesses or proof to vindicate himself, the judgment is rescinded and the case should be tried again. Although the judgment was already rendered, whenever he brings support for his claim, the judgment is rescinded.
2. Also, under Jewish law, when one wanted to revoke a transaction but was refused, he could deposit the money in the Temple, thus revoking the matter. Rogers, p. 62. Judas did this (Verse 5: “So Judas threw the money into the temple and left.”), but unfortunately for Judas, that attempted revocation was ineffectual – the Chief Priests had their own agenda.
3. He might have thought that Jesus would escape from the Sanhedrin without difficulty, as he had during the Festival of Tabernacles in Jerusalem as recounted in John 7:1-52. There, “they” tried to seize him, but couldn't, for His time had not yet come, then. However, of course, His time had come now, and although He could have escaped as He had done before, He chose to submit in order to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament, and in order to set in motion the acceptance of our sin, and the resurrection that would resurrect us all.
8. Was Judas saved?
Apparently not. Half of Acts 1 is about Judas. His death was no small thing and Acts 1:25 implies that Judas did not go to be with His Lord or to paradise.
Acts 1:24-25
24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” (Emphasis added)
We can only pray that he repented in the last moments before death, unknown to any of those who recorded the events of the time. If so, like the Good Thief, he would have been in Paradise that same day with the Lord.
Hanged himself. Judas executes himself for murder (cf. Lev. 24.21). As he fell cursed by the Law (Deut. 27.25), so he died an accursed death (Deut. 21.23).
“This faith shows the distinction between the contrition of Judas and Peter, of Saul and David. The contrition of Judas or Saul (Matt. 27.3-5; 1 Sam. 31.4-6) is useless because faith is not added. Faith grasps the forgiveness of sins, given as a gift for Christ's sake. So the contrition of David or Peter (2 Samuel 12:13; Matthew 26:75) helps because faith, which takes hold of the forgiveness of sins granted for Christ's sake, is added to it” (“Apology of the Augsburg Confession,” Article XIIA, Paragraph 36).
“Wherever the Law alone exercises its office, without the Gospel being added, there is nothing but death and hell, and one must despair, as Saul and Judas did” (“Smalcald Articles,” Part III, Article III, Paragraph 7). Lutheran Study Bible, Note 27.5, p. 1644.
Although events proceeded as God has planned, Judas was still guilty of sin and liable to punishment for the reason that God did not compel Judas to act as he did, but, instead, used Judas' actions to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning Christ.
9. Why was it not a crime to pay Judas out of the temple treasury for his betrayal and yet it was a crime to put the money back in the treasury?
6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
Selfish, sinful humans.
Money which was earned from a sinful act, that is, an act which God detests, cannot be brought into the House of the Lord. Deut. 23:18, or placed in “The Treasury,” which refers to the fund used for the upkeep of the temple and its activities. Lutheran Study Bible, Note 27.6, p. 1644.
It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury. These men were not too scrupulous to send the innocent to death, to shed the blood of the innocent, but were too scrupulous to put blood money into the treasury. They could pay blood money, but could not take it back. People's New Testament
It is “blood money” because is was money earned from a violently sinful act. By this statement, the priests tacitly acknowledge that they have unjustly prosecuted Jesus. Lutheran Study Bible, Note 27.6, p. 1644.
Deuteronomy 23:18
You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God to pay any vow, because the LORD your God detests them both.
The price of blood - The word "blood" here means the same as "life." The price of blood means the price by which the life of a man has been purchased. This was an acknowledgment that in their view Jesus was innocent. They had bought him, not condemned him justly. It is remarkable that they were so scrupulous now about so small a matter, comparatively, as putting this money in the treasury, when they had no remorse about "murdering an innocent" man, and crucifying him who had given full evidence that he was the Messiah. People are often very scrupulous in "small" matters, who stick not at great crimes. Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Note in verse 7 that the chief priests “decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.” The Lutheran Study Bible observed that the cemetery is not for Jews: “Tainted money could be used to buy such land, esp. since it was intended for Gentile burials.” Note 27.7.
Dr. Lenski had a different view. In making the resolution to buy the potter's field, they were devoting money “to a long-felt need, namely to provide a burial place 'for strangers,' certainly not for Gentiles (whom the Jews hated to see in Jerusalem) but for poor Jews who visited the festivals, etc., and happened to die while in the city....” Lenski, p. 1081. This view is supported by Rogers & Rogers who noted that the word “foreigner” is the translation of the Greek ξένοις which means “stranger,” and probably referred to the pilgrims who came to Jerusalem. Rogers, p. 62.
10. Where is this prophecy found?
Verses 9-10: Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”[a]
Footnotes:
Matthew 27:10 See Zech. 11:12,13; Jer. 19:1-13; 32:6-9.
This is a tough one – but Lenski handles it as well as anybody. The quote comes from Zechariah. The original Greek says “dia” which is through. So Matthew must mean is: What was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet – that Section of the Old Testament which includes all the Books from Jeremiah to Malachi. This is the Third Section of the Old Testament, the First Section being the Law and the Second Section being the Psalms. Lightfoot is right: this quotation is from the Section of the Bible called "Jeremiah," which includes the Book of Zechariah. It can’t be memory lapse of Matthew. It can’t be the Scriptures were recorded wrong.
