“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, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ They said, ‘What is that to us? See to it yourself.’ And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed …” (Matthew 27:3-5a ESV)
Oh, Judas. He brings the silver back to the people who bought him, hoping desperately to undo the evil that he has done. And predictably, his fellow murderers aren’t interested: “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” Judas “sees to it” in the only way he can imagine: he executes himself. How I wish he had waited for Jesus’ resurrection.
As for the priests and elders, they see only one loose end to tend to, and that is the proper disposal of the blood money. With Judas gone and Jesus gone, nothing is left but administrative trivia.
Or so they think. Because at that very moment, Jesus our Savior was “seeing to” us—every one of us who has ever been guilty of innocent blood. Whether it was outright murder or the lesser murders of hatred and hurting and wrecking other people’s lives, whether we did it with actions or words or just in the quiet of our own hearts—we are guilty, aren’t we? And Jesus saw to us. He did it by pouring out that same innocent blood on the cross—by giving His life willingly so that we might be forgiven and made clean. Nobody could do it but Him. And now He offers clean, pure, forgiven resurrection life to all of us who trust in Him.
We Pray: Lord, thank You. I love You. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
* What do you think Jesus would have done if He had met Judas after the resurrection?
* Why is hatred akin to
* Is there a guilt you’ve been carrying for a long time? Pray about it. Jesus will forgive.
Lenten Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on March 26, 2023
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights
