Briefing: Have you ever felt sorry for someone you arrested? Not that they were innocent, but a good person who made a bad decision. Don’t feel sorry for Judas; he’s not that guy.

Dispatch (Assignment): Read Matthew 27:1-10.

On the Street: We are in the job of finding truth and justice. Our justice system’s purpose is to see people treated fairly. When was the last time you looked at the statue of justice? It is a blindfolded statue. The message behind it is people in this country will be treated fairly regardless of race, sex, political affiliation or economic status. This was the concept when the founding fathers laid out the foundation of our nation.

No matter how good your plan is, when you throw humans in the mix, you can guarantee it will be corrupted. Israel also had a justice system. It was very different from ours but still had intentions of being fair. The Jewish/Israeli system had become corrupt. The leaders (Pharisees, Sadducees, chief priests and elders) knew Jesus was innocent. He was not a criminal; He was a political threat. These leaders wanted Jesus dead. They had murder in their hearts which lead to an intentional and deliberate plot to crucify Him.

Judas, on the other hand, seems to regret his betrayal of Jesus. When Judas found out Jesus was set to be crucified, he takes the money back to the Jewish leaders and confessed he had “betrayed innocent blood”. I have often read this passage and felt sorry for Judas because he shows remorse, but on further examination of the character of Judas, the Bible tells a different story. Satan had a hold on Judas, who never showed a strong commitment to Jesus. In John 12:4-6, we see that Judas was the treasurer and often stole money from the very account he was asked to oversee.

Judas was called the son of perdition in John 17:2, which means the son of destruction. In John 10:10, Satan only comes to kill, steal and destroy. It is not too far of a stretch to say Judas was a son of his father Satan.

Peter also betrays Jesus by denying Him three times the night Jesus is arrested. There was a difference between Peter’s repentance and Judas’ regret.

Highlights from this Read: The timeline during the Passion Week for this event was 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Friday morning.

In verse four, Judas said he had betrayed innocent blood. The response from the chief priest and elders was an admission of their guilt in murdering an innocent man. They did not argue with Judas that Jesus was not innocent, they simply implied, “we don’t care” and “we have Him now”.

Investigational Resources: Zechariah chapter eleven is an awesome prophesy of Jesus’ coming. Zechariah 11:12-13 speaks to Judas’ betrayal, which was predicted. Also, Acts 1:16-19 talks about Judas being arrested and taking place to fulfill scripture. The chief priests used the money to buy a field to bury foreigners. This can be found in Jeremiah 19:6.

Officer Safety Principle: Study the week leading up to the resurrection. Jesus’ death on the cross was for each of us. All men die but Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

from The Gospel of Matthew Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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