Looking into the Abyss
Opening Prayer
My precious Savior and faithful Friend, may I always come to You even if I want to run from You.
Read Matthew 27:1-10
[1] Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. [2] So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor. [3] 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. [4] “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” [5] So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. [6] 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.” [7] So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. [8] That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. [9] 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, [10] and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What is an alternative response to hopelessness?As Jesus is handed over to the Roman authorities and Pontius Pilate in particular, Judas has a moment of dreadful realization. He has “betrayed innocent blood” (4), and he desperately tries to undo his wrongdoing by returning the money to its source. But with no success. The chief priests are unconcerned by his mental turmoil–they have got their man, and don’t care about the anguish it is now causing Judas. In hopelessness Judas takes his own life. The money he has returned is used to buy a field, thus fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy (see Jer. 19:1-13; 32:6-9; Zech. 11:12,13). Both Peter and Judas deeply regretted their disloyalty to Jesus, yet Judas’s subsequent actions deprived him of the possibility of redemption. It is a sobering passage that shows us the impossibility of trying to make amends for sin in our own strength. We need a Savior–Jesus–who by his death can lift us from despair into forgiveness and hope.
Apply
Journal about the concurrent choices being made by Jesus, Peter and Judas. Consider motives and consequences.
Closing prayer
I love You, Lord. Thank You for all You’ve given to save me. Thank You for Your tender and neverending love.
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