9: There has been much debate over the quote here made by Matthew. He says that this prophecy was made by Jeremiah. However, though Jeremiah does state things similar to it, it is plainly manifest that this is a quote from Zechariah. There are two good possibilities for reconciling this, which may even be taken together. First, the book of Jeremiah was, in the Jewish scriptures which Matthew would have used, the first in a grouping of books that included Zechariah. Often the minor prophets were then referred to by the name of the major prophet at the beginning of the grouping. Secondly, inasmuch as Mathew says specifically that Jeremiah said it, it cannot be denied that he did. Though it is not found in the book of Jeremiah, it is altogether possible that Zechariah was quoting from Jeremiah’s words, if not his book, in his own writings. The specifics of all this would have been well known to Mathew, though not so well to us two thousand years later.
10: The thirty pieces would be the common price for a slave, not as great an amount as one might expect to be paid for Christ’s betrayal. Of course, the Jewish leaders were very thrifty, and Judas was very greedy. It is an amazing testimony to the veracity of prophecy that this amount, as is here mentioned by the prophet, was able to purchase a field. Even more specifically, we have here the fact that it was the potter’s field.

Personal Journal Entry #12024
Prayer Journal Entry #12024
Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 14:1-16:35

6: It is amazing how God can work things out like he wants them. These men had scruples about anything that might be questioned from a good works standpoint, but cared nothing for matters of the heart. They would never have dreamed to throw the money away, as Judas did. This shows the condition of their heart was no better than his.
The law forbade the putting of ‘tainted’ money into the general treasury. Of course, the law forbade many other things that they had ignored before, such as injustice and dishonesty. Just as Judas, they sought to justify themselves, and expiate their guilt by human means. They saw themselves as greatly righteous persons for having caught this potential breaking of the law.
7: In Judas’ name, as if they had the right to do so, they bought a field to be used for the burying of non-Jewish persons who, on occasion, might die in Jerusalem. These persons, not being in their natural place, might have no burial arrangements made. Thus, this was meant to be a charity operation.
The field was likely a place where some potter had dug clay from the ground for his creations. It would be full of holes and slime-pits. This explains how they were to secure it so cheaply. Apparently, like many, they were all to happy to devote to charity that which cost them little.
8: This name of the field surely developed over time. The Jewish leaders would not likely have coined it. The common people, knowing how it was purchased, probably began to employ this moniker gradually. Thus, it is named after the blood that was betrayed for its price, the blood of Christ.

Personal Journal Entry #12023
Prayer Journal Entry #12023
Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 11:1-13:22

4: It must be said that there can be confessions without repentance. Confessing one’s feeling of guilt does little but to salve one’s conscience. Many have admitted to their guilt, but have failed to confess it to God and repent. Judas hoped to repair his mistake, not to be forgiven for his sin. He knew that only God can forgive sin, yet he went to man to confess. The Jewish leaders, however, were more shrewd than this thief. They realized the full weight of his sin, and left him to it.
5: Under the weight of guilt, Judas cast down the money. This always happens with sin. The slave to sin develops a hate for that which they love most. Judas still loved money more than God after he cast it down, but he was mad about what it had done to him. This is quite common. We love sin, and hate the consequences.
That the money was cast into the temple was a fulfillment of prophecy. Of course, Judas was in no state of mind to think of this. Instead, he now turned his mind to the solution to his problem.
Unfortunately, he came to the wrong conclusion about that. Suicide is often the means mankind will use to solve the problem of sin. Animals do not commit suicide out of guilt. Man, made in the image of God, is born with a sense of right and wrong, which, if not guided by God’s Word, can bring one to a place of lunacy.
There has been some debate over the exact mode of Judas’ death. However, it seems best to say that he hanged himself outdoors in an area where the landscape, as is common in Israel, was treacherous. Thus, either before or after he hung, he fell (the rope must have been weak) and burst upon the rocks of the place.

