Tuesday, February 19, 2013 - Matthew 27
The occupying Romans had forbidden the Jews to carry out an
execution. Thus it was necessary for the
Jews to bring Jesus before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of that
region. Only Pilate could give the
command to have someone put to death.
27:1-10 What
moves Judas to return his money and kill himself? How do you think one who lived so long with Jesus
could have so misunderstood who Jesus was?
Could Judas have been saved? What
do you think stood in his way?
Why didn’t the religious leaders want to take Judas’ money
back? Have you ever been motivated by
guilt, but not enough to stop some wrong that you are involved with?
27:11-26 What
evidences are there in the text that Pilate did not want to crucify Jesus? What did Pilate do to try and avoid this
evil? Why didn’t he stand his ground and
refuse?
How might you have felt about Jesus if you were
Barabbas? How is Barabbas like us?
Why do you think the crowd turned against Jesus? Were they misled, disillusioned, angry? Have you ever been disappointed with God’s
actions?
27:46 In what way was
Jesus abandoned by God? Have you ever
felt forsaken by God? How were you
reassured of His presence?
27:50-54: What signs
show that God is still at work in the crucifixion? What do you think is the significance of the
torn temple curtain in verse 51?
27:62-66 Why do
the Jews want a guard at the tomb?
What were they afraid of? How do
you think their worst fears of a greater “deception” might be made even worse
by the actual resurrection of Jesus?
Pastor-regarding Matt27:3-5, both the Aurhorized KJV and the RSV says "Then Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He was condemned, REPENTED himself" (not just "He regretted his actions.) Judas went on to confess his sin to the temple elders, and tried to return the stolen money.
ReplyDeleteIn other words,Judas, without any prompting needed from a Nathan (as was necessary for King David to confess his sins that he was trying to cover up), may have tried to do everything in his limited power to make right his wrong, then became depressed and committed suicide. Maybe there was an unrecorded confession to God as well. Pehaps we shouldn,t write off his soul as hopelessly condemned- God is compassionate.
From a WELS Q & A Site:
ReplyDelete1.Look at Matthew 27:1. What did Judas recognize? The innocence of Christ and the fact that he had sinned in his actions.
2.What events led to Judas’ remorse? Was he present at the trial? Did it begin when he fell to his knees in the garden? Did he think, somehow, that they weren’t going to condemn Jesus to death? We don’t know. What we do know is that when Jesus was condemned, Judas condemned himself.
3.Explain the difference between remorse and repentance? Remorse is distress over the guilt from past wrongs. Repentance consists of two parts: contrition (sorrow over sins, terror of sin’s effect) and faith in God’s forgiveness. Remorse comes from the law. Repentance is born of the gospel. For a good review of repentance, see the Augsburg Confession, article 12.
4.How did the words of the religious leaders completely contradict the plan of God? They said that the guilt was Judas’ responsibility. In fact, Christ came to save sinners and take the responsibility of sin and guilt away from them.
5.How did Judas’ remorse lead to his suicide? His guilt and terror over sin lacked the faith in Christ that comes with repentance. He was hopeless and helpless, believing that God could not love a sinner like him.
6.The message of Christ is one of law and gospel. What is the danger if one or the other is excluded? The despairing sinner who knows only law cannot but think that all is lost. He needs to hear the gospel. The sinner who thinks lightly of sin needs to see the mirror of the law. God wants us to rightly divide the Word of Truth so that the comfortable might be afflicted and the afflicted comforted.
7.Jesus gave many gifts of grace and calls to repentance to Judas. How is Judas a warning to us? How a comfort? We, too, have been shown great grace in Word and sacrament. Judas is a warning that we should never spurn God’s grace or belittle the danger of sin.