Friday - Peter, the Sanhedrin, & Judas

We continue our study in the life of Christ. I think the outline says we are on study number 112 and It's been a fascinating journey as we have slowed down to take time to look more carefully At the life of Christ and we've taken it chronologically sequentially through the gospels We find ourselves now on the day of the crucifixion on Friday We have been looking for the last couple times we've been together at the at the trials of Christ Just to recap a little bit remember that we we saw there were actually six trials or Six phases of trials that our Lord went through the first three are religious trials before the religious leaders in history And the charge is blasphemy the second three are before the civil leaders of Rome Pilate and Herod and the charge Changes to what would become a capital offense under Roman law and thus give the opportunity for the death penalty And that was the charge of treason So we've been looking at these trials quite carefully and seeing all that that happened In them let's begin with a map just to remind you since it's been a couple of weeks A map of the the movements on on Friday early Friday morning remember that we saw probably the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is somewhere between midnight and 3 a.m And then somewhere around three or so Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane they come into the city Next to the temple and Tony of Fortress and down to the palace of the high priest Where probably the first three trials took place as best we can determine the first trial with Anus the former high priest Remember he is revered he is honored and so they start with him and Remember he he was he jumped right in and broke the first law that of many that were broken that night in Jewish law regarding the trials when he personally questioned Jesus rather than questioning witnesses and remember Jesus called him on a point of order and said why do you ask me? I taught publicly in the synagogue and in the temple why ask me ask those who heard me that was not an Insolent response it was not an out of order response at all Jesus was basically saying you are out of order You're not you're not by law supposed to question the person being tried you're supposed to question witnesses Ask the people who heard me those are the witnesses. They know what I said and remember someone slapped Jesus and said is that the way you speak to the high priest and Jesus said if I've said anything wrong then I deserve to be punished But if I've not said anything wrong if I've told the truth then why did you do that? and Anna's realized he was in trouble remember and and and ship Jesus out real quick to Caiaphas who was the the High priest at that time He is this is actually Anna's palis but Caiaphas is holding court here and the Sanhedrin is also gathering and so Caiaphas then interviews Jesus and remember that was where they called witnesses and they couldn't get Two witnesses had the best witness as money could buy but they couldn't get two of them to agree on their testimony and that was a must Finally they got several guys to talk about Jesus claim that he would if you destroy the temple. I'll rebuild it in three days and But they're they're details didn't Coordinate well enough for that to be true so Caiaphas Seize the whole thing slipping out of his hands and he just jumps in it takes over and he starts questioning Jesus directly What are you gonna do about these charges aren't you gonna answer these charges and Jesus does not answer them and then remember Caiaphas pulled a legal trick and put him under oath So that Jesus was required to answer remember what Caiaphas asking what did he ask him do you remember? Are you the son of God? Are you the son of the most high? What did Jesus respond? Yep He did he said I am But that was that all Jesus did what what else did he say do you remember? Yes When the at the point when Jesus said I am That was enough in the eyes of the religious leaders to charge him with blasphemy remember Caiaphas tore his outer garment in a mock expression of shock and horror and because they got this planned But Jesus didn't stop He said and you will see the son of man coming in the clouds You will see him seated at the right hand of the most high and coming on the clouds which are two remember we looked at the two old Testament references both of which indicate The judgment of God that Jesus is coming to judge so basically what Jesus is doing is saying I know what you're doing here. You're pulling a legal trick to get me judged, but I want you to know That's not the end of it. You're gonna be judged someday and Of course, Caiaphas was extremely upset at that and the Sanhedrin Goes ahead and makes the decision that he is guilty of blasphemy now that's where we left off last time With that part of the tribe. Do we have another we have yeah, we do have a picture of anis's palace This this would be the entrance way here through which people would come into a courtyard and this courtyard would be open to the air It is really a courtyard, but it's enclosed by walls so it's it's Kind of enclosed, but no roof it is outdoors and that's where the fire will be where people soldiers are warming themselves by the fire and and Peter also is there This right here the reception hall is probably the area