1 Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; 2 and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor. 3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”
The religious trial concluded with a guilty verdict and a sentence of capital punishment. Since Israel was subject to Roman rule, the council had no power to carry out a death sentence, so they shipped the Lord off to Pilate the current governor for a civil trial. They had an uneasy relationship with Pilate, that insecure Roman official, because they detested Roman dominance. But their hatred of the Romans was eclipsed by their greater hatred of Christ.
For years modern historians cast doubt on the veracity of the gospel accounts because there was no concrete historical evidence outside of the Bible of the existence of any Roman official by the name of Pontius Pilate at that time in that area of the Roman empire. However, in 1961, in an archeological dig in Caesarea Maritima (by Sea), on the Mediterranean Coast (north of present day Tel Aviv in Israel), an ancient theater was unearthed, and a limestone plaque was discovered indicating that the theater was dedicated by a Pontius Pilate. This find has been dated to A.D. 26-37, supporting the historicity of Pilate.
Judas comes back into the record. Matthew places this account of him immediately after the account of Peter disowning Christ. These two followers of Christ are mentioned by name as failing Him. With Peter there was bitter weeping, indicative of overwhelming grief—but no apparent effort at righting the wrong done. With Judas there was a feeling of remorse and an apparent effort to compensate the wrong he had perpetrated.
What do we make of Judas’ attempt at returning the blood-money? The fact that he had betrayed Jesus for money sets him apart as a mercenary, benefitting from Jesus’ misfortune. Yet it is clear that he was the instrumental cause of the misfortune. It has been pointed out that Judas had not expected his betrayal would result in Jesus’ being condemned to death. Some have suggested he had a firm belief that Jesus would have somehow extricated Himself from the arrest, just as He had done in past situations. Yet, his admission, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” reveals his own self-indictment of what he himself had done. The council sneered at his remorse.
Lord, help me never use my relationship with You or my Christian associations for the ulterior means to my personal, financial benefit.
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