Sometimes a priceless heirloom breaks never to be the same again. Imagine children roughhousing and knocking over a priceless vase. Imagine dropping a cherished dish, a piece of fine china, that shatters never to be replaced. The fall of both the chief priests and the betrayer Judas fulfilled the prophecies of Jeremiah and the prophet Zechariah concerning broken pottery and a potter’s field. The prophets speak of an unrepairable relationship between the LORD and his people … between God the Creator and humanity he created. Although the LORD is always seeking a repentant heart from his people, the broken covenant can reach a place of disrepair. It is a sad outcome for the hardest of hearts toward salvation when one’s soul cannot be saved. It is a sad outcome for the one who is willingly persuaded by Satan and rejects the hand of salvation from Christ alone. While Peter wept in private before the Lord [Matthew 26:75 ] the chief priests and Judas regretted their actions. Yet the difference between Peter’s broken repentance and Judas’s hardened regret is stark. Judas regretted his actions. The chief priests and elders regretted the money paid for innocent blood. The gospels tell us that Judas, and these chief priests, acted in maniacal betrayal toward the Messiah who was the only hope of salvation. These men have been the example to the church ever since as a warning that human nature can and often will reject salvation when plotting for one’s own glory and pride. Blood is the cost of broken covenants. Blood money for selling Jesus into crucifixion. The Field of Blood where Judas hung himself. Jesus’ Blood alone was the perfect sacrifice to atone for sin.

Let’s dig into Matthew 27:1-10 together to see how Jesus’ Great Suffering also spoke of the painful suffering for those who betray HIS name and reject HIS salvation.