where Caiaphas Anis and the Sanhedrin put Jesus on trial Jesus would be led back into this room and then led back out later on into the courtyard area This is kind of the way it would look a cutaway of the inside of the palace of the high priest But the next stage of the trial is gonna be before the Sanhedrin now I've already mentioned that the Sanhedrin is already gathered, but we're gonna see They break for a while maybe as long as a couple hours Before they take up the case again, and there's a reason for that we'll come back to that later But in the meantime, I want to deal with the denial of Peter because the denial of Peter if you put all the gospel records together The denial of Peter takes place the three denials takes place over about an hour and a half period of time Maybe two hour period of time it doesn't happen real quickly so It's it's kind of scattered throughout some of the other things we're looking at so we're gonna stop right now and Just pause long enough to look at the denial of Peter and then we'll come back to the trial That's the kind of two separate things You can see on your outline that the denial of Peter is covered covered in all four of the gospels. We're gonna stick with Mark's account in Chapter 14 where we left off last time look first at at verse 54 which kind of sets the scene Mark 14 verse 54 Peter followed verse 53 says they took Jesus after they'd arrested him Took Jesus to the high priest Verse 54 Peter followed him at a distance Right into the courtyard of the high priest that's that enclosed But open area that's actually a part of the household complex that we saw right into the courtyard of the high priest There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire now if you hold your place here and flip over to John 18 John adds a few details that the other gospels do not give us and It's interesting to note what John says about this John 18 verse 15 This is right after the arrest and And they bring into the high priest's house verse 15 says Simon Peter and Another disciple were following Jesus any idea who that other disciple was John yeah John is gonna be with Jesus Through the trial and on to the cross Notice because this disciple was known to the high priest He went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard but Peter had to wait outside at the door The other disciple who was known to the high priest came back spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in You aren't one of this man's disciples, too. Are you she asked Peter? He replied I am not It was cold and the servants and officials stood around the fire they had made to keep warm Peter also was standing with them Warming himself so that gives us a little more detail as how Peter got into the courtyard is actually through John's Influence John knows the high priest and and maybe because of the prominence of John's family as a wealthy merchant family from Galilee Maybe they'd had some dealings with with the high priest and maybe knew them on a personal level so John has a little bit more Entrance into the high priest's house and gets Peter at least in where he can he can warm by the fire Now back to Mark's account where Mark Put all the three denials together and that's the reason we're sticking with his account. It's all together in verses 66 to 72 so let's look at verse 66 While Peter was below in the courtyard One of the servant girls of the high priest came by when she saw Peter warming himself she looked closely at him You also were with that Nazarene Jesus she said But he denied it. I don't know or understand what you're talking about he said and Went out into the entryway So he he moves away from this servant girl thinking maybe he can escape any more scrutiny for 68 or 69 when the servant girl saw him there She said again to those standing around this fella is one of them Again he denied it After a little while those standing near said to Peter surely you are one of them for you are a Galilee and and this evidently is They know from his speech his accent Galilee and had a Northern accent they were the Yankees in Israel and so they had kind of a different accent and so They said surely you know you talk like a Galilee He now notice verse 71 this is so sad he began to call down curses and he swore to them. I don't know this man. You're talking about What would the calling down of curses mean what what is that? Okay Okay swearing by God's throne or by God himself something like that. I think you're on the right track Walt it's not cursing like we would think using profane words or profanity. It's not that kind of cursing Put under a curse. Okay. All right. That's the idea He he put himself under a curse Possibly by swearing by God's throne or God's name or something like that basically what he's doing is he's saying if that's the truth I put myself under a curse if that's the truth It's kind of like us saying today. Well if I'm not telling the truth me lightning strike me right now It's kind of like us saying that it's kind of kind of like a dare to God Can you imagine what's going through Peter's heart and mind right now? It's obvious that he is fearful This whole evening has been extremely Convoluted to them. They've been woken up in the garden the 600 soldiers show up and Peter has jumped to Jesus aid and Jesus calls him off and Peter is just so confused