Title: The Conscience of Judas Iscariot
Contents
3 When Judas, who had betrayed Jesus, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself and brought the thirty pieces of silver back to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." They said, "What does that have to do with us?" 5 Judas threw the silver into the sanctuary, and went away and hanged himself to death. 6 The chief priests gathered the silver and said, "This is the price of blood, and it is not right to put it in the treasury." They bought a field and made it a burial place for a stranger. 8 Therefore it is called a field of blood to this day. 9 Then the word spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, "They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of those who were appointed among the children of Israel, 10 I gave him for his field, just as the Lord commanded me.”
1. Words that begin
An incident occurred in which a third-year middle school student with a bright future committed suicide after being bullied and bullied by classmates. In the meantime, such unfortunate tragedies have occurred, but the same tragedy occurred again because the education community and the government could not take any measures.
You should know that ostracizing someone, whether playful or malicious, is a direct personality murder, an indirect murder that kills a life that is more precious than the world, and a sin that drives a nail into the hearts of the parents and family members. You also need to know that you will get what you pay for.
Judea's top leadership, including the chief priests and elders, had considerable knowledge of the law and the world, but they were spiritually stupid and did not know that Jesus was the Messiah. After that, he did not accept the repentant Judas Iscariot, and by ostracizing him, he drove him to death.
2. The Suicide of the Repentant Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot, who had sold Jesus as his teacher, to the council, which is the supreme body of chief priests and elders, repented when he saw that Jesus was condemned. Perhaps Judas Iscariot did not expect that the result of his selling Jesus would be so serious and regretted it, or, although he expected it, he must have repented when he saw the miserable face of Jesus. Judging by his regrets and repentance, it seems that he misjudged that Jesus Christ might miraculously stop him.
Judas Iscariot can be seen as a man of considerable conscience and character, compared to some of the virtuous people who make mistakes, such as taking bribes, and take off their chimneys or stick out their flippers. Instead of blaming others for selling Jesus, blaming the Jewish clergy, or blaming the Devil, he blamed himself. He made no excuses for not knowing or being out of his mind. He repented of himself.
“Repent” is the Greek word metameleteis (μεταμεληθε??), which means “to regret” or “to feel remorse”.
Judas Iscariot regretted and felt remorse at the consequences of his ingratitude and treachery, but unfortunately he did not repent. As he recalled Jesus' warnings several times, he misused the opportunity to repent as entangled in his own remorse. Such an attitude may be desirable from a human point of view, but it is not God's way of salvation, but of self-righteousness and destruction.
Even today, ahead of the local elections, there are ungrateful and treacherous people to get ahead. Some move to a party that is likely to win the election, and some even try to return to the party they left behind with ingratitude, even being called a traitor.
It happened in England in the 17th century. When a civil war broke out after a parliament led by General Cromwell faced the monarchy, poet Edmund Waller joined the royalist conspiracy. However, Waller was imprisoned after General Cromwell's victory and was fined and deported from the country barely spared. Years later, after a handful of errands, Waller, who was able to return home, wrote a hymn to His Excellency Cromwell Tribunal. However, the world unexpectedly changed and Charles II returned to the throne. Waller, a traitor and opportunist, wrote this time a hymn to the king in honor of His Majesty's reverent country. After reading this poem, King Charles II, with an annoyed expression on his face, told Waller that it was inferior to the hymn to Cromwell. Waller replied without hesitation, "Your Majesty, a poet is better at writing lies than truth."
The hymn to Cromwell was a lie.
Ingratitude and betrayal abound in the human world. These days, more and more children are ignoring or abandoning their parents, and what is more shocking is that they do not consider ignoring or abandoning their parents as ingratitude or betrayal. It is ingratitude among ingratitude, and betrayal among betrayal.
Therefore, regret is essential, and remorse is essential. However, more desperately needed is repentance. It's not about regret or conscience, it's about holding on to the Lord.
