1 When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. 2 And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3 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, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” 5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.
The Sanhedrin reconvened in the morning, after two illegal meetings the night before. This was the third Jewish trial. At this time they dispensed the official verdict against Jesus. Judas’ reaction to Jesus’ sentence was suicide.
27:1
When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death.
The Jews did not have authority to put Jesus to death (Jn 18:31). They had to scheme to come up with a way to get the Roman government to do it.
27:2
And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
Only Pilate, the Roman procurator since A.D. 26, had the right to sentence Jesus to death. Pilate was over Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. The Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate in the Praetorium as a seditionist.
27:3
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,
Judas returned to the council regretting his betrayal of Jesus. His remorse was regret, not repentance. The Greek word means sorrow rather than repentance. It was a change of feeling rather than a change of attitude.
No one was more culpable than Judas. He was exposed to three years of being with the Messiah. He had firsthand experience with the Lord. His only concern was to justify his conscience. He was not interested in justification from sin.
27:4
saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
Judas obviously knew that Jesus was innocent and held impeccable integrity. He found no fault in Jesus. He could not rationalize his treachery. If he could have, he would have, but he did not find any culpability in Jesus.
And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”
The Jewish leaders did not want anything more to do with Judas since he carried out their purpose. They were coldhearted, callused, and cavalier toward Judas, caring nothing for him personally.
27:5
Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple [sanctuary—inner holy place of the Temple] and departed, and went and hanged himself.
Judas threw the 30 pieces of silver into the temple proper, where only the priests had access to it.
Judas’ brooding led him to commit suicide. This was self-reprisal. Acts 1:18-19 adds further information on this event:
18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)
The tree limb on which Judas hung himself may have broken to cause the fall into a ravine.
PRINCIPLE:
Sorrow is not necessarily repentance.
APPLICATION:
Many people have agony of conscience but hold no true repentance. Revulsion of feeling is not sufficient to change character. It is possible to think too exclusively about our sin; if we do, that will drive us to despair. We need to think about the solution to sin and have an attitude change about that. Our conscience can lead us to what is wrong but it has no power to correct what is wrong.