about what's going on He just he's not he's clueless. He's run, but then he's come back and and he's just there's such a turmoil Going on in his mind no question I'm not trying to excuse what he did by any means but Peter is just his mind is racing in many different directions at once no doubt and And he's he's afraid he's afraid of being he wants to be with Jesus He's afraid of being arrested and and he doesn't understand what's going on And he just vehemently denies even calling down curses on himself if he's lying. What a nightmare What an absolute nightmare this is for Peter One other detail from John's gospel if you still have your place there if not try to find it again There's one other little detail about the denials that I find interesting in regard to Peter and it's the third denial in John 18 verse 26 One of the high priests servants A relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off challenged him didn't I see you with him in the garden? That's the essence of the third denial is that he's recognized by a relative of Malkus Whose ear Peter had cut off that's an interesting little detail that John only adds and And the Bible says again Peter denied it and at that moment a rooster began to crow Well, that that's the denials which are incredible It's just hard to imagine the turmoil inside Peter's mind and heart right now But then notice back in in Mark's gospel the piercing conviction that takes place Verse 72 immediately the rooster crowed the second time Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him Before the rooster crowed twice you will disown me three times and he broke down and wet Okay, let's try to get the scene here Peter over the last hour and a half or so as Jesus is being tried has denied the Lord three times And the third time he does calling down curses on himself if what he's being challenged with is true You know if I know him or if I'm one of his I I asked God to curse me um And then all of a sudden that rooster crowed and everything comes back to Peter And he remembers that that's exactly what Jesus said would happen and it just comes back with a crushing blow There's one other little detail that only Luke's gospel adds so let's find our way to Luke 22 Because this is a very touching and significant part of the story Luke 22 verses 61 and 62 Verse 60 says Peter replied man I don't know what you're talking about just as he was speaking the rooster crowed never 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him before the rooster crowed today You will disown me three times and he went outside and wept bitterly The detail a couple of details, but the the main one that Luke adds is that Jesus Caught Peter's eye he looked at him At the at the moment the rooster crowed and it was hitting Peter what he had done He also saw Jesus look at him that's it's possible that at that moment Jesus is being led out of the reception room and Jesus looks at Peter What do you think What do you think that look was like what do you what do you think was in Jesus eyes? forgiveness compassion sadness Yeah Love yeah, I told you so Certainly that is in Peter's thoughts that that's what's coming back to him. He remembered what Jesus had said It's hard to know for sure what was in Jesus eyes maybe a combination of all of those things You know have sometimes in a very tense or emotional moment you can look into someone's eyes and you can see a whole host of emotions Right and I think all of those that you've mentioned may have hit Peter and I think maybe he also saw some hurt You know I Think maybe he also remembered that Jesus had told him Satan has desired to sift you as we have you so that he can sift you as we But I have prayed for you Peter that your faith failed not That's in Luke 22 also just before the passage we read Jesus had said that just before they left the upper room That Satan was gonna try to shake him sift him like wheat and and maybe he remembered that Jesus was gonna pray for him and Was praying for him and so maybe there was that in his eyes too that Peter I'm sorry. It's come to this. I'm praying for you But love compassion hurt sadness forgiveness all of those things I think probably rushed in at Peter and just overwhelmed him and if with a crushing Realization of what he had done He runs out and weeps Um, have you ever failed the Lord? rhetorical question right we all have we've all failed our Lord in some way at some point to different levels no doubt degrees, but I think when we when we do when we fail our Lord if if we could only put ourselves in Peter shoes and Experience what he experienced and see what he saw and feel what he felt from our Lord. It's it's I think Um very telling that Jesus Response to us in the same way when we fail him When we are unfaithful in whatever way we are in our personal lives or whatever whatever way it is You know things we say to people Unkind thoughts we think toward people You know, whatever it may be whatever failed you we may have um I think it is very fitting to put ourselves back in this situation It's interesting that on the day of the resurrection Jesus will have a personal private meeting with Peter Oh There was some unfinished business there wasn't there had to There was some things that I'm sure in Peter's mind that um He probably felt like he could never never ever serve God again. There's some