Judas Iscariot did not only repent in his heart, but he took action. He sold Jesus and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. It was returned to the council. Not only did he return the money, he boldly declared, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. It is a confession of the sin of betraying the innocent life of Jesus. This confession testifies that Judas Iscariot, who had been up and down for about 3 years as a disciple of Jesus, was well acquainted with Jesus' public and private life, and the teachings, wonders, and miracles of the gospel, that Jesus was innocent. In that it is a testimony to the members of the council, it can be a decisive testimony that Jesus is innocent.
However, the council members ignored that fact. They said, in one word, "what has that to do with us, you shall suffer." The sin of betraying the innocent life of Jesus has nothing to do with them, so Judas Iscariot must suffer. They used Judas Iscariot to achieve their goals, and they are asking him to pay the price for his sins, since he has no value. It was thoroughly abandoned.
It is also important to pay the price, and it is also important to visit the people involved. However, more urgent than all of that is repentance. And to hear the voice of the Lord. After committing a sin, there is nothing more urgent than going to the Lord and hearing His word.
However, instead of repenting, Judas Iscariot took hold of his conscience and wrestled with it. He was a very conscientious person. He was conscientious enough to take his own life because of his remorse. He threw thirty pieces of silver into the sanctuary, went back and hanged himself to death.
It's very sad, but here's a surprising truth. Sages and gentlemen, wise men and iron men, moralists and religious people claim that conscience is the way to salvation, but in reality, conscience cannot save humans. Didn't Judas Iscariot, who wrestled with his conscience to the end, end in destruction? However, after denying Jesus, Peter, who thought of the Lord's words at the sound of a rooster's crowing and held onto the Lord, received the Lord's love for forgiveness and went on the path of a glorious disciple. A much more urgent and grave task than feeling remorse to the point of taking one's life is to repent and take hold of the Lord. Do we also have sins that we need to sort out? We must first repent and hold on to the Lord.
3. The spiritual stupidity of the high priests
When the chief priests saw the thirty pieces of silver that Judas Iscariot had thrown into the sanctuary, they collected the money and said, “This is the price of blood, and it is not lawful to put it in the treasury.” It is the money that bought Jesus' life, so it is not right to put it in the treasury. The high priests are unwittingly admitting the sin that made the innocent Jesus a sinner. Think about it. If Jesus is a real sinner, then there is no need to pay Judas Iscariot to arrest and judge Jesus, right?
There's a reason they said it wasn't right to put the money in the treasury. Deuteronomy 23:18 says, “Do not bring the money of a prostitute or the income of a dog-like person to the house of the LORD your God by making any vows, for both are an abomination to the LORD your God.”
It is absurd that they, who pay such close attention to trivial matters, are so anxious that they could not kill Jesus, who gave sufficient evidence that he was the Messiah through words, wonders, and miracles, as prophesied in the Old Testament, the law. .
After discussing the thirty pieces of silver, the clergy bought the potter's field and made it a graveyard for Gentile converts and Jewish travelers. Considering that there are only thirty pieces of land enough to be used as a cemetery, it can be said that the land is almost abandoned. The field was on the south side of Mount Zion, and it was called the Field of Blood, meaning field bought with the price of one's life.
The chief priests acted wisely in their own way, and with the thirty pieces of silver they bought a potter's field, in fact, it was fulfilled as prophesied a long time ago. The content was that he took thirty pieces of silver, a price set by evaluating the value of a person, and gave it to the potter for the price of his field.
4. Conclusion
Ingratitude and betrayal abound today. Even among believers, there are ungrateful people who betray the Lord because of their interests. Like Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, the more urgent and important thing than holding on to his conscience enough to take his life is to repent before the Lord of love. Judas Iscariot, who wrestled with his conscience, ended in ruin, and Peter, who committed the sin of denying Jesus, repented and held on to the Lord, went the path of a master disciple. If we also have sins that need to be sorted out, we must first repent and hold on to the Lord.