Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

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.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

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.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 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.”

Matthew 27:1 – 11

I have thought about Judas some.  He was the only Judean disciple; all the others were from Galilee and he was responsible for the finances of the little flock of Jesus’ disciples. Could this have contributed to what he just did – betrayed Jesus by helping the rulers of the Jews to arrest Jesus for money?  Certainly it was not to get money because he actually threw the thirty silver coins away when he saw that Jesus allowed himself to be arrested.

The Gospels say little about Judas before this.  Maybe Judas thought Jesus would resist arrest and begin a revolution to get rid of Roman rule.  Who knows?  Jesus did not explain Judas’ motives.  He accepted what Judas did as the fulfillment of the ancient prophet Jeremiah, “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.”  As I ponder this, it seems to me that God used the troubled relationship between Jesus and Judas to fulfill the prophecy.  Jesus did not comment on Judas’ betrayal so we leave it there.  Matthew wrote about how the Jews used the money.  That is it.

We have no way of knowing why Judas did what he did.  The role of Judas of Iscariot posed questions that believers and unbelievers have discussed and re-discussed through the ages.  I do not think anyone, except the Lord, knows the whole story.  We do know that his action triggered the events leading up to Jesus crucifixion.  Not that Judas wanted Jesus to be crucified, in fact when Judas saw Jesus being arrested he threw up his hands and took his own life.

I suppose the shock of this story is that it was that one of the twelve disciples, those who walked with Jesus for many months and did mighty works through the power he gave them, could trigger the beginning of events that led to Jesus’ death.  The prophecy is fulfilled.  Book closed!