Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on Matthew 27:1-10. The main subject of the sermon is Judas’ suicide, which followed His betrayal.
Introduction
Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27, looking this morning at verses 1 through 10. And as we come to this very sobering text, come to the text that I just mentioned, ordinarily we wouldn’t choose necessarily to study, choose to preach a sermon on. But we come here in this text to the shocking end, the tragic end, of Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve. And we can picture him in our mind’s eyes swinging on at the end of a rope, dead. Lifeless, alone. The suicide of a truly evil man, who was richly blessed by the proximity of his relationship with Christ, richly blessed, but never believed, never trusted, and turned him in for 30 pieces of silver.
And we can see those 30 silver coins, we can almost picture them clattering on the stone pavement and rolling until each one of them came to a stop. You can see the hypocritical priests kneeling down to pick each one of those 30 silver coins up, the very coins that they had paid out to Judas just a short time before, to effect the betrayal of Jesus into their hands. Now no one wanted those coins. They seemed like poison coins. No one wanted to touch them, no one wanted to do anything with them. And this whole tale is really a warning to us in many ways, a warning to all of us, a warning from the life of Judas of the proper valuation of life and money, and especially the proper valuation of Jesus. Jesus is the most infinitely valuable man that ever lived. The only infinitely valuable Son of God, Son of man who ever lived.
And in this account, we are brought ever closer, as we’re going verse by verse, passage by passage, through Matthew’s gospel, brought ever closer to the cross of Christ by which he will save his sheep from their sins. And poignantly, also we have a timeless warning of the self-destructive nature of evil. So I entitled this sermon, “The Suicide of Evil.” How evil is self-destructive in the end.
Judas’ so-called friends, his new allies turned their backs coldly on him and had no interest whatsoever in comforting or counseling with him. But he, Judas, in some mysterious way indwelt by Satan himself and Satan, who was a murderer from the beginning, driving him to his death. And how ironic is it that at that same time, Satan was committing suicide by killing Jesus? Using the weapon of death to bring with his own hands, bring his own kingdom down around himself.
And so in the end, though this is a dark story and a warning, yet for us who see the evil in the world, very encouraging. Because everything that happened here was according to God’s eternal plan, and his plan for us as Christ’s sheep is good. And in the end, sin and death and darkness and evil will be destroyed, really ultimately by its own hand, and we will be free at last. And what a joyful thing that is.
I. Jesus Condemned According to Plan (vs. 1-2)
Final Aspect of the Jewish Trial
So we begin our account by looking in verse 1 and 2, as Jesus is condemned according to plan. Look at verses 1 and 2, “Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. They bound him and led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.” So this is the final aspect of the religious trial of Jesus before the Jews. The wicked, illegal religious trial before the members of his own people now comes to its final end, its final phase.
Now, the whole effort, this wicked hypocritical sham had been to kill an innocent man with at least an outward semblance of justice. The false witnesses could not harmonize their story sufficiently to give that semblance of justice. So you remember the high priest charged Jesus under oath, “By the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” And he answers simply in Mark’s gospel, “I am,” God’s name. And he says in Matthew, as we studied, “In the future, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” And at this the high priest tore his robes, and they condemned him and abused him.
The Jewish Council Met Once More to Confirm Jesus’ Condemnation to Death
And here in chapter 27, the final phase, they meet one more time to make it official, completely illegal. They “took counsel together,” it says in one of the translations, this refers to the carefully laid plans to execute him without a just cause. Contrary to Rabbinic law, they hurried him off now to the Gentile trial before Pontius Pilate.
Ordinarily, as I’ve said, they would have had to wait another day to fast and pray and be sure that what they were doing was just and merciful, but they didn’t wait, they were in a hurry to kill Jesus. And so they met one more time to condemn him to death, this perfectly innocent man, and they bound him and hurried him off to Pilate.
All of this Was Exactly According to God’s Sovereign Plan
Now all of us was exactly according to plan, but whose plan? Now, certainly it was their plan, everything had gone as they had desired. In Matthew 26:3-4, it says, “Then the elders and chief priests of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they took counsel together to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him.” This had been their plan, their plot, their scheme. But infinitely above their wicked heads was God’s sovereign plan. Amen? Infinitely above all of their plotting, infinitely above all of their scheming was God’s intention in all of this. As Peter would preach on the day of Pentecost, in Acts 2:23, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge, and you with the help of wicked men put him to death.” And so all of this is according to God’s eternal plan.
The Binding of Jesus
And so Jesus is bound in verse 2 and led away and handed over to Pilate, the governor. Jesus had already been bound earlier in the evening on his arrest in John’s gospel, John 18:12, “They bound him in Gethsemane.” But apparently they unbound him when he was on trial. Now, they bind him again and lead him away. This led me to think about Samson being bound. You remember how he was bound and how his bonds couldn’t hold him, because Samson was so powerful when the Spirit of God came upon him.
What was it then that held Jesus’ hands together? Was it not his determination to do the will of his Father? Was it not his love for us, his sheep? Was it not his desire to glorify God and go to the cross for us? Jesus says in Luke 12:50, “I have a baptism to undergo. A baptism to be baptized with.” And he says, “How straightened I am.” That’s in the KJV, “How straightened I am, until it be accomplished. I’m in a straight jacket, I’m bound in until at last, I die on the cross.” Bound in by the will of God, bound in by the plans of God, and that’s what kept Jesus’s hands together. I can assure you, if it was not his will to be bound with those leather straps, he would have been able to rip them free, because he is far greater, far more powerful than Samson ever was.
Also, the binding of Jesus fulfills a prophetic type. You will remember how God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, his only son, Isaac, on a particular mountain, and on the third day, God showed him Mount Moriah, where later the temple would be built. And when they reached that place that God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there, arranged the wood on it, and he bound his son Isaac and laid him there on the altar on top of the wood, and he took out a knife to slay him. But the angel of the Lord stopped him. And so the binding of Isaac I think a picture or a type of the binding of Christ. And also the leading of Jesus, a direct fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 53:7, “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.” And so all of these things are indications of the perfect plan of God to give his Son in our place for our salvation.
II. Judas Condemned According to Conscience (vs. 3-5)
Judas “Saw that Jesus Was Condemned”
Now, in verses 3 through 5, we have Judas condemned according to conscience. Look at the verses, “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the 30 silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. ‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘For I have betrayed innocent blood.’ ‘What’s 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.”
So this part begins with the words, “When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned.” It implies somewhat of a surprise on Judas’ part, which is almost incomprehensible to me. How could he not know what the betrayal would lead to? It’s possible that, like Peter, he could see Jesus being led away at this particular moment, could see him and this trial was unfolding and it, in some strange way, hit him what was going to happen. It’s hard for me to understand that.
“Seized with Remorse”
But at that moment then, he’s seized with remorse. Which is a good translation, I think, for what he’s feeling. He feels guilty, he feels bad for what he did. It was a bad feeling that’s come over him as he sees this. Now, the Greek word translated here, “remorse” is different than the word ordinarily translated for “repentance.” Repentance. Judas did not repent, but he did feel terrible for what he had done. It’s important for us to make that distinction. Some have asked concerning the case of Judas, “Didn’t he repent here?” No, there’s no indication in the original that he repented, he just felt badly for what he did.
And I think 2 Corinthians 7:10 shows us that there are two different ways to feel badly for sin, two different ways. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.” – Isn’t that marvelous? Friends, that’s your future. You’ll have no regrets in heaven, perfect memory of everything you did in life, I believe, but no regrets. Now, that’s a mystery, and we can talk about that, but other than that, we’re all lobotomized in heaven and have no idea what grace is. And “Thank God, Jesus saved me from my sin, from our sins.” We will remember, but no regrets. It leaves no regret. – “But worldly sorrow brings death.” And I think Judas is a very good example of worldly sorrow that produced death.
So there are two different ways to feel badly for sin. Peter felt terribly for what he’d done, and these accounts follow one right after the other. And so you have Peter weeping bitterly and he feels terrible for what he’s done, but there’s no doubt in my mind that God, through the Holy Spirit, led him step by step into a healthy, wholesome repentance, reconciliation with Jesus, with God and a life of service to him, leaving no regret.
But how different is Judas? Judas felt remorse, sickness, over the wretchedness of who he was and what he had done, but this led directly to death, not to God. It didn’t bring him to God asking forgiveness. It didn’t bring him to run up to Jesus, falling in front of him and saying, “Forgive me for what I did.” It just led him to death.
“I Have Sinned… For I Have Betrayed Innocent Blood”
And so he says these words, “I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood.” This is an amazing realization by Judas. First of all, his sin. What was his sin? Well, he bore false witness against a neighbor. Jesus was innocent, he never sinned. Deuteronomy 27:25 says, “Cursed is the man who accepts the bribe to kill an innocent person.” Sounds like Judas to me. And so he was cursed by the law for this sin.
But we have to go deeper than that. We have to go deeper. To whom much is given, much is required. And much had been given to this man, Judas. He was one of the 12. He had astonishing access to Jesus, the incarnate Son of God. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory.” Judas was an eyewitness to the glory of God in Christ, in ways we can scarcely imagine.
John MacArthur said this about Judas, “No man could be more evil than Judas Iscariot. Only eleven other men in all of history have had the intimate personal relationship he had with the incarnate Son of God. No man has ever been more exposed to God’s perfect truth, both in precept and example. No man has been more exposed firsthand to God’s love, God’s compassion, His power, His kindness, his forgiveness and grace. No man had had more evidence of Jesus’ deity or more firsthand knowledge of the way of salvation. Yet in all of these three indescribable blessed years with Jesus, Judas did not take so much as the first step of genuine faith. In a way that defies comprehension, Judas persistently resisted and rejected God’s truth, God’s grace, and ultimately God’s Son. Also, in a way that defies understanding, he managed to completely conceal his wicked rebellion from everyone but Jesus.” He was a thoroughly wicked man. So at this moment, his wickedness has led him to feel bad. And he feels badly for what he’s done, but not with the conviction that leads to salvation.
Even more amazing is this testimony to the innocence of Jesus. I’ll talk more about this, I think, next time. But he says, “I betrayed innocent blood. I have betrayed innocent blood.”
The sinlessness of Jesus is essential to my salvation and yours. Jesus committed no sin. There’s no deceit in his mouth. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed. Friends, it is innocent blood that saves you and me from sin. Innocent blood, the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for us. I plead with you, trust in that. Every week, we are reminded that people assemble here today that are outside of the grace of God, they’re not Christians yet, unregenerate. You’re listening to me right now, you’re in an unregenerate state. I plead with you, trust in the innocent blood of Jesus. It was shed for sinners like you and me.
This sermon has a lot of potential hopelessness in it, as you look at Judas, as you look down a dark tunnel of hopelessness, but it doesn’t need to be that way for you. Don’t leave here hopeless. Don’t leave here without hope and without God in the world. Come to Christ, and if you’re already a Christian listening to these words, then memorize them and then say them to some lost person this week. We are surrounded by people that are wrestling with despair, they are without hope and without God in the world.
There is an answer, and his name is Jesus. And so I love that phrase, “innocent blood,” because that’s what saves me from my sins.
