Earlier on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, I became a bit emotional as I read about Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27, in his futile efforts to undo his betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ. He tried without success to return the money to the High Priest and his team when he saw that the Lord was arrested, molested, beaten and moreover, He permitted and accepted it. The Lord was made a condemned prisoner whose crucifixion plan was being irreligiously and steadily worked out to its actualisation. When the Jewish religious leaders refused to negotiate the Lord’s release nor accept the money they paid for His betrayal, Judas cast the money into the temple and went on to hang himself.
Some months before this in his office, as the treasurer of the twelve disciples, he was involved in petty thefts by pilfering some of the money he kept John 12:6. He must have thought that he was smart. He continued until he convinced himself that he could betray the Lord for thirty pieces of silver and of course, in his mental permutations, the Lord could not be arrested. Whatever his calculations and confidence were that the Lord could not be arrested failed, and all ended for him in tears and suicide. Seeing his remorse, crying and eventual suicide, it became clear that he did not expect the outcome he faced. If he knew that his petty thefts would eventually lead to betraying the Lord and his committing suicide, it was likely that he would have stopped them. It was certainly not possible for him to have a second chance or learn from experience to stop the evil of stealing from the disciples’ money bag.
Another takeaway lesson from this experience is the futility of trying to play hide and seek with the law as long as one can get away with it. This is wrong whether one is alone or working with others. It does not matter even if one is acting alone. Joseph asked the wife of Potiphar “…How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9. This was it! His bother was not being caught by man but the fact that the all-seeing eyes of the Lord would see them. Most importantly, he would not be living as the Lord would desire of him as His child. For refusing to go into sin with Mrs Potiphar, he was lied against and ended in prison. This was a case of being imprisoned for doing good. He knew this and did not abandon the Lord in disappointment. And the Lord did not disappoint him. Yes, the Lord took him from prison to the palace, and he became the prime minster, the number two person in Egypt. This was the Lord’s blessing for the slave boy who was wrongly imprisoned yet he trusted Him and lived to please Him. In effect, a child of God should not just be living to avoid the penalty of infringing on the laws of God and man. No, he should live no longer in the realm of keeping the law but, of seeking to please the Lord, and walk according to the desire of the Lord all the time.
The Jews also did not get away Scot-free with their evil. They refused to accept the thirty pieces of silver because it was unlawful to accept such money into the temple. Yet, they deliberately accepted false witnesses against the Lord, an action which was unlawful. They did it because it served their purpose of condemning the Lord to crucifixion. Even when Pilate washed his hands to dissociate himself from the crime of crucifying, a just man, they stated that they accepted the punishment and it should be on them and their children, Matthew 27:24-25. The Lord had earlier warned of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, Matthew 24:1-2. When it eventually happened in AD 70. It was terrible. There was no hiding place. They certainly would not choose the experience and its causes if they had a second chance. Yes, after months of fighting, the Romans destroyed the Temple, known as the Second Temple, and razed the city, with tens of thousands killed, enslaved, or executed.
There is at least another takeaway lesson from this experience of the Jews. For political reasons, they shouted that Barabbas, a criminal, should be released instead of the sinless Lord Jesus Christ, As we have already read, in spite of their bravado that they were ready to face the consequences of their choice, with the benefit of hindsight, we know that they were destroyed as a people in AD 70. They could not in any good conscience declare for such a fate again if they had a chance.
Shall we as a people learn that we are destroying our nation when we choose criminals over people with verifiable track records of good governance. Irrespective of our refusal to accept good choices, borne of integrity, the word of God states clearly that righteousness exalts a nation but sin or evil is a reproach to a people, Proverbs 14:34.
In conclusion, as children of God, we have individual choices to make, we cannot be too careful when we choose to avoid evil and do good, irrespective of what others choose. What is more, it is what the Lord desires of His children to do.