Personal Journal Entry #12022
Prayer Journal Entry #12022
Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 8:1-10:29

1: It is likely that a portion of the Sanhedrin was not present for the middle of the night meetings. Besides, the Jewish leaders wanted to make things look as legal as possible. So, in the most rushed official trial they could put together, Jesus was officially condemned that morning.
2: Jesus had to be judged before the Roman authorities now because of the sentence of death passed upon him. The Jews could not lawfully carry out the death penalty. The Romans had to approve.
3: As soon as Judas, who presumably slept well that evening, realized that the Jews had condemned Jesus to death, he changed his plans. In order to understand his bringing of the money back to the chief priests, one must understand a couple of things.
First, the word for ‘repent’ here is not the normal one. It simply indicates that Judas felt remorse or regretted his actions. He realized that things had not gone as he planned. What he planned exactly remains a mystery. Most likely, misunderstanding Christ as the other disciples, like Peter, did, he had thought Jesus would set up his earthly kingdom by force. In this way, Judas may have planned to force Jesus’ hand and get some money from the Jewish authorities at the same time. Or, he may have expected Jesus to escape, as he had at other times. Either is a likely scenario for a thief like Judas. He cared not what happened as long as it was to his benefit.
Secondly, having expected Jesus to remain unhurt, was overcome with guilt. Unlike Jesus, he did not know the final outcome of all this. If Jesus was found innocent before Pilate, Judas could be in trouble. If Jesus was indeed put to death, those who knew Christ might hunt Judas down to kill him. It was blood-guiltiness and all of its attendant dangers that troubled Judas, not true sorrow.

Personal Journal Entry #12021
Prayer Journal Entry #12021
Daily Bible Reading: Genesis 5:1-7:25

73: This last accusation occurs ‘after awhile,’ which means it occurs closer to dawn. The other two accusations had occurred earlier in the night. Peter may have thought he was through with it, when this whole group of people came to see him.
Among the group may have been the women from before, and a relative of Malchus was among them. This fellow said he saw Peter. As for the rest, they said they were convinced of Peter’s identity because of his accent, which was decidedly Galilean. Thus, this time it was much harder for Peter to fight the truth.
74: Peter had sworn before in his second denial. However, this time he adds curses. Calling down curses upon oneself was a way of affirming the truth of a statement. He was saying to them, if I am lying may such and such happen to me. It seems certain that those present remained unconvinced by Peter’s words.
At this very moment the cock crowed, which may have quite startled Peter. In addition, Jesus glanced his way, which only added to his reminder, and showed Christ’s love despite the denial.
75: We may consider it amazing that a person would ever forget what Jesus had said about the denial. However, it is not that amazing. How often do we forget to honor the Lord in all that we do? How often do we need to be reminded by the Holy Spirit of some sin that needs confessing?
Peter’s response to the reminder was the best possible course of action. He immediately was very sorry for what he had done. This response was, no doubt, part of the reason for his restoration later.

Personal Journal Entry #12020
Prayer Journal Entry #12020
Daily Bible Reading: Exodus 2:1-4:31

71: Peter moves to the porch. This was a smaller area near the door of the house. Here he was not able to warm himself by the fire, but probably hoped to be alone. Being there a long time, it came to be that another woman saw him and made a comment to the others there about his identity. It was while Peter was on the porch that the cock crowed the first time.
72: This time Peter denies it under oath. We do not know the substance of the oath itself. But, it was surely a serious thing to make a statement under oath. Referring to Jesus as ‘the man’ was a contemptuous way of referring to someone. He thus makes a strong lie, claiming no personal knowledge of Jesus.

Personal Journal Entry #12019
Prayer Journal Entry #12019
Daily Bible Reading: Genesis 49:1-Exodus 1:22

69: Peter was sitting with the servants and others in the courtyard of the home of the high priest. Matthew says he was ‘without,’ which simply meant that he was not in the section that Jesus was in. The courtyard was in the lower portion of the house, whereas Jesus was with the Jewish leaders in the higher section.
The young lady here mentioned was the one who kept the front door, and saw Peter come in with John. So, she had good reason to think that he was one of Jesus’ disciples.
The fact that she called Jesus ‘of Galilee’ is very interesting. It seems that the common folk of that day may have had a standard way of speaking of Christ. For those influenced by the Jewish leaders, as this woman was, he was Jesus of Galilee. Although that would be a legal name for him, it was not a name that admitted anything special. In other words, though Jesus’ name was fairly well known, true knowledge of him was more scarce. Such is the case even today. Many know who Jesus is, but that he is the Christ, the Savior of the world, is not so widely known or accepted.
70: Here is Peter’s first denial. He tells this young lady, and everyone in his immediate vicinity, that he has no connection with Jesus. His words are a little confusing at first. But, he is literally saying, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Thus, he not only claims no involvement with Christ, but also claims no knowledge of such things. He intimates that he not only does he not know about Jesus’ disciples, but that he would have no desire to know anything about them.