Jesus’ Enemies Had No Heart to Listen
And so Judas testified to it to his enemies, but Jesus’s enemies had no interest in listening to that. “‘What is that to us?’ They replied, ‘That’s your responsibility. It’s on your head.’” The incredible coldness of these new friends and allies of Judas. There’s no honor among thieves, dear friends, and there’s no friendship in hell. Friendship is a gift of God’s common grace, isn’t it? Isn’t friendship a reflection of the Trinity, how two persons can be one, can be friends? That’s where we’re heading in Christ. We’re gonna be as one as the Father and the Son are one. We’re gonna have perfect and consummated relationships in heaven, friendships in heaven. Every marriage is just a dim reflection of the perfect unity we’re all gonna have in Christ in heaven.
Friendship is for heaven, not for hell. So do not be deceived if you’re outside Christ and you think you’re gonna have a good time with all of your lost friends in hell. They’ll be there, but they won’t be your friends. See, there’s no friendship in hell. And the coldness of what’s going here: They don’t care about Judas at all. Satan doesn’t care about Judas at all. He wants to kill Judas. He’d like to kill all of us.
Jesus diagnosed these cold-hearted sinners, these chief priests and elders of the people very well. He said in Luke 11:46, “You experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry and you yourself will not lift a single finger to help them with those burdens.” That’s what they’re doing here. They don’t care, “It’s your burden. You bear it yourself.”
Godly ministry, godly pastors, godly elders, they’re in the business of lifting burdens. That’s what we’re here to do, we’re here through the preaching of the gospel to lift burdens off people, but these cold-hearted religious experts, all they do is crush people with burdens.
The Tragic End: Judas Hangs Himself
And so it’s over for Judas, now, it’s over. He has nowhere to turn to. He is empty, he is bereft of all hope, bereft of all light. And so verse 5, “He threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.” He is completely alone. Those coins, they’re repulsive to him now, it’s like they’re on fire. It’s like they’re covered with some malignant virus or something like that. No one wants them, they’re evil, wicked things. I wonder if Judas in hell can see a matrix of 6×5, 30 coins. If he sees them forever, was it worth it? 30 silver coins. 30 silver coins. Is it worth it? Was it worth it? 30 silver coins for Jesus?
He didn’t think so at that point. He threw them away from him, he hated them, already hated them, hates them still. And he’s completely alone. He left, he goes away without a friend in the world, and he hangs himself. Matthew Henry, Puritan commentator said this, “Driven by the horror of God’s judgment against him, he jumped straight into that judgment. Seeking to escape the licking flames of guilt, he plunged into the roaring fire of hell.”
III. The Chief Priests Counsel According to Prophecy (vs. 6-10)
The Chief Priests: Wicked Legalists to the Very End
Verses 6-10, then the chief priests take counsel according to prophecy. “The chief priests picked up the coins and said, ‘It is against the law to put this into the treasury since it’s blood money.’ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. That is why it’s been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled. ‘They took the 30 silver coins, 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.’”
So here are the chief priests, wicked legalists to the very end. These are the ones of whom Jesus said, “You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” Later this very morning, they’re gonna refrain from going in Pilate’s house lest they be defiled, so they could celebrate the Passover. And Jesus is the reality of the Passover, and they wanna kill him, doing everything they can to kill him, but they don’t wanna be defiled according to the law.
They Take Counsel Together: What Shall We Do With the Thirty Silver Coins?
It’s amazing too because those 30 silver coins came from their hands, probably out of the temple treasury, and now they don’t want any part of them, nobody wants them, and so they counsel together, they take counsel together, “What shall we do with the 30 silver coins?” And so they decide to use them to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. And Matthew says this is in direct fulfillment of a prophecy, which he ascribes to Jeremiah.
The Mysterious Fulfilled Prophecy: Jeremiah or Zechariah?
Now, I’m doing scripture memorization now in Zechariah, and it sounds an awful lot like Zechariah 11:12-13. So let me read Zechariah, 11:12-13. There it says, “I told them, ‘If you think it best, give me my pay, but if not, then keep it.’ So they paid me 30 silver coins. And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’ – The handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter.”
Amazing points of context. In that chapter, the Lord has called Zechariah the prophet to act as a shepherd to a rebellious people, the Jewish nation. And it’s in the context of false shepherds who are not doing what’s right. But the people love the false shepherds, and they don’t love his true shepherding, so they hate him and turn on him. So he says, “Fine, give me my severance pay.” And so they weighed out for him 30 pieces of silver. He says, “That magnificent price at which they priced me.” And then the Lord comes a second time and says, “Throw it to the potter.” And he does throw it into the house of the Lord and it ends up at the potter.
There’s a lot of similarities there, aren’t there? Shepherding, false shepherds, potter, 30, silver, coin, throne, house of the Lord. Lots of connections and frankly, more connections on this prophecy than you’d find on many of the allusions that Matthew says, “This was to fulfill this or that.” And yet he ascribes it to Jeremiah. What do we do with that? Well, we skip it and don’t talk about it. So let’s just go on to the next part and just say, “I don’t know.” So that’s gonna be kind of my ultimate answer is I don’t know, but there are some decent explanations.
John MacArthur says that the law, the writings and the prophets sometimes referred to by the chief writer in those categories, law equals Moses or Moses equals law, David would be the writings, and Jeremiah the chief prophet sometimes chosen for the prophets. That was John MacArthur’s explanation.
We’ll reject the idea that Matthew wrote an error into the scripture, because once you start saying there’s an error, then you never know where that ends, and it’s just gonna unravel the entire garment. And you know when it’s gonna unravel is when the scripture convicts you of your sin. And you say, “Well, I don’t know. I think that’s an error right there.” So we don’t want to allow the concept of error to creep in here, it’s inerrant.
Don Carson gives another explanation, and he goes over to Jeremiah 19, and that’s where the Lord commands Jeremiah the prophet, to go and buy clay from the potter and to make a clay jar and smash it in a particular field in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. So the focus there is on the clay in the field and the field in which this thing was smashed, and the prophecy ends up being about the field where the wicked of Israel will be buried after the slaughter.
So I think we ought to think at a higher level, what Matthew is doing is he’s saying, the real deal here is about the ultimate end of these coins and the ultimate end of Judas, and I don’t doubt, frankly, that Judas might have been the first stranger that was buried in that field. Why do I say that?
The Ultimate End of Judas
Well, in Acts 1:18-19, it says, “With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field.” Judas bought a field. What does that mean? Well, “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.” It could have been that some people put it together, that Judas hanged himself on a tree, on a cliff or something like that, and the branch broke and then he gets dumped into a field which ends up being the same field that they bought and they buried him there as the first stranger. Outsider, outside of the grace of God, outside of redemption, eternally lost.
And I think that’s probably a more sophisticated answer ultimately to what’s going on here. This was a conflated prophecy between Zechariah and Jeremiah and just ascribed in the end to Jeremiah.
IV. Applications
The Proper Valuation of Christ
Well, that’s the exegesis; what application can we take from this text? Well, let’s start with valuing Christ properly. Shall we do that? Peter tells us, “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold, that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you by your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”
How precious is the innocent blood of Jesus to you? How precious a substance is that blood to you? I tell you right now, you may be the most mature Christian in here, you undervalue the preciousness of the blood of Christ, I guarantee you do, and you’ll spend eternity properly valuing it. For eternity, you will study the value and worth of the innocent blood of Jesus, and you will celebrate what it has done for you. You are not redeemed with silver and gold, you are redeemed with the precious, the infinitely precious blood of Jesus. If you have been redeemed.
If you haven’t been redeemed yet, then let the Spirit do a work on your heart right now. Let the Spirit show you the value and worth of the blood of Jesus. Do not try to stand before God’s judgment seat without it. You will be condemned as Judas was. But you don’t need to have that happen. There is time for you. Today is the day of salvation.
So I urge you, value Christ properly. Don’t be like Judas who traded Jesus in for some part of the world that then was worthless to him. Worthless to him. He threw it away because he learned too late how worthless it was. What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Or what would a man give in exchange for his soul? So don’t trade Jesus for 30 pieces of anything. Love and follow and believe in Jesus.
“Taking Counsel”: The Sovereign Plan of God Cannot Be Derailed
Secondly, and this is so precious to me, see the value of the sovereign power of God over the evil plans and plots and schemes of people. There’s all this “taking counsel together” in this text. In verse 1, the chief priest and the elders “took counsel” against Jesus to put him to death. They “took counsel” together in verse 7, and bought with the 30 silver coins, the potter’s field. So they’re conferring together and they’re taking counsel together. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans of a man’s heart, but it’s the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Nowhere has that ever been more true than when it concerns the taking counsel that wicked people did around the death of Jesus. They meant evil, but God means it for good for you, if you are one of his.
The church, when they assembled together after the Jewish authority started persecuting the church, started opposing the gospel, and Peter and John were arrested for doing a miracle, and they bring them in and they warn them and release them. So they go to their own people, they go to the church, they gather the church together and they start to pray, and they pray Psalm 2, “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples conspire or take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed one?’ Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire to take counsel together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had determined beforehand should happen.”
Now, friends, this is a mystery but it’s so precious, so precious. When I was writing this sermon, the events of the Boston Marathon bombing were fresh in my mind, and I was thinking about how destabilizing bombings can be. You just never know when something’s gonna just erupt, a trash can, a locker in a train station, and it just plays into our fears, and people don’t know what to do with that nameless fear of terrorism and of plots and schemes.
Maybe some people are led to trust the government, the CIA or the FBI, or the drone program or something like that, and wire taps and cell phones, be able to listen to cell phones, and have super computers keeping us all safe. Some people are worried about the encroaching government, worrying if the government’s what we need to fear after all that. How do we find refuge and protection against the evil plots and schemes of sinners?
Find it here, dear friends, find it in the sovereign power of God. There are terrorist cells that meet together and plot the death and destruction of many people, it’s happening probably right now, but they are under God’s sovereign power and control. God is restraining their evil for his own purposes. I know that brings us into difficult questions about, “What about when it does break out and people lose life and limbs and health?” and those are serious questions, but still in the end, aren’t you comforted to know that God sits on his throne above the circle of the earth and all its people are like grasshoppers and only his purposes and plans prevail?
Now, I entitled this sermon, “The Suicide of Evil,” and isn’t it comforting to know that God has ordained that Satan would pull his kingdom down by his own wicked plot and scheme? Isn’t that marvelous? Doesn’t that bring you joy? That evil is self-destructive to our glory and our salvation. Satan killed Jesus, and in killing him destroyed his own kingdom, and we are the recipients of the grace and mercy that came out of that. We are rescued, we are living stones quarried out of Satan’s dark kingdom, and we are put into a beautiful new living temple, rising to glorify God, and so it’s beautiful to see the suicide of evil.
Understanding Guilt, Despair, and Suicide
But this brings me finally in terms of application to the question of suicide itself. Suicide itself. I’m an expository preacher, I just take the next text and preach it, and I preach whatever’s in it, and it takes us to the question and the issue of suicide. And it’s not something, as I said, that I would choose if I were a topical preacher to preach on because it’s so painful and difficult, maybe one of the most painful topics there is in this life. But it’s only addressed three times directly in the Bible, there are only three people that kill themselves in the Bible.
