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I am using readings from the 49 Week Bible Challenge as the basis for these devotions. I encourage you to join me in this discipline. Today’s readings are Matthew 27:1-10; 1 Samuel 31; Jeremiah 19; 32; Zechariah 11.
Matthew 27:1-10
When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.
3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”
Matthew pauses his account to remind us that even Judas’ betrayal and the priests’ hypocrisy were foretold by the prophets. He quotes Jeremiah by name, though the wording also reflects Zechariah. That puzzle has drawn much discussion, but the larger point should not be lost: all of this unfolds according to God’s plan, fulfilling the Scriptures.
The real focus is Judas and the leaders of Israel. Judas realizes the horror of what he has done. “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he confesses. We see his great remorse over his part in Jesus’ demise. But there is no indication of true repentance on his part. Only his rueful act of returning the blood money to the chief priests and elders. He walks away in despair instead of turning to the One who could have forgiven him. Judas’ sad act of regret is – as far as we know – too little too late.
The priests, for their part, reveal their own duplicity. They are so concerned about keeping their treasury ritually-clean that they cannot see the real stain of guilt on their hands. They reject Judas’ money but press on with the greater crime of condemning the Lord of glory. Outward proximity to the temple and its treasures is no substitute for faith.
Both Judas and the priests remind us how one can appear to be close to God’s ways, yet be far from Him in truth. The warning is sobering. We must never substitute close proximity to the things of God for true faithfulness to his will and ways. He desires our hearts and our hands and will always receive the humble believer but will see through the pitiful veil of mere outward piety.
But the good news is greater: Jesus willingly bore the guilt of all, including even betrayers and hypocrites. He shed His innocent blood for us all, so that in Him we might not be left in despair but receive full forgiveness and life.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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