“I HAVE SINNED BY BETRAYING INNOCENT BLOOD”

Sermon Text: St. Matthew 27:1-5. When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Guide us by Your truth; Your Word is truth. Lord, let nothing shameful or dishonorable keep me away from You. Don’t let me be slow to come to You with my sins, or dare to think Your blood doesn’t atone for my sins. Help everyone see that there’s always, always, forgiveness with You. Amen.

Dear people loved by God in Christ, whose love is greater than the worst sins: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you, in truth and love. Amen.

Why do we have to hear this? Why does the Holy Spirit make us see it?

Judas coming to his senses too late; his “remorse” that appears not to be “godly sorrow” (2Co 7:10) that includes repentance, but just a deep regret and sadness over what he had done; his refusal to be comforted, and feeling sure that he could not be forgiven; and his death by suicide – this is too hard.

I hesitate to talk about it. But this is in Scripture for God to teach us some-thing. It’s found in Judas’ words to the priests: “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” Another short “sermon” preached by Jesus’ enemies.

I hate to call it that. It doesn’t feel right. As Jesus’ disciple, Judas was His friend, not His enemy. In Gethsemane, Jesus’ first word to Judas is: “Friend.” But by his actions Judas turned – for his part – from friend to enemy. This is foretold in Psalm 41, which prophesies that the Anointed One – Christ – says: “Even My own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate My bread, has lifted his heel against Me,” and one verse later He says to the Father: “I know that You are well pleased with Me, because My enemy does not triumph over Me.” So He first calls he who betrays Him “My friend,” but then “My enemy” – not because of Christ’s feelings toward him but due to the actions of Judas.

In tonight’s Passion reading we heard the moment of the betrayal. We also know the scene where Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him, and Judas accepts the bread that Jesus dips as a sign identifying the betrayer. Judas then went out to do it “quickly.” We want to shake Judas and say, “What are you doing? Wake up!” Now the council has condemned Jesus to death. It says Judas “was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.” Suddenly he’s deep in regret, remorse, and sadness, all he can think is that he can’t be forgiven. You know the rest.

This isn’t written to make us feel sad for Judas or angry about him. The apostles felt way sadder over Judas then we ever can, yet they include this. Not because they were eager to, but because it’s divine inspiration: God the Holy Spirit directing them to write this, so He can teach us something.

What this doesn’t teach or include is what led Judas to betray Jesus. We just don’t know and can’t even guess. But the first thing this teaches is in the realm of Law: Judas’ story is a very specific, two-pronged warning to us.

First, Judas’ example is God warning you what can happen when you let sin lead you, whether it’s envy or sinful pride or greed or resentment, or any sin. The Bible tells us sinful desires give birth to sin, then death. We’re told to put down the sinful flesh when it rears its ugly head, to check sin, flee from temptation and not indulge it. We have examples like Eve listening to Satan, then seeing that the tree was desirable for food; or King Saul letting his pride grow, and he ended up rejected by God, not listening to His Word but to witchcraft, and finally taking his own life; or when David indulged his sinful desire, all the mayhem it led to. Now we see Judas, in Jesus’ inner circle.

The warning is: It can happen to anyone, so take sin seriously. If you are overconfident, and tempted to think it isn’t a big deal, and you can control it, stop being arrogant and look at Judas.

The second part of the warning is what happened afterward: how Judas was in despair and took his life, losing heaven. It’s a warning about suicide, certainly; it’s something a Christian should never do, for in Christ there’s always and only forgiveness, always a new start, in Him – and with Him – is no darkness at all, but only walking in the light, His light that never fades.

But the second part of the warning, the part that came after the sin, is a warning about how you see your sins: not to believe that you aren’t forgiven.

When it comes to your sins, the Devil holds up two mirrors (J. Gerhard, p. 147). The first is a minimizing mirror, like a sideview mirror where objects look farther away – smaller – than they are. With this mirror, when he tempts you to sin, the Devil says: That’s just a little thing, no big deal. But after you sin, the mirror the devil uses to show your sin is like a magnifying glass. He makes the sin look huge! He says: That’s a huge deal, in fact it probably means you’re not even a Christian, look how mad God must be with you. With this he convinces a person to run or hide from God, like Adam and Eve did. Like Judas did.

These warnings are the reason the Holy Spirit tells us Judas’ sad end. Because God doesn’t want you to end like Judas, doesn’t even want you to despair like Judas. He doesn’t want you to feel at allabout yourself and your sins the way Judas felt. So he also included this sentence that Judas spoke to the priests as a sermon that you need to hear. Judas’ own words are words that would save him, if he allowed this truth to reach his heart:

“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” It’s the “innocent blood” part that saves. It saves you. It saves everyone. As Judas says and as he knew – the priests knew it too – Jesus was innocent. But they said it in a narrow sense, that Jesus wasn’t guilty of the charges. But it’s true in the biggest sense, speaking from God’s throne who sees every person’s every thought, word and deed: Jesus was innocent of all sin. “He was in all points tempted as we are, yet [was] without sin,” the Bible says (Heb 4:16). The blood of Jesus is holy.

So the blood Jesus shed is “innocent blood.” Yet God put all the world’s sin on Him. Jesus wanted all the guilt placed on Him, to pronounce everyone innocent. Jesus wants all – Judas, the priests to whom Judas said this, and you – to benefit from His innocent blood being betrayed and shed on the cross.

No matter the guilt and remorse that you feel, no matter how great your sin may be, it isn’t greater than God’s forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. No matter how timid or trembling you are in weak faith or because of your sins and unworthiness that you may feel, you are included in what His “innocent blood” does for you. “The blood of Jesus cleanses you from all sin” (1Jn 1:7).

In spite of how you might feel at times in doubting God’s forgiveness of you, there’s no question how God feels. The “innocent blood” Jesus shed tells you how God feels. He so loves you, Jesus shed His innocent blood for you. This takes it from feeling to fact: It’s always true what we learn to say:

Q: What has Christ done for you that you trust in Him?

A: He died for me and shed His blood for me on the cross for the forgiveness of (my) sins. (Small Catechism: Christian Questions and Answers #9)

He has way more forgiveness than you have guilt. With Jesus it’s never too late for you. “In Him is light, and no darkness at all” (1Jn 1:5). Amen!