King Saul in the midst of a battle with the Philistines, surrounded by the Philistine warriors about to die, did not wanna die by their hands, so he fell on his own sword and killed himself. Ahithophel who was David’s counselor, betrayed David, turned his back on him, helped David’s son Absalom to revolt against him, gave excellent counsel like he always did, but Absalom didn’t listen to it, and Ahithophel knew the writing was on the wall and there was no way that Absalom was going to win, and so he put his affairs in order and hanged himself. And then this one, Judas.
Now, we must acknowledge that Judas’ suicide is utterly, completely unique in redemptive history. There’s never again gonna be the circumstances like what happened with Judas. The proximity to Christ, the three years of seeing the incarnate Savior, being indwelt by Satan, all of the circumstances that’ll never happen again. Utterly unique. And yet, there are some aspects of it that are worth our study in our education, our training theologically, so that we can understand this dark issue of suicide.
Judas knew he had done wrong, guilt came upon him like waves. Guilt is to the soul, what pain is to the body. Tells you that there’s a problem. Now, it’s not inerrant, it’s not true that every time you feel pain, there’s a significant problem or any problem at all, but usually there is. As a matter of fact, people with leprosy can’t feel pain, and that’s why they destroy themselves ’cause they don’t pull their hand off the hot plate quick enough, or they don’t feel the pain and they’re not able to stop.
So when we feel guilty, it’s probably because we are guilty. When we feel a sense of shame, it’s probably because we’ve done something shameful. A healthy person takes that pain and addresses, they take their hand off the hot plate, they stop doing that action. Or they go see a doctor and they address the strange pain they’re feeling in their chest cavity or something like that, they try to deal, the pain is telling them something’s wrong. Well, guilt and shame should lead us to the cross of Jesus Christ, that’s where it should bring you.
We shouldn’t deny it, say, “I haven’t done anything wrong,” instead, we should take it to the cross. Even as Christians, we feel guilty and we should because we do wrong things. We feel ashamed and we should because we do shameful things. But we have learned the grace of God is limitless, and where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. And we are able to bring our dark feelings of despair and guilt to the cross of Christ and be healed by Jesus.
Now, why do people commit suicide? Why does it happen? Well, there are a variety of reasons. Retaliation, some people do it just to get back at loved ones, they feel hurt, they feel abandoned. Maybe a spouse leaves someone and marries someone else, and then the jilted spouse commits suicide just to get back. It seems to be the case a lot of times in terms of teen suicide, that the teenagers are trying to get back at their parents and make them hurt. And it does hurt. There are a few things as painful as being there after the suicide and having to pick up the pieces, and the guilt and all of the things that the survivors of the suicide have to deal with. It’s a very selfish thing for the individual to do it, it leaves a wreckage, it leaves a world blown up.
Some people do it because they wanna be with departed spouses, perhaps elderly people, and they lose their desire to live and they don’t eat and they don’t do what’s necessary to keep healthy and keep strong because they just want to be with the departed loved one.
Some people do it for religious reasons, especially in other religions, like Buddhism and Hinduism, Jihadists in Islam think they’ve got a short route to paradise, they do it for that reason. Some people do it for the sake of atonement ’cause they’ve done something so hideous and so horrible that they think maybe if they kill themselves, they can make up for it, that’s why sometimes prisoners hang themselves in prison.
Most people I think do it because circumstances in life become so overwhelming that they just can’t face them anymore. It could be a financial crisis, it could be that they’ve committed a crime and they don’t wanna face the repercussions. Could be a medical situation, they’re in so much pain that they just can’t face it anymore, other circumstances.
So what does the Bible say about it? What can we learn? How do we think about this? Well, first thing I want you to know is, it doesn’t mean that God isn’t sovereign. I know it’s hard to think it through, but there’s a particular passage that God showed me, I think a number of years ago in 1 Chronicles 10, it was talking there about King Saul, and remember I told you he’s one of the three suicides in the Bible, but in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14, it says, “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He did not keep the Word of the Lord, and even consulted a medium for guidance and did not inquire of the Lord.” Listen, “So the Lord put him to death.” Ponder that one. The Lord put him to death. Other than that, we’d have to say, you know that passage in Psalm 139, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Unless I take matters in my own hand and grab the last three pages of the book out, rip them out. No, that doesn’t happen. God’s sovereign even over this painful topic of suicide.
Secondly, suicide is a sin, it is self-murder, and we are not to murder, and it is very selfish, total self-absorption, not thinking, “What would this do to my wife or husband? What would this do to my children? What would this do to the people who knew me and love me?” Those aren’t the thoughts at that particular moment.
Lesson number three, great guilt can produce great desperation and can change your views of God. Despair can be like a drug and make you think differently about God than he really is. Satan’s selling you a different view of God, a harsh tyrant who just wants to crush you and destroy your life, that’s not the God of the Bible, but Satan is able to deceive people.
The remedy must be the scripture. Go again to the passages that talk about the attributes of God, is Exodus 34, where Moses says to God, “Now show me your glory,” and he puts him in a cleft of the rock and hides him, and the glory goes by and he pronounces these words, “The Lord, the Lord, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding and lovingkindness. Maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Meditate on those words when you’re depressed. Feed on those words.
Lesson number four is that God is merciful. And whatever has brought you to the edge, God can forgive and restore and bring you back away from the edge. Some people think and I think it’s probably true, is that Judas’ biggest sin was despair that did not lead him to repent. It’s that in the end, he didn’t think God could or would forgive him, and that the best thing for him to do would be to kill himself.
But Jesus said, “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, even those who speak a word against the Son of Man.” I think Jesus would have forgiven Judas if he had run and thrown himself on his mercy and called on his name, but he wouldn’t do it. And so let’s know the marvelous, infinite matchless grace of God.
Lesson number five: fear what happens next. Fear what happens next, you don’t know what happens from this world to the next. Are you so sure that you’re in Christ as you’re thinking these dark thoughts of self-murder? Are you really ready to die? Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing to you, but I’ll tell you who to fear, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Can a True Christian Commit Suicide?
But this brings us finally to the hardest question of all. Is it possible for a genuine Christian to commit suicide? Is it possible to go from suicide to heaven? The medieval Catholic church said no, it was an unforgivable sin. Suicide could not be forgiven, because they distinguished two different types of sins, mortal sins and venial sins, the only way you could be forgiven for a mortal sin was to do penance and confess to a priest and all that, there wasn’t time for that, when you committed suicide, you’re definitely in hell, no doubt about it. They think that they get this from 1 John 5, “There’s a sin that leads to death, you shouldn’t pray for that,” etcetera, mortal sin’s unforgiven.
But can you imagine the grief of those that are left behind if this were true? And I think it’s going beyond what we have the right to say, it’s going beyond what scripture gives us permission to say, as though we are the judges and we’re able to say, “We know in this case, everybody who commits suicide goes to hell.” How do you know that? So, to say, “No, it is not possible to go from suicide to heaven,” is to make an absolute statement that logically leads in every case, you can go and be the messenger and saying, “Well, you know they’re in hell. We know that with absolute certainty.” Well, I don’t know that.
But to say “yes” brings us to all kinds of thorny issues as well, doesn’t it? Suicide is a paradox, very difficult. Is it possible to go from suicide to heaven? Yes, it’s possible. Well, we are saying, “This is a genuine Christian, they’re born again, their sins are forgiven, all of them, they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit will filter their temptations, will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they’re able to bear, but with the temptation will make a way of escape so they can bear up under it.” It’s hard to imagine how someone can be indwelt with the Spirit and kill themself. Very hard to understand that.
But let me ask a question, what is the difference between that and all sins by Christians? Aren’t we the weirdest things in the universe, we sinning Christians? We are. We are the weirdest thing there is in the universe. Everything else behaves just like it is, we are conflicted, deeply conflicted. We are indwelt by the Spirit and indwelt by sin, and they battle, Galatians 5, against each other so that we do not do what we want.
In Romans 7, “The very thing we hate, we do.” It’s insanity. So are we ready to say, “Yes, all forms of insanity but that one.” I don’t think so. I think it is irrational for a Christian to sin, and I think it’s irrational for a Christian to be depressed. I don’t say it’s irrational for a Christian to be sad. I think we should be sad, there are a lot of sad things. I think it’s better though, that we be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. How about that? Sometimes sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
So in the midst of all of our sorrows as Christians, we still have the joy of the gospel, don’t we? We still have the fact that we’re going to heaven when we die, our sins are forgiven. We have friendship with God now. I love the hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” I love the starkness of the statement, “We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.” I love that. Don’t ever be discouraged, that means you just, you’re depressed, you’re down and you have nowhere to turn to, you always have somewhere to turn to, always.
Christians have struggled with thoughts of suicide. In Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Hopeful are in doubting castle, Giant Despair beats them up every day and gives them the implements of their own demise, a knife, some poison, a rope, and is leading them to kill themselves, and only by finding the key of promise, the Word of God, that they’re able to unlock the door and get out, and Giant Despair stop beating them up at last. Do you think Bunyan might have been writing out of his own discouragement and imprisonment? Tempted with thoughts of suicide?
William Cowper, great Christian hymn writer of the 18th century, struggled with mental illness and suicide every day of his adult life. Michael Card wrote a song about suicide called “The Edge,” you could look it up and listen to it, it’s very powerful. In that he says, “Before I ever come again to that dark place where I might make the choice for life to end.” Very few Christian song writers will write about that topic.
Psalm 88 seems to be appropriate for that. Psalm 88 doesn’t end on a high note. Psalm 88, very discouraging, very depressing, and at the very end, verse 18, “You have taken all of my companions and loved ones from me, darkness is my closest friend,” end of Psalm. But what that does is, it speaks to me that sometimes that’s how the day feels. Live for the next day. The next day, his mercies are new every morning. Sun rises, he refreshes, he renews and you are restored.
So I’ll say one final thing and we’ll be done. I believe there can sometimes be a physiological side to suicide as well. In 2 Corinthians 4:6, it says, “God who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” That’s regeneration, God speaks light into the darkness of a heart. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay.” Let me simplify. What’s the treasure? Knowledge, the knowledge of God in Christ. We have this treasure in jars of clay. What’s a jar of clay? Well, where do you keep your knowledge? Do you have your knowledge in your pinky? Do you have your knowledge in your foot? Is it in your knee perhaps?
It’s right in here, this is your jar of clay. And we were made out of the dust of the earth, amazingly. This is amazingly complicated clay, but the jar of clay image is a fragility that it can be broken. Cracked. So what about Alzheimer’s or people with dementia? And all their lives, this woman, this man were sweet-tempered, pleasant and patient, and now they’re maybe openly cursing or blaspheming? Don’t recognize loved ones? What is going on there? Have they lost their salvation? No, their jar of clay has been cracked. God still knows who they are.
And so for us to say it’s impossible to go from suicide to heaven, underestimates how fragile that jar of clay can be. Sometimes the world, the flesh and the devil can overwhelm it, and darkness can come in waves and for his own purposes, God permits that darkness to latch on. So what comfort can we have for those that are left behind to take up the pieces? Turn to Christ, turn to the Scripture, turn to prayer, turn to the church. Don’t face this alone.
And what about if you’re the one depressed and discouraged? What if you’re asking, “Will God forgive me if I kill myself?” Do you realize what an odd question that is? How paradoxical? “Will the God who can’t help me now welcome me into heaven?” That’s weird. The God you wanna spend eternity with in heaven can help you right now. Turn to him and trust in him. Let’s close in prayer and then we’ll get ready for the Lord’s Supper.