evidences of that maybe In John's gospel when he went back to Fischer in that kind of thing Just a very gripping moment isn't it that that piercing conviction that he felt Any any other comments questions anything you want to add here Yes Yeah All Right Mm-hmm he did When when Jesus asked who to men say that I am and then turns around says who do you say that I am it was Peter that answered wasn't it and he was very clear on who Christ was Peter was Peter is one of the most fascinating Character studies in all the scriptures He was so bold and for our Lord at times and so weak at other times and There's so many things that come back to my mind and maybe came back to Peter's mind You know you wonder how how long he went how long how long this went on Maybe all day Friday as Jesus is suffering on the cross maybe Peter is somewhere Hold up by himself just weeping and a flood of things coming back. I You know, I told him I would never deny him. I would go to death with him. I told him that last night. I told him that And maybe he's thinking of that maybe he's thinking of all the times that he professed Who Jesus was Maybe he's thinking about the three times in the garden that Jesus woke him up Because he fell asleep when he was Jesus had asked him to pray with him You know, there's just so much. I'm sure that went through Peter's heart and mind He is such a great study because he is For lack of a better term. He's so human isn't he so much like us We're up and down we're we're at times uh glowing in our profession of allegiance to Christ and even performance of it and then at other times we're so weak and we're just so much like Peter Yeah Yeah Exactly Yes Yeah great great point. Yeah and you even see in everything that's happening Peter's volatile nature, don't you he He wants to be there. He wants to be there for our Lord. He doesn't want to forsake him He's promised him he wouldn't but he can't bring himself to own up that he knows him. You know, there's this inner turmoil. It's just so incredibly real um And you wonder what the others would have done if they were there. I wonder what John was doing where was John This time was he in the room with Jesus and what was he doing? What was he saying? There's just so many unanswered questions here. It's a fascinating scene Okay Okay ready to move on or anything else here All right, the next thing we're going to see is the decision of the Sanhedrin and we're going to look at at Matthew's gospel First Matthew 27 verse one Because there's a statement there that that indicates to us the reason for this meeting We were thinking why is there another meeting of the Sanhedrin Because Mark's gospel has already told us that they had gathered when Caiaphas was questioning Jesus and they had already come to the conclusion Caiaphas addressed the Sanhedrin when he said is there any reason for any more testimony? We've heard him say it himself. He's a blasphemer and and they all agreed and That's when they started Um Beating him hitting him Blindfolded him and and hitting and said Prophecy if you're really the Messiah Remember we saw that that was A reference back to the Old Testament Isaiah 11 where the the Messiah will not judge by what he sees or hears and the rabbis interpret of that to mean that he could Smell and tell who people were and so that's the reason they blindfolded him and hit him and said okay now tell us who hit you Who was it you can't see you can't hear tell us tell us who it was and They're and then the soldiers got caught up in it remember we've seen that okay now The Sanhedrin is going to convene again. Let's let's look at it here in Matthew 27 verse 1 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 let him away and handed him over to pilot the governor Okay now Early in the morning really is the key to what's going on here We've kind of been following a time frame and we found that Jesus before Caiaphas was somewhere You know given the amount of time that we have in the gospels for what took place somewhere around 3 30 in the morning something like that Early in the morning literally is at daybreak or at daylight And daylight in the Jewish way of thinking is at six the daytime hours That's when the last watch of night ends at six o'clock in the morning remember we started this whole Section on the trials by doing a little study on the time the way Jews kept time And there were four watches the night the last one ended at six o'clock and then they started counting hours at six o'clock in the morning Till six o'clock in the evening so Daylight for the Jew Early in the morning or daybreak was considered six o'clock Remember again as we've said we're near the equator here and so there's more of an evenness to the number of hours of daylight and darkness Then what we would experience this far from the equator And so pretty much from six to six you've got daylight so What they're doing is they're waiting until daylight To literally pass the sentence And the reason for that is you remember we talked about all the different laws that were broken One of them was that no official judgment was supposed to be made at night There's only supposed to be made in the day And so they've waited maybe as much as two hours Before they will actually pass the sentence against him they've already come to the decision They did that when Caiaphas questioning