Matthew 27:1-10

the Betrayer's Remorse and Suicide

Matthew 27:1-10

It was the very early morning when Jesus was led off to Pilate, for he was on the cross by nine. Judas apparently watched the scene from afar. It may be that he was stricken with horror, when our Lord did not exert His mighty power in self-deliverance. The only expedient that occurred to the traitor as practicable was to attest the Lord's innocence. What a tribute that was to the absolute purity and beauty of the life which he had known for so long in the closest intimacy! If there had been a flaw, he would have caught at it as justifying his deed; but there was none. See Hebrews 7:26-27.

The money burnt his hands and rang on the marble floor. Who can estimate the despair, the horror, the blackness of darkness that drove him to a suicide's fate? See Acts 1:15, etc. Note how punctilious these false priests were, Matthew 27:6.

It is certain that even after this, if he had repented, he would have been forgiven. But despair had seized him. He went to his own place! Each of us is making a place for himself and is going to it.