Father, we thank you for the time that we’ve had in the Word. Thank you for the depth of the Word in dealing with a very painful subject. I pray that you bring comfort and consolation to any that have been touched and brought to great pain through this topic. I pray, Father, that you’d bring them the comfort and consolation of the gospel. And now as we turn our attention to the Lord’s Supper, we pray that you pour out through your Spirit, the grace of God on all of us who have trusted in you. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Deacons, if you would come, please.
These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.
As we come to this text, we come to the shocking end of Judas Iscariot. We can picture him swinging dead on the end of a rope, lifeless, alone… the suicide of a truly evil man the fitting end to a detestable story
We can see the thirty silver coins, thrown in disgust into the temple… rolling until each one comes to a stop. We can see the hypocritical priests kneeling down to pick each coin up… the very coins they had paid out to Judas just as short time before… now no one wanted them… they seemed like poisoned coins
This whole tale is a WARNING to all of us… a warning from the life of Judas… of a proper valuation of life and money and especially of Jesus Christ… the most infinitely valuable man who ever lived
In this account, Jesus is brought even closer to the cross by which He will save His sheep from their sins
But even more poignantly in this account, we have a timeless warning of the danger of loving money and trading Jesus for silver:
Matthew 16:26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
I. Jesus Condemned According to Plan (vs. 1-2)
Matthew 27:1-2 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2 They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
A. Final Aspect of the Jewish Trial
1. Three parts: first, before Annas, then before Caiaphas… now, one last time, before the whole Sanhedrin
2. The wicked, illegal religious trial before the members of His own people now comes to its final end
3. The whole wicked effort had been to kill an innocent man with at least an outward SEMBLANCE of justice
4. The false witnesses could not condemn Jesus because their stories did not agree
5. The High Priest charges Jesus under oath:
“Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God?”
Jesus answered plainly:
Mark 14:62 “I am,”
Matthew 26:64 In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
6. The High Priest tore his robes and they all condemned Jesus to death
Matthew 26:65-68 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered. 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?”
B. The Jewish Council Met Once More to Confirm Jesus’ Condemnation to Death
1. This was all completely illegal
2. They “TOOK COUNSEL” once more against Jesus to put Him to death
3. This refers to their careful plans to execute Him without a just cause
4. Contrary to rabbinic law, the first two aspects of Jesus’ trial happened at night and away from the Temple
5. Now, contrary to rabbinic law, they hurried him onto the Gentile ruler (Pontius Pilate) for immediate execution, rather than waiting until the third day and fasting and praying to be sure there were not a miscarriage of justice
6. No waiting here… the Council met once more, confirmed the condemnation of this perfectly innocent man, bound him, and hurried Him off to Pilate
C. All of this Was Exactly According to God’s Sovereign Plan!!
1. This was the culmination of all their “taking counsel” together and their plotting
Matthew 26:3-4 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him.
2. But it was also the direct fulfillment of God’s plan
Acts 2:23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Acts 4:25-28 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’ 27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
D. The Jews and Gentiles Alike Would Kill Jesus
1. Central to God’s plan was that Jews and Gentiles alike would condemn Him and Jews and Gentiles alike would kill him
2. Throughout history, Anti-Semites have sought to blame the Jews ALONE for killing Jesus
3. After the Holocaust, efforts have been made to say that the Jews weren’t responsible AT ALL for the death of Jesus
4. It was central to the plan of God that Jews and Gentiles ALIKE would be instrumental in the death of God’s Son for the sins of the world
5. Jesus was bound and led to the governor… Pontius Pilate; Pilate had been governor of Judea since A.D. 26
E. The Binding of Jesus
Vs. 2 They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
1. Jesus had already been bound when He was arrested in Gethsemane
John 18:12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him
2. At His trial, apparently His hands were free
3. But now that He was finally condemned, He was bound again
4. Remember that they tried several times to bind Samson, and he was always able to break His bonds and kill the Philistines
5. Jesus has infinitely more power than Samson… binding Him didn’t hold Him in any way
6. What held Him was His commitment to do the will of the Father
KJV Luke 12:50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
“Straightened” = to be restrained like in a straightjacket!!
7. Also, the binding of Jesus fulfills the type of Isaac
Genesis 22:9-10 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
8. And also, the “leading” of Jesus fulfills Isaiah 53
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter
II. Judas Condemned According to Conscience (vs. 3-5)
Matthew 27:3-5 When 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.” 5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
A. Judas “Saw that Jesus Was Condemned”
1. It seems almost incomprehensible that Judas could somehow have been deceived about where this all was heading
2. When he betrayed Jesus for the paltry sum of thirty pieces of silver, He must have known that Jesus’ enemies meant to kill Him
3. Some have used this to paint a more sympathetic picture of Judas… that CANNOT BE
4. Judas (like Peter) probably had a clear view of Jesus at some point in the trial and realized what was about to happen
B. “Seized with Remorse”
1. Judas feels incredibly guilty for what he’s done
2. The Greek word translated “remorse” here IS DIFFERENT than the word usually translated “repentance”… Judas did not repent… but he FELT TERRRIBLE for what he’s done
3. The Apostle Paul gives us a picture of what Judas was feeling at this point
2 Corinthians 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
4. Peter and Judas give us a perfect picture of both sides of that verse
a. Peter felt a genuine sorrow for his sins and that sorrow brought repentance resulting in eternal life… this is a regular rhythm of the life of sanctification
b. Judas on the other hand felt remorse… a sickness over the wretchedness of who he was and what he’d done… but this led directly to his death
C. “I Have Sinned… For I Have Betrayed Innocent Blood”
1. This is an amazing realization by Judas!! The INNOCENCE of Jesus… and his own sin
a. What was his sin??
At least this:
Deuteronomy 27:25 “Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
But deeper:
John MacArthur: “No man could be more evil than Judas Iscariot. Only eleven other men in all of history have had the intimate, personal relationship he had with the incarnate Son of God. No man has ever been more exposed to God’s perfect truth, both in precept and example. No man has been more exposed firsthand to God’s love, compassion, power, kindness, forgiveness, and grace. No man has had more evidence of Jesus’ divinity or more firsthand knowledge of the way of salvation. Yet in all of those three indescribably blessed years with Jesus, Judas did not take so much as the first step of faith. In a way that defies comprehension, Judas persistently resisted and rejected God’s truth, God’s grace, and even God’s own Son. Also in a way that defies understanding, he managed completely to conceal his wicked rebellion from everyone but Jesus.”
So… Judas feels the first inklings of guilt for his sin… but not with the conviction that leads to salvation…
Even more amazing… his testimony to Jesus’ INNOCENCE!!
2. It is incredible the various people who testified to Jesus’ sinless purity
a. Jesus claimed it in front of His enemies
John 8:46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?
b. Pilate’s wife claimed it
Matthew 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
c. Pilate himself claimed it… THREE TIMES!!
John 18:38 Pilate … he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
John 19:4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
John 19:6 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”
d. Even the demons claimed it
Mark 1:24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God.”
e. And now, here, Judas claimed it
“I have betrayed innocent blood!”
3. The sinlessness of Jesus is essential to our salvation
1 Peter 2:22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are– yet was without sin.
4. Judas clearly testified to it… BUT
D. Jesus’ Enemies Had No Heart to Listen
Matthew 27:4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
The incredible COLDNESS of these enemies of Jesus… they were demonic in their lack of compassion for others… these were Judas’s “friends”… they used him and now tossed him aside like a piece of garbagae!
Luke 11:46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
E. The Tragic End: Judas Hangs Himself
Matthew 27:5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
1. Guilty, racked with remorse, this evil man adds one more sin to the others
2. First, in fulfillment of prophecy, he throws the thirty silver coins into the temple
3. The coins that he got for his wickedness now were repulsive to him… as though they were now on fire, burning his hands… or like radioactive waste, they threatened to defile him forever
4. He has ended up with nothing… no relationship with Christ, no esteem or gratitude from the Chief Priests, no money… NOTHING
5. Now, he is COMPLETELY ALONE… the Greek words show how alone he was
a. He LEFT
b. He WENT AWAY
c. He hanged himself
6. Matthew Henry: driven by the horror of God’s judgment against him, he jumped straight into that judgment… seeking to escape the licking flames of guilt he plunged into the roaring fire of hell
III. The Chief Priests Counsel According to Prophecy (vs. 6-10)
Matthew 27:6-10 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 silver coins, 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.”
A. The Chief Priests: Wicked Legalists to the Very End
1. “It is against the law…”
2. Amazing, because the thirty pieces of silver probably came from the temple treasury! Now, the very coins themselves have been defiled by their use
3. Here the Chief Priests show their wicked, legalistic hearts
Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices– mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law– justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
Where is the JUSTICE? Where is the MERCY??
4. Later, we will see this same kind of legalism in the trial before Pontius Pilate
John 18:28 Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.
Amazing!! They are in the process of killing the Son of God, and they want to maintain legalistic cleanness by a law God hadn’t even GIVEN!! “You shall not enter the house of a Gentile!” It was NEVER COMMANDED!!
B. They Take Counsel Together: What Shall We Do With the Thirty Silver Coins?
Matthew 27:7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers.
C. The Mysterious Fulfilled Prophecy: Jeremiah or Zechariah??
1. On the surface, it would seem that Matthew has made a mistake ascribing this to Jeremiah
2. Look at Zechariah 11:12-13
Zechariah 11:12-13 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. 13 And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”– the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.
a. Context in Zechariah: God had told Zechariah to shepherd his afflicted people in the context of other false shepherds; the people hated the godly shepherd and rejected him; Zechariah asks for his wages
b. The key elements of contact: shepherding in the context of false leaders; rejection by the people; thirty pieces of silver thrown in the temple to the potter!!
3. Why then ascribe this to Jeremiah?
a. MacArthur: “Jeremiah” was seen to be the chief prophet and thus this was shorthand for Law, Writings, and Prophets… so Law = Moses, Writings = David, and Prophets = Jeremiah
b. D.A. Carson: Points to Jeremiah 19:1-13
Jeremiah 19:1-2 This is what the LORD says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate.