But they wait until daybreak to at least give this Some semblance of legality Now they've already broken a bunch of Jewish laws But at least to give it some sense of legality they wait till daybreak to pass down the sentence of The death penalty and that's what they're doing here Plus They've also been as verse one tells us they've been making plans on how to have Jesus executed They're working out the legal wrangling of the wording and the terminology and they know that they can't Do capital punishment remember? The only the Romans can carry out capital punishment So they're probably trying to figure out okay We know we got to take him to pilot to actually having him executed How what kind of case are we going to present to pilot and this is probably where they came up with the idea of treason If we're going to get a capital offense if we're going to get the death penalty out of the Romans We can't go to them with blasphemy They don't care about blasphemy they got a whole pantheon of gods They don't they don't understand what we mean by blasphemy and so we've got to get a different crime and and a different sentence from the Romans and so they evidently in this planning time Deciding how they're going to appeal to pilot come up with the idea of treason And that's how they'll present it to pilot So that's the reason for this meeting They've already come to the decision a couple hours earlier But they have to wait till they break to give some semblance of legality before they actually pass the sentence and send him on To pilot because pilot will know that there's been a little hanky-panky here if things are not taken place during the day And so he's you know he'll call him on it Which he tried to do on some other things That's the reason for the meeting Now the verdict Reached at this meeting is described for us better in Luke's account In Luke 22 so let's flip over to Luke 22 the hold your place in in Matthew because we'll come back By the way, what do you think happened in those two hours? If if we've got the time frame correct and we may not but what do you think happened in those two hours where there's no real Record of anything Remember the last thing we saw in Mark's gospel After Caiaphas has made his declaration and the Sanhedrin has agreed that he's worthy of death Remember that's when they took him out probably into the courtyard Blindfolded him started hitting him spit on him and then the soldiers got involved Is it possible that could have lasted for a couple of hours? It's possible. It's possible that it was kind of off and on. It's possible. They just held him in a certain location for a while Waiting for daybreak But it's possible that sporadically through that two-hour period of time. That's what was happening So So what so cowardly yes for sure And on our Savior's part so majestic right we've seen already his majestic calmness The glory of God shining through him His absolute control of this whole situation His not answering questions When he didn't need to his and that's part of what Caiaphas was agitated about That Jesus would not respond to the witnesses He wasn't retaliating he wasn't striking back. He wasn't defending himself And that's part of what got Caiaphas all upset And so you see that the cowardly sinful hateful actions on the part of the religious leaders And a calm majestic deity Coming from Christ It's amazing Well, this was this was going to be a very quick meeting of the Sanhedrin at daybreak Because all they're going to do is make official what they've already decided And they're just going to try to do it in daylight to give it again some semblance of legality But notice how they do it in in Luke 22 verse 66 at daybreak the council of the elders of the people both the chief priests and the teachers of the law met together And Jesus was led before them and basically they're going to reiterate their two charges very quickly If you are the Messiah they said tell us Jesus answered if I tell you you will not believe me And if I asked you you would not answer From now on the Son of man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty god So Jesus repeats his answer basically Now verse 70 they all asked are you then the Son of God? So those are the two questions they'd asked him earlier and the rear rear it reiterating those He replied you say that I am then they said why do we need any more testimony? We've heard it from his own lips Basically, this is a rehash of what they had done earlier But it's at daybreak now and they're kind of reconfirming making official the verdict that they have and Passing the sentence that he should be put to death Now they will at this point send him on to pilot As we've as we've seen only the Romans can carry out capital punishment and actually Um Pronounced a death sentence According to Jewish law they are satisfied that he's guilty and that he is worthy of death But now they've got to get the official civil uh declaration of A death sentence so they'll do that with pilot and that will start the second half of the trials It will it will begin the civil part of the trials with pilot and remember there'll be three parts to that too He'll he'll be before pilot pilot was sending him to herod Herod will send him back to pilot. There'll be three actual phases of that part of the trial too, but Um There's something else that's