Matthew 27:4
Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
Judas brought back the thirty pieces of silver and declared he had sinned in handing over one he knew to be innocent, but the priests who had hired him refused any share in his guilt and left him to bear it alone. His words stand as testimony that Jesus was guiltless and blameless even while condemned, joined with Pilate's finding no fault in Him to expose the false charges and the corruption of those who condemned Him. He had sold his Master for love of money, expecting Him to free Himself by power, and only when he saw Him meekly endure trial and condemnation did he feel the full weight of his guilt and despise his greed. His remorse sprang from shame and dread of judgment over the outcome rather than hatred of sin, so though pardon was still open to true repentance, his unchanged, self-justifying heart refused to break and he condemned himself. In despair he cast down the money and hanged himself, and his terrible end both punished his betrayal and sobered Christ's enemies and persecutors, standing as a warning not to persist in sin past repentance.
Confession Before the Priests
Matthew 27:4 records Judas openly declaring that he had sinned by betraying innocent blood, thereby acknowledging Jesus as innocent, while the chief priests and elders refused any share in his guilt and told him to bear the consequences himself. The high priest and priests met his confession with contempt after having used him as their tool. His acknowledgment stands alongside the surrounding testimony that Jesus was guiltless, even as those in power failed to do justice despite recognizing His innocence.
Judas brought back the thirty pieces of silver and threw it down in the temple at the feet of those who had hired him, urgently pleading for Jesus to be spared and released. Pale and haggard with sweat on his forehead, he pressed through the crowd to the judgment seat and grasped the robe of Caiaphas, owning his guilt in the betrayal and pleading that Jesus was an innocent man guilty of no crime. Caiaphas and the other leaders answered with cold contempt and willing scorn, angrily shaking him off and dismissing his remorse because they had Jesus in their power and were determined to keep Him. To keep the people from seeking Jesus's release, the priests portrayed Judas as mad and urged them not to be moved by his words.
The priests had made Judas their tool by taking advantage of his covetousness and hatred, yet they despised his baseness and spurned his confession. Their advantage-taking extended to his love of money, selfishness and ambition. Their brief vexed silence and then dismissive reply exposed before the multitude their perfidy in secretly hiring a professed follower and hunting Jesus like a thief, revealing their hatred.
Judas had loved Jesus but had loved money more, and he had not expected Jesus to allow the mob he led to take Him but had thought He would deliver Himself by a miracle. When he saw Jesus meekly endure abuse, trial and condemnation, and saw the infuriated multitude thirsting for blood, he was overcome and deeply felt his guilt. Then he recognized the full extent of his crime in selling his divine Master to shame and death, was filled with remorse and anguish, and despised the covetousness and selfishness that had led him to betray his Lord for thirty pieces of silver. Christ had loved him, given him privilege in the divine Teacher's school, and constantly sought by lessons to arouse his conscience, soften his heart and bring him to repentance, yet Judas stubbornly justified his course, hid his wrong, judged others' defects, and in pride and hardness would not surrender and be broken.
Despising the money and leaving in despair, anguish and horror at his crime, Judas went away and hanged himself. His falling body was horribly mangled and burst asunder when the cord broke under his weight. The wicked throng on the way to the crucifixion saw his body that same day at the foot of a lifeless tree, and though his remains were immediately buried out of sight, the sight quieted mockery.
Witness to Innocent Blood
Judas the traitor-disciple declared that the blood he had betrayed was innocent, testifying that Jesus was without guilt and guilty of no crime. In confessing that he had sinned grievously in selling Him, he acknowledged Jesus as innocent and affirmed that the charges brought against Him were false. His acknowledgment confirms Christ's innocence and blamelessness even as He was delivered to be crucified and condemned.
It was God's design that the men who delivered Jesus to death should hear His innocence declared from Judas before the priests who condemned Him, as he threw at their feet the money taken for the betrayal. This confession stands joined with Pilate's repeated declarations of finding no fault in Christ. Together they show that the testimonies against Him were false and that the witnesses had been hired by corrupt men, exposing how base and corrupt the condemning priesthood had become.