Proclaim a message of future judgment and desolation on Jerusalem at that field;
Jeremiah 19:10-11 “Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.
c. So, the themes there are “potter’s field” “burial place”
D. The Ultimate End of Judas
Acts 1:18-19 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
1. Judas was the ultimate “stranger”… outside of the grace of God, dying in a despicable way
IV. Applications
A. Jews and Gentiles Alike…
1. Are equally sinners
Romans 3:9-10 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;
2. Are equally going to be judged by God
Romans 2:9-11 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
3. Are equally responsible for the death of Christ
a. Jewish courts rejected Jesus and condemned Him
b. Gentile courts finished the execution
4. Are equally saved by faith in Christ alone
Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Romans 3:29-30 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
Galatians 2:15-16 “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
B. “Taking Counsel”: The Sovereign Plan of God Cannot Be Derailed
1. Everything in this account was foreordained by God
2. Repeated phrases “take counsel”
a. They “took counsel” to put Jesus to death
ESV Matthew 27:1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
b. They “took counsel” to buy the Potter’s Field
ESV Matthew 27:7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers.
c. It means to confer together, to discuss plans for the future
Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
3. Hear again Acts 4:
Acts 4:25-28 “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’ 27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
4. Applications
a. For all those of you interested in current events… and perhaps terrified about the future… REST IN GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY over the plans of men
b. Recent events (like the terrorist bombing of the Boston Marathon) have left people feeling shaken, worried, anxious about the future
c. They wonder is a planted bomb might suddenly explode from a public trash can or a locker at the bus station or from a public washroom at a crowded stadium or from under a heavily trafficked bridge
d. People worry about plots and plans that terrorists and evil people are making
e. Some put their trust in the government and its ability to eavesdrop on cell calls… they are willing to give up on their personal freedoms so that we can be more secure; others feel that for government to be so powerful that basic rights can be abrogated for the common good is in some ways WORSE than the terrorists
f. Others just despair and feel that there’s no way for the restless, irrational power of evil to be controlled… there’s never an answer to the WHY?? question that comes after a terrorist attack
g. Dear friends, we need to rest secure in the hand of God… human beings TAKE COUNSEL together to do all kinds of evil every day… criminal masterminds are plotting economic or political or military or terrorist attacks on common peace-loving people every day… but it is God’s purpose alone that can prevail
h. God’s purpose is to save sinners through Jesus Christ
i. He allows a small amount of terror and crime to rip our security to shreds so that we know we need a Savior… and His name is Jesus
j. God is IN CHARGE AT EVERY MOMENT!!!
k. Do not fear the terror of the night
Psalm 91:1-6 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
C. Understanding Guilt, Despair, and Suicide
1. Three people in the Bible are depicted as committing suicide
a. King Saul on Mount Gilboa fell on his sword when pressed by Philistine soldiers… badly wounded, he saw no alternative than to kill himself
b. Ahithophel, during the rebellion under Absalom, when he saw that his advice was not taken, knew that Absalom’s coup would fail; he went home, put his affairs in order, and hanged himself
c. And Judas, here in our account, also hanged himself
2. Judas: Guilty conscience led to despair… despair led to suicide
a. Judas knew he had done wrong
b. Guilt came upon him like waves…
c. Guilt is to the soul what pain is to the body… it shows that something is wrong
i) When we feel physical pain, we immediately seek to address the situation so we don’t continue to do damage to the body
ii) When we feel guilt, we should realize that the reason is WE ARE GUILTY… we do WRONG THINGS…
iii) Judas had done something extremely evil
iv) He had NO FAITH… no confidence in God’s restoring mercy…
v) He merely went to the very men with whom he’d made the deal and sought to salve his conscience by giving the money back
vi) He should have run to Christ and begged forgiveness; or cried out to God and begged for mercy
3. Reasons for suicide:
a. Retaliation: getting back at people for wrongs others have done to them; when teens commit suicide, a lot of times they are just trying to hurt their parents… and they definitely succeed
b. Reunion: a deep desire to be with loved ones who have died… an older spouse who was particularly dependent on a now departed spouse may want to end their lives rather than go on living in emptiness and lonliness
c. Rebirth: Eastern religions, suicide is a religious action… leading to reincarnation in a better circumstance
d. Atonement: people kill themselves to make up for grave sins the have committed
e. Overwhelming circumstances: life has become so unbearable that to them, it’s better to die than to go on living in such misery
4. Lesson #1 about suicide: It doesn’t mean God wasn’t sovereign
a. In the case of Saul, who committed suicide:
1 Chronicles 10:13-14 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, 14 and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.
b. This is still true:
Psalm 139:16 All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
5. Lesson #2: Suicide is a great sin… it is self-murder
Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.
It is an act of terrible selfishness leaving an awesome mess to clean up… people for the rest of their lives, whenever they see the photos or videos of the person are hit afresh with pangs of guilt and pain
6. Lesson #3: Great guilt can produce great desperation… and change your views of God
a. Despair is like a drug that can cloud your mind and make you forget the power and love of God
b. Fight despair with scripture!!
Exodus 34:6-7 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.
Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
7. Lesson #4: God is merciful and will forgive all sins in Jesus name; perhaps Judas’s biggest sin is in not believing God could forgive him
Matthew 12:31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men…
Matthew 12:32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven…
Grace Greater than All Our Sin:
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.
Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.
8. Fear what follows suicide: Hamlet pondered suicide
To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? ‘Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come
Putting it simply… he’s worried what will happen after he kills himself:
Matthew 10:28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
D. The Coldness and Lack of Compassion of the Enemies of God
1. Notice how cold and compassionless are Judas’s so-called friends
2. Notice that they don’t care anything about him at all!
3. Teenagers, college students… perhaps you are yearning for friendships and are willing to do whatever it takes to get in with a group…
4. But if they are enemies of Christ, they will care NOTHING FOR YOU!!
E. Warning!! Ill-Gotten Wealth Never Satisfies
1. Judas threw the wages for his wickedness into the temple
2. He HATED those thirty silver coins
3. I think he may have a ghastly vision of them for all eternity
4. Beware of COVETOUSNESS!
a. TGC: speaker talking about money
b. Churches have recovery ministries for all manner of sins… sexual sins, addiction sins, etc. But no one ever admits to being GREEDY! To being COVETOUS
c. Beware the LOVE OF MONEY!!
1 Timothy 6:9-10 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
d. Assess yourselves:
i) How do your spending habits display your relationship with money?
ii) How do your work habits show either how valuable Christ is to you or how valuable possessions are to you?
iii) How does your generosity to the poor and needy show your valuation of Christ verses money?
F. The Proper Valuation of Christ
Zechariah 11:13: …this magnificent price I was valued by them.
1. Zechariah talks about the thirty pieces of silver as “that magnificent price at which they valued me!”
2. Isn’t it amazing how much Christ valued us… and how little we valued Him!
3. The essence of worship is this: what is Christ WORTH to you?
1 Peter 1:18-19 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Appendix
I. Can a True Christian Commit Suicide?
A. Medieval Catholic theology: suicide is a mortal sin which cannot be atoned for since there was no chance to confess to a priest
1 John 5:16 If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.
1. For Catholics under that system, suicide is an unpardonable sin that leads straight to hell
2. Imagine the grief of the loved ones of such a person!!
B. So… to Say “NO… a true Christian cannot commit suicide” leads logically to that position
C. But to say “Yes” leads to all kinds of wretchedly difficult issues as well!
1. We’re saying that a true Christian, someone genuinely born-again, is also indwelt by the Holy Spirit
2. The Holy Spirit will not allow a true Christian to be tempted beyond what he/she can bear
3. It is hard to understand how a person indwelt by the Spirit can be so overwhelmed with life circumstances that they kill themselves
D. But What is the Difference Between that and any other grave sin committed by a true Christian?
1. All sin is irrational and mysterious in the extreme for a genuine Christian
2. All sin committed by a genuine Christian is an example of the world, the flesh and the devil temporarily overcoming the power of the indwelling Spirit and producing sin
Romans 7: I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I DO!! THE VERY THING I HATE, I DO!!
3. So all sin by Christians is mysterious and irrational
4. So also all depression by Christians is mysterious and irrational… blessed by Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, with overwhelming
E. Christians Have Struggled with Thoughts of Suicide
1. Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress: Doubting Castle, Giant Despair… no mercy, a daily beating… recommending they murder themselves with the knife, poison, or a rope
2. Christian and Hopeful fight off the despair and escape with the key of promise
3. William Cowper, 18th century Christian hymnwriter, wrestled all his life with mental illness and despair… and temptations to suicide
4. Michael Card wrote a song to help people battling thoughts of suicide: “The Edge”
Poems have their darker rhymes. Stories sometimes make us wait for a happy ending. So also the Father sometimes sings to us in minor keys. Those who refuse to listen to the deep meaning behind the song of darker days are sometimes driven to the edge. I have been there too. Even from the dark point of view, by grace, we are able to move back from the edge and into waiting Arms. There we learn of the sufficiency of God’s grace and to never enter the holy place of someone else’s pain without the name of Jesus on our lips. There we learn that there is grace enough.
Michael Card
Most of us will never know
How dark this world can seem
When life becomes more nightmare than a dream
So to all of you who have survived
A visit to the edge
I trust that you will understand this pledge
I promise I will always leave
The darkness for the light
I swear by all that’s holy
I will not give up the fight
I’ll drink down death like water
Before I ever come again
To that dark place
Where I might make
The choice for life to end
I’ve found that as I’ve traveled
Through the inscape of my life
That mountain tops make valleys in between
And when that nameless sadness
Like a cloud comes over me
I look back on all the brightness I have seen
5. Psalm 88 seems written for those in the throes of despair
Psalm 88:2-3 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. 3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.
Psalm 88:18 You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.
Despair is something the Bible addresses
F. The Physiological Side of Depression… and Perhaps of Suicide
1. Insight from 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
2 Corinthians 4:6-7 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 ¶ But we have this treasure in jars of clay
2. Applicable to all mental illness… ALZHEIMER’S… DEMENTIA… where formerly sweet-tempered Christians don’t remember loved ones and say outrageous, foul, even blasphemous things
3. So… sometimes people’s brains get broken and damaged
G. Bottom Line: I do think it’s possible for a genuine Christian to be so overwhelmed by the world, the flesh and the devil as to commit suicide… I am not prepared to say what the Catholic theologians said that it is an unpardonable sin and a guarantee of hell
II. Comfort for Those Left Behind to Pick Up the Pieces
A. Perhaps the Greatest Trial You Will Ever Face
B. Suicide is an Incredibly Selfish Act, Uncaring Who Will Be Hurt… or Perhaps Even INTENDING to Hurt Loved Ones Deeply
C. More Than Ever Before, Such Suffering Victims Have to Turn to Christ
D. Entrust the Spiritual Destiny of the Loved One to God… Trust in His Mercy and His Righteousness to Be Vindicated
E. Plead with God to Comfort You… Feed on the Word and Prayer… ask Him to answer your questions
F. Turn to the Church… don’t face it alone
III. Counseling for Those Wrestling with Thoughts of Suicide
A. Paradox: To ask “If I kill myself, will God forgive me and accept me into heaven?” The same God they want to spend eternity with is UNABLE TO HELP THEM through this dark trial!!
B. If You Ever Hear Someone Talk Like this… draw out their circumstances… “Boy, it sounds like you’re going through some really rough times.”
C. Minister the Word… Remember, it was the KEY OF PROMISE that enabled Christian and Hopeful to escape
1. Martyn Lloyd-Jones… Spiritual Depression… preach to yourself
Psalm 42:5-6 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God.
2. Feed on God’s promises
Hebrews 13:5-6 God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Isaiah 43:2-3 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior
Psalm 91:1-7 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
D. Fear God’s Justice… there is no certainty of the future if you kill yourself
E. Run to Christ!!! He is the Refuge, the Healer, the Guardian and the Good Shepherd
Introduction
Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27, looking this morning at verses 1 through 10. And as we come to this very sobering text, come to the text that I just mentioned, ordinarily we wouldn’t choose necessarily to study, choose to preach a sermon on. But we come here in this text to the shocking end, the tragic end, of Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve. And we can picture him in our mind’s eyes swinging on at the end of a rope, dead. Lifeless, alone. The suicide of a truly evil man, who was richly blessed by the proximity of his relationship with Christ, richly blessed, but never believed, never trusted, and turned him in for 30 pieces of silver.