Personal Journal Entry #12018
Prayer Journal Entry #12018
Daily Bible Reading: Genesis 46:1-48:22

65: Surely the ripping of the high priests garment was more a formality than a reaction. He could hardly have been surprised at the answer he received. He announced his accusation of blashphemy as if there was no other possible reaction. For the Jews as a whole, it seems without doubt, that the accepted Messiah will have to do many miracles for their pleasure. This is a dangerous requirement, for the antichrist will surely be more than happy to oblige them.
Caiaphas asks why any more witnesses are needed because he sees how little they had against Christ before this. So, even in the mind of one bent upon Jesus’ death, Jesus’ statement in verse 64 helped towards the desired end. And, Jesus knew it would.
66: Given the false accusation, the Sanhedrin could come to no other conclusion. If blashphemy was the only option, death was the only course.
67: Once the decision had been made, the Jewish leaders began to take much more licence. Apparently they now felt justified in doing what they wanted to do all along. Their eagerness to give in to the flesh in their punishment of Christ is appalling. Their actions were illegal by both Jewish and Roman law. But they took no notice of this.
They spit in his face, punched him with their fists, cast harsh insults at him, and slapped him.
68: The playing of this sick game, asking Jesus to prophesy, was demeaning to persons of their high office. Once again, they took no notice. Jesus, of course, knew who was hitting him, whether blindfolded or not. He knew this kind of thing would start as soon as their self-righteousness felt justified.

Personal Journal Entry #12017
Prayer Journal Entry #12017
Daily Bible Reading: Genesis 43:1-45:28

63: The question of the high priest was designed to trap Jesus in his words once and for all. Calling upon Jesus to testify against himself would be illegal in most places, though not necessarily here. He charges Jesus to tell him the truth under oath, knowing that Jesus would never lie.
64: Jesus did not hesitate. Hesitation would suggest fear, or preparing to tell a lie. Jesus was not afraid of Caiaphas, or any other man. He answers in the affirmative, and then prophesies concerning his own fulfillment of prophecy.
He says that he would sit on the right hand of God and come in the clouds. He is telling Caiaphas that not only is he the Messiah, but that he would rise and return to his Father. This comes before Caiaphas even knew for sure that he would be crucified. Jesus lets every one there know that he has now doubts about his future.
By this response, Jesus intentionally, and willingly, gives Caiaphas all of the ammunition he needs to condemn him in this already illegal trial. Jesus obviously had no intention of being found innocent. This only serves to highlight the unfairness of the trial, and the purpose of Christ in all of it.

Personal Journal Entry #12016
Prayer Journal Entry #12016
Daily Bible Reading: Genesis 41:1-42:38

58: To his credit, Peter did follow his Lord. However, his desire was to see the outcome, not to be tried with him. With the assistance of John, who knew the high priest personally, he entered the courtyard of Caiaphas’ house. This is how he ended up sitting with the servants.
59: The entire Sanhedrin was intently engaged in this trial. They were trying to make it legal as hard as they could. But, the meeting in the middle of the night was already highly irregular.
They tried to find witnesses so as to legitimate Jesus’ arrest and condemnation. But, since Judas had apparently disappeared, or declined to testify, they were hard put to find what they were looking for.
60: According to Jewish law, the law of God, two witnesses had to testify to the same thing in order to establish a fact in court. Although they found no lack of liars for their cause, they couldn’t get the lies to match up. They knew all along they would be fine with false witnesses, which broke the law. But, straining at a gnat to swallow a camel, they were less than enthusiastic about not finding two witnesses.
61: In the end, two witnesses is all that they found. And, of course, their testimony was a misrepresentation of Jesus’ words.
62: As if two witnesses was more than sufficient, and as if the other testimonies were legitimated by this, Caiaphas asks Jesus for his defense. Jesus said nothing. Considering the highly irregular and illegal format of the trial, Jesus could have said much. But, though those present were unaware of it, Jesus had a greater goal in all of this.

Personal Journal Entry #12015
Prayer Journal Entry #12015
Daily Bible Reading: Genesis 38:1-40:23