Though He was condemned to die for declaring Himself the Son of God, His executors were not able to prove one of the false charges brought against Him. Thus He suffered one of the cruelest deaths though none proved Him guilty of any offense. The event involving Judas and the thirty pieces of silver cast down also fulfills Zechariah's prophecy concerning their being cast to the potter.
His declaration of Christ's innocence is compared with Balaam's prophecy of Israel's triumph. As part of the history of professedly pious Jews, the verse shows that religious profession does not ensure conduct in harmony with God's law. It belongs to the account of Jesus' betrayal and trial, events that became a severe test for His disciples which Jesus knew was coming and for which He prepared His faithful followers to endure.
False Repentance and Consequences
Judas’s cry of guilt was wrung from condemnation, bitter remorse, shame and dread of judgment, not from true sorrow for betraying Christ or hatred of sin itself. He felt no deep grief for handing Jesus over to be mocked, scourged and crucified, but grieved as a selfish, darkened heart over what his sin had brought upon himself; he lamented the result of transgression rather than its guilt, and such a confession could not commend him to mercy. It acknowledged wrong only under fear of punishment, without true contrition and without abhorrence of evil, the confession of one who would return to defiance of Heaven if the judgments were removed.
That kind of confession stands as the pattern for unprepared professed Christians in the last fearful conflict, who in despair will confess their sins in words of burning anguish while the wicked exult over their distress. Pardon was still possible for Judas at that moment, and if his traitor’s heart had broken in true repentance and confession then he would have received pardon. Christ had loved him, had given him with the other disciples the privilege of learning in the school of the divine Teacher, and had constantly sought by lessons to arouse his conscience, by appeals, warnings of coming dangers and perils, and by kind reproof to soften his heart, to bring him to repentance that He might pardon him and transform his character.
Instead he held to his hatred and purpose to the last with unchanged heart, determining in the face of light and evidence to follow his own course and do his own will. He stubbornly justified his course, hid his wrong from human sight, was ready to pronounce judgment on the defects of others, and in pride, stubbornness and hardness of heart would not surrender and would not fall upon the Rock and be broken. His stubborn heart had been hardened by long resistance to light, with satanic resistance increasing in proportion to the light given and resisted, until surrounded by satanic agencies he saw where his footsteps were tending yet was made blind to all consequences and had no power to save himself from the snare; and since a man cannot be forgiven unless he repents, he was not pardoned. By his betrayal he condemned himself, gave himself over to the enemy, passed sentence upon himself, and put himself to death.
His case is set before the churches as a warning not to take the first step on that road, for a person can place himself beyond the reach of repentance by persisting in sin rather than sincerely repenting. Yielding to satanic impulses drives a man on to the bitter end and makes entreaties, appeals, warnings and reproofs given to hedge up the way to ruin in vain. The confession, together with his casting down the silver in the temple and his horrible death by hanging and bursting asunder, made a deep impression on the minds of the enemies of Christ, who could not help but notice the terrible result of his traitorous act. Because Christ bore with Judas and kept him by His side to the end, the result was impressive enough to make men afraid to lay hands on the disciples after His resurrection and ascension and to stay the hands of persecutors, so that only Stephen was put to death instead of an effort to destroy all the apostles.
That same day the wicked throng leading Jesus to crucifixion saw at the foot of a lifeless tree the body of Judas, whose weight had broken the cord and whose falling body had been horribly mangled, and though his remains were immediately buried out of sight there was less mockery and many pale faces. With the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, the fate of the betrayer placed the disciples on vantage ground and gave them courage, for without that restraint the most terrible scenes would have followed. His death stands as retribution for betraying Christ and becoming guilty of His blood, and the fearful reaction of the crowd and the quieting of mockery at the sight presented retribution as already coming upon those guilty of Jesus’s death.