And we can see those 30 silver coins, we can almost picture them clattering on the stone pavement and rolling until each one of them came to a stop. You can see the hypocritical priests kneeling down to pick each one of those 30 silver coins up, the very coins that they had paid out to Judas just a short time before, to effect the betrayal of Jesus into their hands. Now no one wanted those coins. They seemed like poison coins. No one wanted to touch them, no one wanted to do anything with them. And this whole tale is really a warning to us in many ways, a warning to all of us, a warning from the life of Judas of the proper valuation of life and money, and especially the proper valuation of Jesus. Jesus is the most infinitely valuable man that ever lived. The only infinitely valuable Son of God, Son of man who ever lived.
And in this account, we are brought ever closer, as we’re going verse by verse, passage by passage, through Matthew’s gospel, brought ever closer to the cross of Christ by which he will save his sheep from their sins. And poignantly, also we have a timeless warning of the self-destructive nature of evil. So I entitled this sermon, “The Suicide of Evil.” How evil is self-destructive in the end.
Judas’ so-called friends, his new allies turned their backs coldly on him and had no interest whatsoever in comforting or counseling with him. But he, Judas, in some mysterious way indwelt by Satan himself and Satan, who was a murderer from the beginning, driving him to his death. And how ironic is it that at that same time, Satan was committing suicide by killing Jesus? Using the weapon of death to bring with his own hands, bring his own kingdom down around himself.
And so in the end, though this is a dark story and a warning, yet for us who see the evil in the world, very encouraging. Because everything that happened here was according to God’s eternal plan, and his plan for us as Christ’s sheep is good. And in the end, sin and death and darkness and evil will be destroyed, really ultimately by its own hand, and we will be free at last. And what a joyful thing that is.
I. Jesus Condemned According to Plan (vs. 1-2)
Final Aspect of the Jewish Trial
So we begin our account by looking in verse 1 and 2, as Jesus is condemned according to plan. Look at verses 1 and 2, “Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. They bound him and led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.” So this is the final aspect of the religious trial of Jesus before the Jews. The wicked, illegal religious trial before the members of his own people now comes to its final end, its final phase.
Now, the whole effort, this wicked hypocritical sham had been to kill an innocent man with at least an outward semblance of justice. The false witnesses could not harmonize their story sufficiently to give that semblance of justice. So you remember the high priest charged Jesus under oath, “By the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” And he answers simply in Mark’s gospel, “I am,” God’s name. And he says in Matthew, as we studied, “In the future, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” And at this the high priest tore his robes, and they condemned him and abused him.
The Jewish Council Met Once More to Confirm Jesus’ Condemnation to Death
And here in chapter 27, the final phase, they meet one more time to make it official, completely illegal. They “took counsel together,” it says in one of the translations, this refers to the carefully laid plans to execute him without a just cause. Contrary to Rabbinic law, they hurried him off now to the Gentile trial before Pontius Pilate.
Ordinarily, as I’ve said, they would have had to wait another day to fast and pray and be sure that what they were doing was just and merciful, but they didn’t wait, they were in a hurry to kill Jesus. And so they met one more time to condemn him to death, this perfectly innocent man, and they bound him and hurried him off to Pilate.
All of this Was Exactly According to God’s Sovereign Plan
Now all of us was exactly according to plan, but whose plan? Now, certainly it was their plan, everything had gone as they had desired. In Matthew 26:3-4, it says, “Then the elders and chief priests of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they took counsel together to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him.” This had been their plan, their plot, their scheme. But infinitely above their wicked heads was God’s sovereign plan. Amen? Infinitely above all of their plotting, infinitely above all of their scheming was God’s intention in all of this. As Peter would preach on the day of Pentecost, in Acts 2:23, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge, and you with the help of wicked men put him to death.” And so all of this is according to God’s eternal plan.
The Binding of Jesus
And so Jesus is bound in verse 2 and led away and handed over to Pilate, the governor. Jesus had already been bound earlier in the evening on his arrest in John’s gospel, John 18:12, “They bound him in Gethsemane.” But apparently they unbound him when he was on trial. Now, they bind him again and lead him away. This led me to think about Samson being bound. You remember how he was bound and how his bonds couldn’t hold him, because Samson was so powerful when the Spirit of God came upon him.
What was it then that held Jesus’ hands together? Was it not his determination to do the will of his Father? Was it not his love for us, his sheep? Was it not his desire to glorify God and go to the cross for us? Jesus says in Luke 12:50, “I have a baptism to undergo. A baptism to be baptized with.” And he says, “How straightened I am.” That’s in the KJV, “How straightened I am, until it be accomplished. I’m in a straight jacket, I’m bound in until at last, I die on the cross.” Bound in by the will of God, bound in by the plans of God, and that’s what kept Jesus’s hands together. I can assure you, if it was not his will to be bound with those leather straps, he would have been able to rip them free, because he is far greater, far more powerful than Samson ever was.
Also, the binding of Jesus fulfills a prophetic type. You will remember how God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son, his only son, Isaac, on a particular mountain, and on the third day, God showed him Mount Moriah, where later the temple would be built. And when they reached that place that God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there, arranged the wood on it, and he bound his son Isaac and laid him there on the altar on top of the wood, and he took out a knife to slay him. But the angel of the Lord stopped him. And so the binding of Isaac I think a picture or a type of the binding of Christ. And also the leading of Jesus, a direct fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 53:7, “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.” And so all of these things are indications of the perfect plan of God to give his Son in our place for our salvation.
II. Judas Condemned According to Conscience (vs. 3-5)
Judas “Saw that Jesus Was Condemned”
Now, in verses 3 through 5, we have Judas condemned according to conscience. Look at the verses, “When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the 30 silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. ‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘For I have betrayed innocent blood.’ ‘What’s 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.”
So this part begins with the words, “When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned.” It implies somewhat of a surprise on Judas’ part, which is almost incomprehensible to me. How could he not know what the betrayal would lead to? It’s possible that, like Peter, he could see Jesus being led away at this particular moment, could see him and this trial was unfolding and it, in some strange way, hit him what was going to happen. It’s hard for me to understand that.
“Seized with Remorse”
But at that moment then, he’s seized with remorse. Which is a good translation, I think, for what he’s feeling. He feels guilty, he feels bad for what he did. It was a bad feeling that’s come over him as he sees this. Now, the Greek word translated here, “remorse” is different than the word ordinarily translated for “repentance.” Repentance. Judas did not repent, but he did feel terrible for what he had done. It’s important for us to make that distinction. Some have asked concerning the case of Judas, “Didn’t he repent here?” No, there’s no indication in the original that he repented, he just felt badly for what he did.
And I think 2 Corinthians 7:10 shows us that there are two different ways to feel badly for sin, two different ways. 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.” – Isn’t that marvelous? Friends, that’s your future. You’ll have no regrets in heaven, perfect memory of everything you did in life, I believe, but no regrets. Now, that’s a mystery, and we can talk about that, but other than that, we’re all lobotomized in heaven and have no idea what grace is. And “Thank God, Jesus saved me from my sin, from our sins.” We will remember, but no regrets. It leaves no regret. – “But worldly sorrow brings death.” And I think Judas is a very good example of worldly sorrow that produced death.
So there are two different ways to feel badly for sin. Peter felt terribly for what he’d done, and these accounts follow one right after the other. And so you have Peter weeping bitterly and he feels terrible for what he’s done, but there’s no doubt in my mind that God, through the Holy Spirit, led him step by step into a healthy, wholesome repentance, reconciliation with Jesus, with God and a life of service to him, leaving no regret.
But how different is Judas? Judas felt remorse, sickness, over the wretchedness of who he was and what he had done, but this led directly to death, not to God. It didn’t bring him to God asking forgiveness. It didn’t bring him to run up to Jesus, falling in front of him and saying, “Forgive me for what I did.” It just led him to death.
“I Have Sinned… For I Have Betrayed Innocent Blood”
And so he says these words, “I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood.” This is an amazing realization by Judas. First of all, his sin. What was his sin? Well, he bore false witness against a neighbor. Jesus was innocent, he never sinned. Deuteronomy 27:25 says, “Cursed is the man who accepts the bribe to kill an innocent person.” Sounds like Judas to me. And so he was cursed by the law for this sin.
But we have to go deeper than that. We have to go deeper. To whom much is given, much is required. And much had been given to this man, Judas. He was one of the 12. He had astonishing access to Jesus, the incarnate Son of God. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory.” Judas was an eyewitness to the glory of God in Christ, in ways we can scarcely imagine.
John MacArthur said this about Judas, “No man could be more evil than Judas Iscariot. Only eleven other men in all of history have had the intimate personal relationship he had with the incarnate Son of God. No man has ever been more exposed to God’s perfect truth, both in precept and example. No man has been more exposed firsthand to God’s love, God’s compassion, His power, His kindness, his forgiveness and grace. No man had had more evidence of Jesus’ deity or more firsthand knowledge of the way of salvation. Yet in all of these three indescribable blessed years with Jesus, Judas did not take so much as the first step of genuine faith. In a way that defies comprehension, Judas persistently resisted and rejected God’s truth, God’s grace, and ultimately God’s Son. Also, in a way that defies understanding, he managed to completely conceal his wicked rebellion from everyone but Jesus.” He was a thoroughly wicked man. So at this moment, his wickedness has led him to feel bad. And he feels badly for what he’s done, but not with the conviction that leads to salvation.
Even more amazing is this testimony to the innocence of Jesus. I’ll talk more about this, I think, next time. But he says, “I betrayed innocent blood. I have betrayed innocent blood.”
The sinlessness of Jesus is essential to my salvation and yours. Jesus committed no sin. There’s no deceit in his mouth. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed. Friends, it is innocent blood that saves you and me from sin. Innocent blood, the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for us. I plead with you, trust in that. Every week, we are reminded that people assemble here today that are outside of the grace of God, they’re not Christians yet, unregenerate. You’re listening to me right now, you’re in an unregenerate state. I plead with you, trust in the innocent blood of Jesus. It was shed for sinners like you and me.
This sermon has a lot of potential hopelessness in it, as you look at Judas, as you look down a dark tunnel of hopelessness, but it doesn’t need to be that way for you. Don’t leave here hopeless. Don’t leave here without hope and without God in the world. Come to Christ, and if you’re already a Christian listening to these words, then memorize them and then say them to some lost person this week. We are surrounded by people that are wrestling with despair, they are without hope and without God in the world.
There is an answer, and his name is Jesus. And so I love that phrase, “innocent blood,” because that’s what saves me from my sins.
Jesus’ Enemies Had No Heart to Listen
And so Judas testified to it to his enemies, but Jesus’s enemies had no interest in listening to that. “‘What is that to us?’ They replied, ‘That’s your responsibility. It’s on your head.’” The incredible coldness of these new friends and allies of Judas. There’s no honor among thieves, dear friends, and there’s no friendship in hell. Friendship is a gift of God’s common grace, isn’t it? Isn’t friendship a reflection of the Trinity, how two persons can be one, can be friends? That’s where we’re heading in Christ. We’re gonna be as one as the Father and the Son are one. We’re gonna have perfect and consummated relationships in heaven, friendships in heaven. Every marriage is just a dim reflection of the perfect unity we’re all gonna have in Christ in heaven.