The “Lightfoot” referred to here is Rev. John Lightfoot, D.D., (1602-1675), an English commentator. His collected works under the title of “The whole works of the Rev. John Lightfoot: master of Catharine Hall, Cambridge” runs to 13 volumes (the last volume published in 1824). The full quotation from Lightfoot is reproduced near the bottom of this document.
Dr. Lenski wrote:
Matthew uses the regular formula to indicate the fulfillment of a prophecy. … The fact that Matthew wrote “through Jeremiah, the prophet,” has caused a great deal of discussion since not Jeremiah but Zechariah 11:12, 13, records this prophecy. The reading “Jeremiah” is textually confirmed.
After disposing of arguments that Lenski cannot accept, he continues
One of the older ways of divine the Scriptures was to begin with the law and to call this part “The Law.” Next the section commencing with the Psalms was called “The Psalms” although it contained other writings. The third part began with Jeremiah and included all the other prophets, and yet the whole was called “Jeremiah.”
Zechariah is one of the Books in this section, and Matthew refers to the quotation as being from the Section “Jeremiah,” which includes the Book of Zechariah. Lenski, pp. 1082-83.
The Lutheran Study Bible notes at p. 1645 that Matthew quotes Zech. 11.12-13, but adds phrases from Jer. 19.11 (a potter's field is used for burial) and an allusion to Jer. 32.6-11 (Jeremiah's purchase of land).
Zechariah 11:12-13
12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the LORD.
Jer. 19:11
... ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.
Jeremiah 32:6-11
6 Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: 7 Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’
8 “Then, just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’
“I knew that this was the word of the LORD; 9 so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels[a] of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy—
Footnotes:
Jeremiah 32:9 That is, about 7 ounces or about 200 grams
We closed with prayer.
Peter's denial is followed closely by Judas's suicide. The two commit similar sins in betraying Christ, but things turn out differently for each. Both are sorry for their misdeeds – perhaps Judas is even sorrier in that he tries to undo the damage. But Judas ends his life in despair, while Peter ultimately trusts in Christ, who alone can save us from guilt and despair. Lutheran Study Bible, Note 27:3-10. p. 1645.
Parallel Verses:
Acts 1:18-19, above.
Additional Cited Verses and Sources:
Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death.
“Cursed is anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent
person.”
Then
all the people shall say, “Amen!”
you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
11 “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. 12 They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. 13 If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the LORD’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them.
14 “This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days,
Rev. John Lightfoot, D.D.
This is concerning the quotation in Matthew in verse 9 “Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled.” The quotation was not from Jeremiah but from Zechariah. This explanation from Rev. John Lightfoot, D.D., was referenced above:
“You have this tradition, quoted by David Kimchi in his preface to Jeremiah [concerning the arrangement of books of the Old Testament by Jewish scholars]. Whence it is very plain, that Jeremiah, of old, had the first place among the prophets: and hereby he comes to be mentioned above all the rest, Matt. xvi. 14, because he stood first in the volume of the prophets, therefore he is first named. When, therefore, Matthew produceth a text of Zechariah under the name of Jeremy, he only cites the words of the volume of the prophets under his name, who stood first in the volume of the prophets. Of which sort is that also of our Saviour, Luke xxiv. 44; “All things must be fulfilled, which are written of me in the law, and the prophets, and the Psalms.” — “In the Psalms;” that is, in the Book of Hagiographa, in which the Psalms were placed first.”
Source: John Rogers Pitman, ed., The Whole Works of the Rev. John Lightfoot, D.D. Volume XI. Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations upon the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark (London: J. F. Dove, 1823), p. 345.
Cited & Consulted Sources:
Green, Jay P., ed., The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament. Vol. IV. Second Edition. (Hendrickson Publishers, 1985)
Lenski, R.C.H., The Interpretation of St. Matthew's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943)
The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009).
John Rogers Pitman, ed., The Whole Works of the Rev. John Lightfoot, D.D. Volume XI of 13 Volumes. Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations upon the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark (London: J. F. Dove, 1823)
Rogers, Cleon L. Jr., and Cleon L. Rogers III, eds., The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998). This is the second edition of the excellent work by Fritz Rienecker, A Linguistic Key to the Greek New Testament, translated and edited by Cleon L. Rogers, Jr.
Strong, James, ed., The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990)
Additional Notes:
In verse 3, we learn that Judas was “seized with remorse.” The Greek word here is μεταμεληφεις (metameletheis), meaning “to regret, to repent, wishing it were undone.”
Concerning verse 5 which reads in part “Then he went away and hanged himself.” The Greek word for "hanged" is απηγξατο. The root of the word means to strangle oneself, and on that basis some have said that he was only “choked up” – as it were. However, the precise meaning in the Greek is to “strangle oneself off”, the “off” meaning to kill oneself, here by hanging. See Rogers, p. 62.
The potter's field. A field that had been used for the purpose of making pottery until it was worthless for other purposes [such as agriculture] and could be bought cheap. Potters' fields are still found in the Kedron Valley south of the city. People's New Testament
For Additional Study:
The Prayer And Study Resources web page has a listing of some research web sites that I use. In addition, Additional Research Resources is a page with a more complete list of Bible and Lutheran resources, plus there is the Research Resources Checklist, which is the web page I use when I first begin a Bible study. Both of these last two web pages are always growing, and please let me know if you are aware of other great sites.