When Peter had returned into the hall where Jesus still was, another
man "confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was
him: for he is a Galilean." The Jews, who were natives of Galilee,
used a different dialect to that of the inhabitants of Judaea; and this
man, having heard Peter speak, at once perceived that he was a
Galilean, and doubtless the follower of Jesus. But Peter at once said,
"Man, I am not": he would not even now allow that he was a Galilean;
but the fact was too plain; for his manner of speaking betrayed or
showed that he was certainly a native of Galilee. They that stood by
could not therefore be deceived, and said again to Peter, "Surely thou
also art one of them, for thou art a Galilean: and thy speech agreeth
thereto, for thy speech bewrayeth (or betrayeth) thee." Peter now went
still further in his denial, and added to his sin; for getting
frightened and angry, he allowed himself to use language sinful in
itself. "Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the
man: I know not this man of whom ye speak. And immediately, while he
yet spake, the cock crew; the second time the cock crew. And the Lord
turned and looked upon Peter."
What a look must that have been! a look of reproach for Peter's sin;
of grief for his sad fall mixed with love for His weak and erring
follower. Such as it was, it went straight to Peter's heart; bringing
all things to his memory, and making him feel deeply the sin he had
committed against One, whom he did truly love; though under
temptation, he had acted very contrary to what that love demanded from
him. But the Saviour's look awakened all Peter's better feelings: "And
Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how that he had said unto him,
Before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice. Before the cock crow
twice thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept;
he went out and wept bitterly."
Peter's tears were tears of true repentance: we know this, because in
future we find him no longer confident in himself, and boasting of his
love, but humble, and looking to God for strength; whilst he devoted
his life to doing his Master's work, never letting the fear of man
prevent his declaring the truth, as it is in Jesus.
When we blame Peter for denying the Lord, let us remember that he
sinned, _because_ he trusted too much in himself, and did not watch
and pray as he ought to have done. This is a warning to us, not to do
as he did. But let us also remember, that having sinned, he repented
truly; and showed his repentance, by his changed conduct during the
rest of his life. Here is an example for us to follow.
This terrible night was over at last. "And straightway in the morning,
as soon as it was day" (about four o'clock in the morning of Friday),
the Chief Priests seem to have called the whole Council of the
Sanhedrim together, to consult what was next to be done to secure
their object: "they took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
And they led him into their council, saying, Art thou the Christ? tell
us." Jesus had already answered this question before Caiaphas, and
knowing their motive in repeating it, "he said unto them, If I tell
you, ye will not believe. And if I also ask you, ye will not answer
me, nor let me go." Jesus would not, however, allow them to suppose
that He denied being the Messiah: and He therefore repeated the words,
which they chose to call blasphemy, saying, "Hereafter shall the Son
of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. Then said they all,
Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.
And they said, What need we any further witnesses? for we ourselves
have heard of his own mouth."
"Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was
condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of
silver to the Chief Priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that
I have betrayed the innocent blood." Some feelings of sorrow and
remorse for having given up an innocent man to be put to death, now
led Judas to bring back the "reward of iniquity," and at once to
confess his own sin, and bear witness to the innocence of Jesus.
Perhaps he had a hope of thus saving Jesus from the fate which awaited
Him: if so, Judas soon learnt, what many have learnt before and since,
that it is easy to do wrong, but by no means easy to undo the wrong
when done. Many of us, in a moment of passion or self-will, commit
acts which embitter our whole future lives. Let the young beware, lest
they bring upon themselves such life-long misery; they may truly
repent and mourn, and God, for Jesu's sake, may forgive the sin; but
the act itself, and its bitter consequences, can never be undone.
The Priests and elders cared not whether Jesus was innocent or guilty,
so as they could treat Him as if He _were_ guilty. His holy life, His
heavenly teaching, showed them their own sinfulness, and therefore it
was _because_ He was good, that they sought to destroy Him. Neither
did they care for Judas's sufferings: they had gladly profited by his
sin, and given him the reward agreed upon: now that they had got from
him all that they wanted, they cared not what became of the miserable
sinner. And this is often the case amongst men, who to gain something
they want, persuade others to do wrong. Those who have sinned to help
them, may afterwards be filled with remorse and misery; but they will
meet with neither help nor pity from those who led them into sin. Like
the Priests, they will say, What is that to us?