Friendship is for heaven, not for hell. So do not be deceived if you’re outside Christ and you think you’re gonna have a good time with all of your lost friends in hell. They’ll be there, but they won’t be your friends. See, there’s no friendship in hell. And the coldness of what’s going here: They don’t care about Judas at all. Satan doesn’t care about Judas at all. He wants to kill Judas. He’d like to kill all of us.
Jesus diagnosed these cold-hearted sinners, these chief priests and elders of the people very well. He said in Luke 11:46, “You experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry and you yourself will not lift a single finger to help them with those burdens.” That’s what they’re doing here. They don’t care, “It’s your burden. You bear it yourself.”
Godly ministry, godly pastors, godly elders, they’re in the business of lifting burdens. That’s what we’re here to do, we’re here through the preaching of the gospel to lift burdens off people, but these cold-hearted religious experts, all they do is crush people with burdens.
The Tragic End: Judas Hangs Himself
And so it’s over for Judas, now, it’s over. He has nowhere to turn to. He is empty, he is bereft of all hope, bereft of all light. And so verse 5, “He threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.” He is completely alone. Those coins, they’re repulsive to him now, it’s like they’re on fire. It’s like they’re covered with some malignant virus or something like that. No one wants them, they’re evil, wicked things. I wonder if Judas in hell can see a matrix of 6×5, 30 coins. If he sees them forever, was it worth it? 30 silver coins. 30 silver coins. Is it worth it? Was it worth it? 30 silver coins for Jesus?
He didn’t think so at that point. He threw them away from him, he hated them, already hated them, hates them still. And he’s completely alone. He left, he goes away without a friend in the world, and he hangs himself. Matthew Henry, Puritan commentator said this, “Driven by the horror of God’s judgment against him, he jumped straight into that judgment. Seeking to escape the licking flames of guilt, he plunged into the roaring fire of hell.”
III. The Chief Priests Counsel According to Prophecy (vs. 6-10)
The Chief Priests: Wicked Legalists to the Very End
Verses 6-10, then the chief priests take counsel according to prophecy. “The chief priests picked up the coins and said, ‘It is against the law to put this into the treasury since it’s blood money.’ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. That is why it’s been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled. ‘They took the 30 silver coins, 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.’”
So here are the chief priests, wicked legalists to the very end. These are the ones of whom Jesus said, “You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” Later this very morning, they’re gonna refrain from going in Pilate’s house lest they be defiled, so they could celebrate the Passover. And Jesus is the reality of the Passover, and they wanna kill him, doing everything they can to kill him, but they don’t wanna be defiled according to the law.
They Take Counsel Together: What Shall We Do With the Thirty Silver Coins?
It’s amazing too because those 30 silver coins came from their hands, probably out of the temple treasury, and now they don’t want any part of them, nobody wants them, and so they counsel together, they take counsel together, “What shall we do with the 30 silver coins?” And so they decide to use them to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. And Matthew says this is in direct fulfillment of a prophecy, which he ascribes to Jeremiah.
The Mysterious Fulfilled Prophecy: Jeremiah or Zechariah?
Now, I’m doing scripture memorization now in Zechariah, and it sounds an awful lot like Zechariah 11:12-13. So let me read Zechariah, 11:12-13. There it says, “I told them, ‘If you think it best, give me my pay, but if not, then keep it.’ So they paid me 30 silver coins. And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’ – The handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter.”
Amazing points of context. In that chapter, the Lord has called Zechariah the prophet to act as a shepherd to a rebellious people, the Jewish nation. And it’s in the context of false shepherds who are not doing what’s right. But the people love the false shepherds, and they don’t love his true shepherding, so they hate him and turn on him. So he says, “Fine, give me my severance pay.” And so they weighed out for him 30 pieces of silver. He says, “That magnificent price at which they priced me.” And then the Lord comes a second time and says, “Throw it to the potter.” And he does throw it into the house of the Lord and it ends up at the potter.
There’s a lot of similarities there, aren’t there? Shepherding, false shepherds, potter, 30, silver, coin, throne, house of the Lord. Lots of connections and frankly, more connections on this prophecy than you’d find on many of the allusions that Matthew says, “This was to fulfill this or that.” And yet he ascribes it to Jeremiah. What do we do with that? Well, we skip it and don’t talk about it. So let’s just go on to the next part and just say, “I don’t know.” So that’s gonna be kind of my ultimate answer is I don’t know, but there are some decent explanations.
John MacArthur says that the law, the writings and the prophets sometimes referred to by the chief writer in those categories, law equals Moses or Moses equals law, David would be the writings, and Jeremiah the chief prophet sometimes chosen for the prophets. That was John MacArthur’s explanation.
We’ll reject the idea that Matthew wrote an error into the scripture, because once you start saying there’s an error, then you never know where that ends, and it’s just gonna unravel the entire garment. And you know when it’s gonna unravel is when the scripture convicts you of your sin. And you say, “Well, I don’t know. I think that’s an error right there.” So we don’t want to allow the concept of error to creep in here, it’s inerrant.
Don Carson gives another explanation, and he goes over to Jeremiah 19, and that’s where the Lord commands Jeremiah the prophet, to go and buy clay from the potter and to make a clay jar and smash it in a particular field in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. So the focus there is on the clay in the field and the field in which this thing was smashed, and the prophecy ends up being about the field where the wicked of Israel will be buried after the slaughter.
So I think we ought to think at a higher level, what Matthew is doing is he’s saying, the real deal here is about the ultimate end of these coins and the ultimate end of Judas, and I don’t doubt, frankly, that Judas might have been the first stranger that was buried in that field. Why do I say that?
The Ultimate End of Judas
Well, in Acts 1:18-19, it says, “With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field.” Judas bought a field. What does that mean? Well, “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.” It could have been that some people put it together, that Judas hanged himself on a tree, on a cliff or something like that, and the branch broke and then he gets dumped into a field which ends up being the same field that they bought and they buried him there as the first stranger. Outsider, outside of the grace of God, outside of redemption, eternally lost.
And I think that’s probably a more sophisticated answer ultimately to what’s going on here. This was a conflated prophecy between Zechariah and Jeremiah and just ascribed in the end to Jeremiah.
IV. Applications
The Proper Valuation of Christ
Well, that’s the exegesis; what application can we take from this text? Well, let’s start with valuing Christ properly. Shall we do that? Peter tells us, “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold, that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you by your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”
How precious is the innocent blood of Jesus to you? How precious a substance is that blood to you? I tell you right now, you may be the most mature Christian in here, you undervalue the preciousness of the blood of Christ, I guarantee you do, and you’ll spend eternity properly valuing it. For eternity, you will study the value and worth of the innocent blood of Jesus, and you will celebrate what it has done for you. You are not redeemed with silver and gold, you are redeemed with the precious, the infinitely precious blood of Jesus. If you have been redeemed.
If you haven’t been redeemed yet, then let the Spirit do a work on your heart right now. Let the Spirit show you the value and worth of the blood of Jesus. Do not try to stand before God’s judgment seat without it. You will be condemned as Judas was. But you don’t need to have that happen. There is time for you. Today is the day of salvation.
So I urge you, value Christ properly. Don’t be like Judas who traded Jesus in for some part of the world that then was worthless to him. Worthless to him. He threw it away because he learned too late how worthless it was. What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Or what would a man give in exchange for his soul? So don’t trade Jesus for 30 pieces of anything. Love and follow and believe in Jesus.
“Taking Counsel”: The Sovereign Plan of God Cannot Be Derailed
Secondly, and this is so precious to me, see the value of the sovereign power of God over the evil plans and plots and schemes of people. There’s all this “taking counsel together” in this text. In verse 1, the chief priest and the elders “took counsel” against Jesus to put him to death. They “took counsel” together in verse 7, and bought with the 30 silver coins, the potter’s field. So they’re conferring together and they’re taking counsel together. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans of a man’s heart, but it’s the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Nowhere has that ever been more true than when it concerns the taking counsel that wicked people did around the death of Jesus. They meant evil, but God means it for good for you, if you are one of his.
The church, when they assembled together after the Jewish authority started persecuting the church, started opposing the gospel, and Peter and John were arrested for doing a miracle, and they bring them in and they warn them and release them. So they go to their own people, they go to the church, they gather the church together and they start to pray, and they pray Psalm 2, “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples conspire or take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed one?’ Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire to take counsel together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had determined beforehand should happen.”
Now, friends, this is a mystery but it’s so precious, so precious. When I was writing this sermon, the events of the Boston Marathon bombing were fresh in my mind, and I was thinking about how destabilizing bombings can be. You just never know when something’s gonna just erupt, a trash can, a locker in a train station, and it just plays into our fears, and people don’t know what to do with that nameless fear of terrorism and of plots and schemes.
Maybe some people are led to trust the government, the CIA or the FBI, or the drone program or something like that, and wire taps and cell phones, be able to listen to cell phones, and have super computers keeping us all safe. Some people are worried about the encroaching government, worrying if the government’s what we need to fear after all that. How do we find refuge and protection against the evil plots and schemes of sinners?
Find it here, dear friends, find it in the sovereign power of God. There are terrorist cells that meet together and plot the death and destruction of many people, it’s happening probably right now, but they are under God’s sovereign power and control. God is restraining their evil for his own purposes. I know that brings us into difficult questions about, “What about when it does break out and people lose life and limbs and health?” and those are serious questions, but still in the end, aren’t you comforted to know that God sits on his throne above the circle of the earth and all its people are like grasshoppers and only his purposes and plans prevail?
Now, I entitled this sermon, “The Suicide of Evil,” and isn’t it comforting to know that God has ordained that Satan would pull his kingdom down by his own wicked plot and scheme? Isn’t that marvelous? Doesn’t that bring you joy? That evil is self-destructive to our glory and our salvation. Satan killed Jesus, and in killing him destroyed his own kingdom, and we are the recipients of the grace and mercy that came out of that. We are rescued, we are living stones quarried out of Satan’s dark kingdom, and we are put into a beautiful new living temple, rising to glorify God, and so it’s beautiful to see the suicide of evil.
Understanding Guilt, Despair, and Suicide
But this brings me finally in terms of application to the question of suicide itself. Suicide itself. I’m an expository preacher, I just take the next text and preach it, and I preach whatever’s in it, and it takes us to the question and the issue of suicide. And it’s not something, as I said, that I would choose if I were a topical preacher to preach on because it’s so painful and difficult, maybe one of the most painful topics there is in this life. But it’s only addressed three times directly in the Bible, there are only three people that kill themselves in the Bible.
King Saul in the midst of a battle with the Philistines, surrounded by the Philistine warriors about to die, did not wanna die by their hands, so he fell on his own sword and killed himself. Ahithophel who was David’s counselor, betrayed David, turned his back on him, helped David’s son Absalom to revolt against him, gave excellent counsel like he always did, but Absalom didn’t listen to it, and Ahithophel knew the writing was on the wall and there was no way that Absalom was going to win, and so he put his affairs in order and hanged himself. And then this one, Judas.
Now, we must acknowledge that Judas’ suicide is utterly, completely unique in redemptive history. There’s never again gonna be the circumstances like what happened with Judas. The proximity to Christ, the three years of seeing the incarnate Savior, being indwelt by Satan, all of the circumstances that’ll never happen again. Utterly unique. And yet, there are some aspects of it that are worth our study in our education, our training theologically, so that we can understand this dark issue of suicide.