happening and we're gonna take our last 10 minutes or so to look at this Something else that happens that only Matthew tells us about and that's what's going on with Judas right now Okay, and remember some of this is all happening together in the same time frame But Peter's denials are taking place while other things are happening with Christ Judas the demise of Judas is also taking place At the same time some of the other things are happening, but Matthew's gospel describes it Matthew 27 again Verse three When Judas who had betrayed him saw that Jesus was condemned He was seized with remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders I have sinned he said for I have betrayed innocent blood What is that us they replied that's your responsibility? So Judas threw the money into the temple and left then he went away and hanged himself Now I'm I'm titling this on your outline his remorse and there's a reason for that Some translations use the word repentance He was he repented But this is not the normal word for repentance There's a well-known word used many times in the New Testament a Greek word for repentance It's not that word. It's a different word that's only used four times in the New Testament And every time it's used it has to do with remorse or regret Or I wish I hadn't gotten involved that kind of thing So that's really what Judas is experiencing We're gonna trace this out a little bit follow it through but I do not believe that Judas Sincerely repented even though he says I've sinned For I've betrayed innocent blood basically. What do you think he's saying with that? I made a mistake. I messed up. I shouldn't have gotten involved. I think that's what he's saying because Remember he he did this After Jesus had called him on the carpet about the washing of his feet with Mary and the the His statement that this money could have been used to Provide for the poor but we know all along Judas is a thief. He's been stealing money. He's wicked in his heart But he did this impetuously He left right after that and went and offered his services to the Pharisees And so he did that kind of impetuously out of anger. I think I don't think his heart was ever with Jesus I don't think he was ever a believer But I think he realized he had made a stupid move by getting involved in the condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus He didn't mean for it to go that far And he was going to betray maybe so that he'd be arrested but when he saw that he was condemned They're gonna kill him He realizes man. This is gone too far and he's trying to back out. I think that's what his remorse is I think that's what his regret is. I don't think it's genuine repentance because it's not the right word for that It's a different word Let me see what else is here that I wanted to Point out. Oh, he takes the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priest says I've sinned. I've messed up. I I shouldn't have done this. I betrayed innocent blood and noticed their response. What does that does? I mean, why are we care? That's your problem In their minds Judas was only what Pond yeah a tool he was only a pawn he was just a piece of the puzzle They've gotten their use out of him. They don't care about Judas Yeah Right No And they they have no concern for him anyway. I mean they have no concern for Any of Jesus followers and they've used him they've gotten out of him what they wanted so You're regretting it now That's that's on you man. We don't care about that That's your response bet your your deal And so Judas in verse five through the money into the temple and left the word for temple there is the word not on which is a specific Greek word for the holy place They were already in the temple precincts, but the holy place is a place that only the priests could go So that gives me the clue that what happened here is the high priest stepped back into the holy place Judas can't enter that So he throws the money at him. He can't go in and hand it back to them. So he just throws it at him Into the the holy place You Just remorse Yeah, it does it does if it were not for Some clear statements of scripture as to where Judas went and we're going to look at those in just a minute I would come to the same conclusion When he says I've sinned I betrayed innocent blood and then he hangs himself. You're thinking he is consumed with with With something more than remorse But it I think in light of some other scriptures. It's clear that Judas Realized he had made a fatal mistake. He never meant for Jesus to die He was going to betray him But he never meant for him to die when he saw that he was condemned that just it made him realize I've done something awful and what can he do now? Can he go back to the disciples and apologize? Now he's he's burned his bridges with them and so He sees no way out and maybe Maybe Judas is given to fits of You know extreme action. We don't know and and that leads him to go hang himself. I it's hard to tell The Greek word metanoyah is a word which means to do and about face to turn away from it means to turn around and walk away from Your sin That's what the word means and the word that's used here is the word for remorse or regret or to change your mind Isn't But not turn away from Now it even looks like he's turning away from it because he wants to give the money back Yeah, there's