In vain did Judas look for pity from his partners in guilt; the
unfeeling answer of the Priests was, "What is that to us? see thou to
that." Had Judas repented truly, he would, like Peter, have gone out
and wept bitterly, and sought forgiveness of his Lord; but, unable to
bear the feeling of remorse which lay heavy upon his heart, he
committed a crime for which there is no repentance: "he departed, and
went and hanged himself, and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the
midst, and all his bowels gushed out." What may be the exact meaning
of this passage, it is difficult to say; but it is certain that Judas
perished in some remarkable and dreadful manner.
After Judas had departed from the Council, leaving the money behind,
"the Chief Priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful
for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood."
The Jews considered it unlawful to put into the treasury of the
temple, any money which had been got by taking away life. The
executioners, whose duty it was to put criminals to death, were not
allowed to make any offering to the treasury, because the money that
they gained was looked upon as the price of blood. These Priests, who
were ready to break a positive commandment by putting an innocent
person to death, would not break the Law in a small matter.
The fact is, that by this time the religion of the Jews had become a
mere form: they made a great fuss about observing ceremonies and
customs, which required no self-denial; but they did not care to obey
the Will of God, when it interfered with their own wishes and
inclinations. They had had no scruple in buying the life of an
innocent man, but they would not put the price of his blood into the
treasury. So "they took counsel," or consulted together, as to what
should be done with the silver pieces, "and bought with them the
potter's field, to bury strangers in." By "strangers" was probably
meant Jews, who came from distant parts of the country, or from some
of the nations through which Jews were scattered: these people had, of
course, no burial-place of their own in Jerusalem, and therefore this
field was bought, in order that any foreign Jews, who died in the
city, might be buried there.
The potter's field lay to the S.E. of Jerusalem, on the other side of
the brook Gihon. From this time, this field was called "Aceldama," a
Hebrew word, meaning the Field of Blood: now the Christians in those
parts call it "the holy field."
This buying of the field, was foretold 457 years before, in the time
of Ezra. "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the
prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price
of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;
and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me."
This prophecy is not, however, to be found in the book which we call
by the name of Jeremiah, but in that of Zechariah (xi.), another of
the prophets. The Jews had an old custom of dividing the Scriptures of
the Old Testament into three parts. The First Part, called "the Law,"
contained the books of Moses and those of Kings and Chronicles: the
Psalms formed the Second Part: and the Third Part contained the
writings of the prophets. As this Third Part began with the prophecies
of Jeremiah, the whole division was often called by his name; and thus
any words spoken by another prophet, might be said to be in Jeremy or
Jeremiah.
The Priests and the whole Council of the Sanhedrim had condemned Jesus
to death, for what they called blasphemy; and the next step was to get
Pilate's permission to execute the sentence. "And the whole multitude
of them arose, and bound Jesus, and when they had bound him, they led
him away from Caiaphas unto the Hall of Judgment, and delivered him to
Pontius Pilate the governor: and it was early," probably about five
o'clock in the morning. "And they themselves went not into the
Judgment Hall lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the
Passover."
These Jews were _preparing_ to eat the Passover, in the evening of
that day, Friday; but Jesus and His disciples had eaten it the evening
_before_; that is, on Thursday. This difference needs some
explanation. We divide our year into 12 months, some of 30 days, and
some of 31, whilst, as a general rule, February has only 28. The earth
on which we live goes round the sun in 365 days and 6 hours, all but a
few minutes. By "the day" we mean 24 hours, or what we call a day and
a night. Our 12 months, therefore, contain the 365 days; but the extra
hours are unaccounted for. Now in four years the 6 extra hours amount
to 24--another day: and therefore every fourth year February has an
additional day to provide for them. The year in which February has 29
days is called "Leap Year," because we seem to leap over a day. For
instance, suppose Christmas Day to be on Saturday one year, it would
naturally fall on Sunday the next year: but if it were Leap Year, it
would leap over Sunday and fall upon Monday instead. Our year is
called a Solar Year, because it is regulated by the course of the
earth round the sun, and _Sol_ is the Latin word for the Sun.
The Jews, on the contrary, divided their year according to the course
of the Moon, which goes round the Earth in something more than thirty
days. Theirs was a Lunar Year, because _Luna_ is Latin for the moon.
The twelve months amongst the Jews had not the same fixed number of
days every year, because they reckoned the month to begin when the new
moon first appeared. This practice often led to mistakes, so that what
ought to have been the 14th day of any month was frequently called the
15th, or the 13th. Something of this kind seems to have taken place at
this time: so that whilst Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover on
the evening of the right day, the 14th of Nisan or Abib (answering to
the end of March with us), many of the Jews celebrated the feast on
the next day, calling that the 14th, though it was, in reality, the
15th.