Judas knew he had done wrong, guilt came upon him like waves. Guilt is to the soul, what pain is to the body. Tells you that there’s a problem. Now, it’s not inerrant, it’s not true that every time you feel pain, there’s a significant problem or any problem at all, but usually there is. As a matter of fact, people with leprosy can’t feel pain, and that’s why they destroy themselves ’cause they don’t pull their hand off the hot plate quick enough, or they don’t feel the pain and they’re not able to stop.
So when we feel guilty, it’s probably because we are guilty. When we feel a sense of shame, it’s probably because we’ve done something shameful. A healthy person takes that pain and addresses, they take their hand off the hot plate, they stop doing that action. Or they go see a doctor and they address the strange pain they’re feeling in their chest cavity or something like that, they try to deal, the pain is telling them something’s wrong. Well, guilt and shame should lead us to the cross of Jesus Christ, that’s where it should bring you.
We shouldn’t deny it, say, “I haven’t done anything wrong,” instead, we should take it to the cross. Even as Christians, we feel guilty and we should because we do wrong things. We feel ashamed and we should because we do shameful things. But we have learned the grace of God is limitless, and where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. And we are able to bring our dark feelings of despair and guilt to the cross of Christ and be healed by Jesus.
Now, why do people commit suicide? Why does it happen? Well, there are a variety of reasons. Retaliation, some people do it just to get back at loved ones, they feel hurt, they feel abandoned. Maybe a spouse leaves someone and marries someone else, and then the jilted spouse commits suicide just to get back. It seems to be the case a lot of times in terms of teen suicide, that the teenagers are trying to get back at their parents and make them hurt. And it does hurt. There are a few things as painful as being there after the suicide and having to pick up the pieces, and the guilt and all of the things that the survivors of the suicide have to deal with. It’s a very selfish thing for the individual to do it, it leaves a wreckage, it leaves a world blown up.
Some people do it because they wanna be with departed spouses, perhaps elderly people, and they lose their desire to live and they don’t eat and they don’t do what’s necessary to keep healthy and keep strong because they just want to be with the departed loved one.
Some people do it for religious reasons, especially in other religions, like Buddhism and Hinduism, Jihadists in Islam think they’ve got a short route to paradise, they do it for that reason. Some people do it for the sake of atonement ’cause they’ve done something so hideous and so horrible that they think maybe if they kill themselves, they can make up for it, that’s why sometimes prisoners hang themselves in prison.
Most people I think do it because circumstances in life become so overwhelming that they just can’t face them anymore. It could be a financial crisis, it could be that they’ve committed a crime and they don’t wanna face the repercussions. Could be a medical situation, they’re in so much pain that they just can’t face it anymore, other circumstances.
So what does the Bible say about it? What can we learn? How do we think about this? Well, first thing I want you to know is, it doesn’t mean that God isn’t sovereign. I know it’s hard to think it through, but there’s a particular passage that God showed me, I think a number of years ago in 1 Chronicles 10, it was talking there about King Saul, and remember I told you he’s one of the three suicides in the Bible, but in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14, it says, “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord. He did not keep the Word of the Lord, and even consulted a medium for guidance and did not inquire of the Lord.” Listen, “So the Lord put him to death.” Ponder that one. The Lord put him to death. Other than that, we’d have to say, you know that passage in Psalm 139, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Unless I take matters in my own hand and grab the last three pages of the book out, rip them out. No, that doesn’t happen. God’s sovereign even over this painful topic of suicide.
Secondly, suicide is a sin, it is self-murder, and we are not to murder, and it is very selfish, total self-absorption, not thinking, “What would this do to my wife or husband? What would this do to my children? What would this do to the people who knew me and love me?” Those aren’t the thoughts at that particular moment.
Lesson number three, great guilt can produce great desperation and can change your views of God. Despair can be like a drug and make you think differently about God than he really is. Satan’s selling you a different view of God, a harsh tyrant who just wants to crush you and destroy your life, that’s not the God of the Bible, but Satan is able to deceive people.
The remedy must be the scripture. Go again to the passages that talk about the attributes of God, is Exodus 34, where Moses says to God, “Now show me your glory,” and he puts him in a cleft of the rock and hides him, and the glory goes by and he pronounces these words, “The Lord, the Lord, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding and lovingkindness. Maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” Meditate on those words when you’re depressed. Feed on those words.
Lesson number four is that God is merciful. And whatever has brought you to the edge, God can forgive and restore and bring you back away from the edge. Some people think and I think it’s probably true, is that Judas’ biggest sin was despair that did not lead him to repent. It’s that in the end, he didn’t think God could or would forgive him, and that the best thing for him to do would be to kill himself.
But Jesus said, “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, even those who speak a word against the Son of Man.” I think Jesus would have forgiven Judas if he had run and thrown himself on his mercy and called on his name, but he wouldn’t do it. And so let’s know the marvelous, infinite matchless grace of God.
Lesson number five: fear what happens next. Fear what happens next, you don’t know what happens from this world to the next. Are you so sure that you’re in Christ as you’re thinking these dark thoughts of self-murder? Are you really ready to die? Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing to you, but I’ll tell you who to fear, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Can a True Christian Commit Suicide?
But this brings us finally to the hardest question of all. Is it possible for a genuine Christian to commit suicide? Is it possible to go from suicide to heaven? The medieval Catholic church said no, it was an unforgivable sin. Suicide could not be forgiven, because they distinguished two different types of sins, mortal sins and venial sins, the only way you could be forgiven for a mortal sin was to do penance and confess to a priest and all that, there wasn’t time for that, when you committed suicide, you’re definitely in hell, no doubt about it. They think that they get this from 1 John 5, “There’s a sin that leads to death, you shouldn’t pray for that,” etcetera, mortal sin’s unforgiven.
But can you imagine the grief of those that are left behind if this were true? And I think it’s going beyond what we have the right to say, it’s going beyond what scripture gives us permission to say, as though we are the judges and we’re able to say, “We know in this case, everybody who commits suicide goes to hell.” How do you know that? So, to say, “No, it is not possible to go from suicide to heaven,” is to make an absolute statement that logically leads in every case, you can go and be the messenger and saying, “Well, you know they’re in hell. We know that with absolute certainty.” Well, I don’t know that.
But to say “yes” brings us to all kinds of thorny issues as well, doesn’t it? Suicide is a paradox, very difficult. Is it possible to go from suicide to heaven? Yes, it’s possible. Well, we are saying, “This is a genuine Christian, they’re born again, their sins are forgiven, all of them, they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit will filter their temptations, will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they’re able to bear, but with the temptation will make a way of escape so they can bear up under it.” It’s hard to imagine how someone can be indwelt with the Spirit and kill themself. Very hard to understand that.
But let me ask a question, what is the difference between that and all sins by Christians? Aren’t we the weirdest things in the universe, we sinning Christians? We are. We are the weirdest thing there is in the universe. Everything else behaves just like it is, we are conflicted, deeply conflicted. We are indwelt by the Spirit and indwelt by sin, and they battle, Galatians 5, against each other so that we do not do what we want.
In Romans 7, “The very thing we hate, we do.” It’s insanity. So are we ready to say, “Yes, all forms of insanity but that one.” I don’t think so. I think it is irrational for a Christian to sin, and I think it’s irrational for a Christian to be depressed. I don’t say it’s irrational for a Christian to be sad. I think we should be sad, there are a lot of sad things. I think it’s better though, that we be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. How about that? Sometimes sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
So in the midst of all of our sorrows as Christians, we still have the joy of the gospel, don’t we? We still have the fact that we’re going to heaven when we die, our sins are forgiven. We have friendship with God now. I love the hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” I love the starkness of the statement, “We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.” I love that. Don’t ever be discouraged, that means you just, you’re depressed, you’re down and you have nowhere to turn to, you always have somewhere to turn to, always.
Christians have struggled with thoughts of suicide. In Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Hopeful are in doubting castle, Giant Despair beats them up every day and gives them the implements of their own demise, a knife, some poison, a rope, and is leading them to kill themselves, and only by finding the key of promise, the Word of God, that they’re able to unlock the door and get out, and Giant Despair stop beating them up at last. Do you think Bunyan might have been writing out of his own discouragement and imprisonment? Tempted with thoughts of suicide?
William Cowper, great Christian hymn writer of the 18th century, struggled with mental illness and suicide every day of his adult life. Michael Card wrote a song about suicide called “The Edge,” you could look it up and listen to it, it’s very powerful. In that he says, “Before I ever come again to that dark place where I might make the choice for life to end.” Very few Christian song writers will write about that topic.
Psalm 88 seems to be appropriate for that. Psalm 88 doesn’t end on a high note. Psalm 88, very discouraging, very depressing, and at the very end, verse 18, “You have taken all of my companions and loved ones from me, darkness is my closest friend,” end of Psalm. But what that does is, it speaks to me that sometimes that’s how the day feels. Live for the next day. The next day, his mercies are new every morning. Sun rises, he refreshes, he renews and you are restored.
So I’ll say one final thing and we’ll be done. I believe there can sometimes be a physiological side to suicide as well. In 2 Corinthians 4:6, it says, “God who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” That’s regeneration, God speaks light into the darkness of a heart. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay.” Let me simplify. What’s the treasure? Knowledge, the knowledge of God in Christ. We have this treasure in jars of clay. What’s a jar of clay? Well, where do you keep your knowledge? Do you have your knowledge in your pinky? Do you have your knowledge in your foot? Is it in your knee perhaps?
It’s right in here, this is your jar of clay. And we were made out of the dust of the earth, amazingly. This is amazingly complicated clay, but the jar of clay image is a fragility that it can be broken. Cracked. So what about Alzheimer’s or people with dementia? And all their lives, this woman, this man were sweet-tempered, pleasant and patient, and now they’re maybe openly cursing or blaspheming? Don’t recognize loved ones? What is going on there? Have they lost their salvation? No, their jar of clay has been cracked. God still knows who they are.
And so for us to say it’s impossible to go from suicide to heaven, underestimates how fragile that jar of clay can be. Sometimes the world, the flesh and the devil can overwhelm it, and darkness can come in waves and for his own purposes, God permits that darkness to latch on. So what comfort can we have for those that are left behind to take up the pieces? Turn to Christ, turn to the Scripture, turn to prayer, turn to the church. Don’t face this alone.
And what about if you’re the one depressed and discouraged? What if you’re asking, “Will God forgive me if I kill myself?” Do you realize what an odd question that is? How paradoxical? “Will the God who can’t help me now welcome me into heaven?” That’s weird. The God you wanna spend eternity with in heaven can help you right now. Turn to him and trust in him. Let’s close in prayer and then we’ll get ready for the Lord’s Supper.
Father, we thank you for the time that we’ve had in the Word. Thank you for the depth of the Word in dealing with a very painful subject. I pray that you bring comfort and consolation to any that have been touched and brought to great pain through this topic. I pray, Father, that you’d bring them the comfort and consolation of the gospel. And now as we turn our attention to the Lord’s Supper, we pray that you pour out through your Spirit, the grace of God on all of us who have trusted in you. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Deacons, if you would come, please.
