Matthew 27 - All that Glitters Isn't Gold

“ 3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins 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.’

5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”

Judas experienced what many of us do when we sin, but on a much grander scale. That thirty pieces of silver seemed so good, the promises of the Pharisees seemed so sweet to his ears, but, as it is with sin, once done, the act was not as great as you thought it would be. This is the remorse that Judas felt. He realized, all too late, that what he did was a sin and the payment (30 pieces of silver) was not at all worth the ultimate cost, his betrayal of Jesus.

This is why he tried to give it back, to undo what he had done, but it was too late. The Pharisees, who had been so supportive of Judas, so luring and trusting, turned on him, mocked him and judged him, placing the blame on him; not so sweet acting or supportive now that they had what they wanted. The sin lost its luster once committed and made Judas so sorrowful that he took his own life.

We as Christians are very critical of Judas, we heap blame and disgust on him, but are we really different? Don’t we too allow sin to entice us to turn our backs on Jesus? Don’t we allow the luster of worldly, physical things take us away from Jesus? Then why do we persecute Judas without turning that same scrutiny upon ourselves?

We can learn an extremely valuable lesson from Judas. Place your trust in the Lord, not in the allure of sin. For sin will ultimately disappoint you, turn on you, destroy you, which is what satan intends to do; however, God never will. God will never forsake you or leave you, what He offers is EXACTLY what you will get. He loves us enough to send His Son to die for us, Jesus loves us enough to die for us, that is true love. Judas didn’t realize that until it was too late, don’t you make that same mistake. Get right with God now, ask His forgiveness and change before it does become too late.