Judas Iscariot: Part 6 His Death
After Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus, he commits suicide.
There are two narratives of this in the Bible and they seem contradictory.
Matthew 27 v 3-10
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. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. 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.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 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, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
Acts 1 v 18-19
With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.
Matthew’s Narrative
In the Gospel according to Matthew, we see Judas return the money and explain to the priests how he had sinned. He had betrayed and deceived Jesus.
It appears to me the priests refused to allow him to make a guilt offering for this sin of betrayal. They told him that the sin he committed was his responsibility and therefore he alone had to make restitution with God. I wonder if this was a euphemism for, ‘go kill yourself’.
In Judas’s eyes, he had killed the Messiah, the Son of God. How could there be any redemption for him? How could he make restitution for betraying God?
So he hung himself.
Deuteronomy 21 v 23
Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse
This verse is normally used to refer to Jesus. Though it doesn’t say nailed to a tree, but hung. It is the hanging which brings the curse. If we assume Judas hung himself from a tree, then he became cursed. Symbolically speaking, whereas Christ’s death led to salvation, Judas’s death ended in a curse. Nothing he could personally do would relieve it, apart from repentance to God.
Cain, Abel and Seth
It reminds me of Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel and becomes forever cursed by God. Cast out from His presence into the Land of Nod. Nod means the place of wandering and grieving.
Similarly, Judas leaves the presence of Jesus (God) in the upper room, betrays Him with a kiss, and kills himself, entering the eternal place of wandering and grieving, Hell.
A further aspect is found in the names of Abel and Seth (Adam and Eve’s third son). Abel means to be empty. Christ emptied himself on the Cross. The name Seth means compensation. Christ is the compensation for our unholiness. But also the root word for Seth means foundation. Christ is the foundation of the New Covenant between God and Humanity.
Matthew Misquotes Jeremiah
Another issue is the prophecy Matthew is quoting is actually from the Book of Zechariah.
Zechariah 11 v 12-13
I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.
It is possible that Matthew is referring to the Scroll of Jeremiah. The Jews divided their Scriptures into three scrolls, the Law, the Writings and the Prophets. It might be that Matthew calls the scroll which included the prophetic books as the Scroll of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is the longest prophetic book in the original language. And as books were sometimes arranged from longest to shortest. Jeremiah would have been the first on the scroll and hence could have been referred to as the scroll of Jeremiah.
A Burial Place for Foreigners
I find it interesting that the returned money was used to buy a field to bury foreigners. Another name for foreigners is gentiles, or non-Jews. The priests may have seen this as a practical solution to provide space to bury gentiles. But I think the symbolism is telling.
Through the betrayal of Jesus, a place was found for the gentiles amongst Israel. Like with the New Covenant, gentiles could now inherit the Kingdom of God.
Luke’s Narrative
In the Book of Acts, we read that Judas bought the field and not the priests. And then Judas didn’t die hanging, but tripped and fell. His body the burst open.
It could be argued that Judas hung himself in the field and his body burst open as he fell forward. This would resolve this anomaly.
Another way to align these stories is to say that Judas bought the field, as the priests never accepted the money. They only used it to buy the field on Judas’s behalf. Judas was the true owner, not the priests.
Through betrayal, the Gentiles find a home in God’s family. This seems so strange that redemption comes through a door of betrayal. But this the way God brought all humanity to Himself.