a lot going on here. That's difficult to sort out but let me let me go ahead and and talk about this pattern of hypocrisy and that kind of settles it for me in John well these verses run screen John six these are these are the things Jesus said about Judas Yet there are some of you Talking to all the disciples. There's some of you who do not believe For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him Then Jesus replied have I not chosen you the twelve yet one of you is a devil He meant Judas the son of Simon is chariot Who the one of the twelve was later to betray him Could Jesus is speaking about his character here indicating that he is not at all one of them He is a devil which indicates that he is not a believer Okay, next next verse Tim This is this is in the prayer in the upper room while I was with them Jesus is praying to the father while I was with them the disciples I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction King James Terminology may be familiar with the son of perdition Okay, we want doomed to destruction so that scripture would be fulfilled and and the idea of Of that whole expression is that Judas went to hell And The apostles say as much also in acts one when they're choosing a successor To him he went to his own place they basically say So that that kind of balances things out and leads me to believe that He did not repent in the sense that he was forgiven and saved Whatever was going on in his mind was a whirling combination of remorse regret Um wanting to somehow get out of it not wanting his hands to be tainted with Jesus blood And so he wants to get rid of the money um But it's not genuine repentance He may have been in fear of his life Yeah And just the sense of hopelessness where do I go now? What do I do You know, it's one thing it's one thing to be a Benedict Arnold and to have been promised Uh A leadership position in the British army You know, it's one thing to know that that's waiting for you if you betray General Washington. That's one thing It's another thing to not have anywhere to go And maybe that despair is what drove him to hang himself It's hard to it's hard to know what always going on in his mind Okay, it's eight o'clock and I don't want to get into the next section because it's a little bit too much here Oh, we got to though. It was a finish up real quick real quick Because will I'm just remember I'm not gonna be here next Wednesday night So we got to finish this or we'll lose the thought Verse six the chief priest 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 potters 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 30 pieces of silver Price they said on him by the people of Israel Price said on him by the people of Israel and they used them to buy the potters field as the Lord commanded me And here's what's going on with the religious leaders We can't take this money and use it in the temple work because it's blood money and the Old Testament law Had specific regulations about money that could not be used in the temple One example of that is in Deuteronomy 23 18 Where Moses said 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 Well as the rabbis Often did they added to that other kinds of money that should not be accepted to be used in the temple for sacrifices Or paying a vow or anything like that and one was blood money Blood money any money that has been used In in a deal to put someone to death cannot be brought into the temple and used in the temple Now is there something wrong with this picture? It smells doesn't it why does it smell funny to you Such hypocrites Who made this blood money They did They're the ones that paid it to Judas So that they could put him to death there the ones that made it blood money and so Get the picture here. I think it's one of the clearest pictures of hypocrisy in all the Bible from their hearts They're the ones that made it blood money they hate Jesus. They want him dead But the money itself when it comes back to them Cannot be used in the temple because Moses law says we should not do that It is a prime example of the letter of the law without the heart So prime example of what Jesus said you make the outside clean but inside you're full of dead men's bones Their heart was wicked. They're the ones that made it blood money But they won't use it in the temple because that's against the law You know It's just a classic example and so they know there's this potter's field where all the the clays been taken out of it to make pottery with And they're going to buy that and make it a burial ground for Gentiles. That's a good way to use this money. So that's what we'll do That's what they did, but it is a classic Maybe the most glaring example of hypocrisy in all the New Testament The way they handle this money Okay Well, at least we do not have a lot of children waiting for us downstairs tonight So we took a few minutes to sexual disproclusion prayer Father Again, we marvel at our Lord our Savior the one who Is being so abused And yet who carries himself so regally As he proceeds Purposefully toward His appointment with death on the cross May we may we stop long enough to see all that he's doing so that we Would be more grateful our gratitude our thankfulness our recognition of what he did for us will be deepened It's in his precious name. We thank you for our salvation Amen