Innocent Blood: Judas' Regret and True Repentance

And so while Jesus stood up to his questioners and denied nothing, as we said, Peter cowered before his questioners and denied everything. And just as Jesus had earlier told Peter, he did so three times before the rooster crowed. And at that moment, according to Luke's gospel, Jesus looked down at Peter and remembering Jesus's words, then Peter went out and he wept bitterly. That is where we left off. And as we pick the text back up, we consider the conclusion of Jesus' proceedings before the council, and then also Judas' regret in betraying Jesus, which didn't go as far as Peter's. [00:31:05] (41 seconds)  #PeterWept

And so last week, we considered the account of Peter's denials of the Lord as he was in the courtyard of the high priest while Jesus was inside the one of the rooms and undergoing his the first of several proceedings leading up to his crucifixion. And so while Jesus stood up to his questioners and denied nothing, as we said, Peter cowered before his questioners and denied everything. And just as Jesus had earlier told Peter, he did so three times before the rooster crowed. And at that moment, according to Luke's gospel, Jesus looked down at Peter and remembering Jesus's words, then Peter went out and he wept bitterly. [00:30:48] (42 seconds)  #PeterDeniesThreeTimes

Now as we consider from the text a couple weeks ago, of course, they believed that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy because of his assertion of his being the Christ and more than that, the divine status as a son of God. And for them, such punish or such blasphemy was punishable by death. Of course, we know Jesus had not blasphemed. He is the Christ. He is the son of god. He is the son of man. But they refused to believe that despite all the evidence. [00:34:20] (30 seconds)  #AccusedOfBlasphemy

Of course, we know Jesus had not blasphemed. He is the Christ. He is the son of god. He is the son of man. But they refused to believe that despite all the evidence. They were blind to the truth. He was innocent of blasphemy. He was innocent of all sin. And just as Jesus had pronounced the woes on the scribes and the pharisees for their hypocrisy just days before, You may recall, we studied this. He he he called them out for neglecting, quote, the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. [00:34:39] (37 seconds)  #JusticeMercyFaithfulness

And, of course, Judas was likely very interested in all this. So as Judas saw Jesus being taken away, the seriousness of his betrayal became clearer to him. But you think about it. What did he think was gonna happen, right, when he helped lead them to Jesus so that he could be arrested? I mean, Jesus had repeatedly said to him and the rest of the disciples that he was going to be delivered up. He was gonna be arrested by the chief priests and the elders, and then ultimately put to death. [00:37:30] (30 seconds)  #JudasRegretsBetrayal

Even so, Judas, like every other human being, had a conscience, and his conscience was pricked by the divine signal of guilt that reveals to people their sin and the consequences of it. Judas had realized how he had sinned so much so that he had a level of regret and remorse. Some even say repentance, but that is debated. The Greek word translated he changed his mind is not the typical word used in the Greek that is translated repentance, which that word means a genuine change of mind and will. [00:40:49] (38 seconds)  #ConscienceAndRepentance

And in keeping with how Jesus had already accused them earlier in the week, these religious leaders would heap burdens on the people that they themselves were not willing to bear. They had no concern for Judas. And and through the sacrificial system, they, these sheep priests, they were the ones that were supposed to mediate God's mercy to sinners. And here Judas comes confessing his sin to them. He knew it was sin according to the Old Testament law. Right? Here, Deuteronomy twenty seven twenty five, cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood. How do they respond? What's it to us? See to it yourself. [00:43:05] (44 seconds)  #SheepWithoutMercy

In other words, we don't care. That's your problem. Now perhaps it's because they didn't agree with him that Jesus was innocent since they believed him to be a blasphemer. But if that was the case, couldn't they have at least said something to that effect to him? You know, like a good shepherd or minister would do to someone dealing with false guilt? There's been a few times in my ministry where someone has come to me and that's they were dealing with kind of false guilt over something. It's really wasn't even a sin issue or whatever, but they were struggling. And I tried to help them see that. [00:43:49] (36 seconds)  #CallousReligiousLeaders