Last week we looked at the arrest of Jesus. We saw His followers scattered. Several weeks ago we looked at Judas’s return of the 30 pieces of silver throwing it into the temple. Let’s tie up this loose string first.

Matthew 27:1-10

I find it interesting that it was after Jesus condemnation at trial that Judas felt remorseful. There are many possibilities for Him to feel guilty here. It says that He knew Jesus was innocent. The motivation for the betrayal then could have been as simple as Judas could get some money Jesus would get arrested tried and freed. I had thought that maybe Judas was trying to motivate Jesus into taking on His earthly kingdom by forcing Him into the confrontation with the Pharisees and Sanhedrin. But now I think that the simple motivation of greed with the idea that there was no real harm after all Jesus was innocent. He might have even thought well this isn’t as bad as that samaritan women or the adulterous women Jesus will forgive me and let me back into His circle. You can see that in other people you might even if you look carefully enough see it in yourself the idea that I am doing someone else an injustice for my own gain but it really isn’t that bad they shouldn’t get to angry with me so I will be ahead and do it and expect them to forgive me because of the benefit I got for the betrayal.

Let’s now look at the other telling of Judas’ end written by Luke in Acts 1:15-20

So this is a teaching of Peter being told by Luke. There are three things that appear to be discrepancies between this telling and the other one. First Matthew says that the pharisees purchased the field and in Acts that Judas bought the field which one is correct? In Matthew the pharisees refuse the money. They also refuse to let it be places back into the treasury. So instead of taking possession of the money they use it to purchase the field. So Judas’s money is used to purchase the field. In the Acts telling it is said it was acquired with the the price of his iniquity not that he made the deal himself. So this is no discrepancy just a differing point of view.

In the second supposed discrepancy in Matthew he hung himself in Acts he fell and burst open. I think we have a time issue with a location. What needs to happen for a body to burst open? It can happen from a fall but there needs to be other forces involved like traveling forward at a high rate of speed or some other obstacle being involved in the impact. What other things can make a body burst open. Age, gaseous buildup that occurs after a body is dead. This would also allow the skin to become easier to tear. I saw a youtube video of a cow that had died earlier that day stomach distended from the bloat. I don’t want to get into anything to gruesome but on what day of the week did Judas hang himself? Friday which is the first day of Passover when the seder will be held.

While the Last Supper was a seder type meal it was not on the first day of passover when the meal is normally held. Scripturally it is never called a seder we just associate it with the seder due to Jesus’ influence on the meal and the fact that they did hold a traditional seder meal. (edit I read this during class but my memory came to the rescue and I added this bit [I believe during Jesus time there was a debate as to when the Lamb was sacrificed and when the seder was held so some did the sacrifice as it was before dark on the 14th of Nissan which would be Thursday and held the seder after sunset still Thursday but now the 15th of Nissan. This would be when Jesus and the disciples had the Last Supper. Other people waited for the holiday to start which is the 15th of Nissan just before dark or Friday to sacrifice the passover lamb then held the seder after dark which would make it on the 16th or as Jesus was sacrificed on the cross.] I may not have done as good of a job explaining that during class hopefully is someone didn’t catch it then this will help)

But here speaking of Judas we have a point in which people would not want to be made unclean and be unable to celebrate the passover. This holds double true on Saturday or Sabbath. So the first time someone would have been likely to cut the rope to get Judas body down he could have been very ripe. Body fall and pop. If you want you can google bloated whale explosion just not while eating.

Third the field is called field of blood because in Matthew – It is a field to bury dead strangers and the poor and in Acts because of the exploding body. Can both be true? Once something gets a nickname the reason why it got the name becomes less and less clear as time goes on. Both can be true depending on whom you ask. (during class there was the statement that this isn’t a discrepancy a close look at scripture will show that the why of the nickname wasn’t one or the other. I tend to agree with the assessment from the class but those who try to prove scripture as inaccurate will call this one and you may need an answer in witnessing)

I think we have Judas pretty well finished let’s look at Peter now. The disciples of Jesus have scattered but we know where a couple of them go Let’s look at Matthew 26:57-58 and Mark 14:53-54

So Peter followed got into the courtyard and sat with the officers who were at Jesus arrest interesting. Luke doesn’t talk about Peter but John speaks of him John 18:15-16

When John is referring to the disciple whom Jesus loved who is he speaking of? Himself in third person. So we know who got Peter into this mess. Peter!

The first denial John 18:17-18

We have three tellings of this event and 2 witnesses but Peter never tells this story. So this is going to be a case of how each best understood what they were told.  Lets finish John’s telling John 18:25-27

Talking about being outed a relative to the one who’s ear you had just cut off goes hey aren’t you one of them. And to think he get’s away with denying it.

All right Matthew 26:69-75 We have in John servant girl,  slaves and officers,  servant relative

in matthew servant girl,  servant girl,               bystanders

What about Mark 14:66-72             we have servant girl,  same servant girl,     bystanders

Mark also goes to three denials with 2 rooster crows (your bible may not have the first rooster crow in the story if not look at a NKJV or KJV to see it this is a manuscript difference the older manuscripts tend to not have the first rooster crow in them). Also Matthew and Mark have Peter going back to his sea faring ways. Cussing like a sailor.  I do not think this needs any more explanation than what we have in who was actually there and that the important fact of Jesus foretelling coming true the differences aren’t theologically troubling in the context of different story tellers and lack of eye witness accounts. Does anyone have anything to add? (The question of the importance of understanding why the stories were slightly different was brought up in the context of the veracity of scripture. I personally don’t see these differences in stories as discrepancies other than it being notable that each one told the story as they new it. The Holy Spirit guided them to tell the story but didn’t force them to write outside their own experiences. As one student in class pointed out that non eye witness accounts being slightly different make the parts that they agree on to be more believable and make the whole less something that comes across as connived as something that was written exactly the same by three different writers.)

I was going to get into the trial of Jesus but I think we will wait until next week.

closing prayer