“The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” Matthew 27:6

The absolute hypocrisy of these men. It is unbelievable that they are still thinking in this pseudo-moral way. They have deliberately and cold-heartedly planned the murder of the Son of God, and they are worried about a detail in the law of God. Of course, it is not a detail, it is a law that condemns them over and over again. They are condemning themselves, immediately they refer to it. They have paid the “blood money” which was given into the treasury by the people of God for the upkeep of the temple. The chief priests have used these funds to pay Judas to deliver into their murderous custody, the Eternal Lord of life. Their hearts are so calloused that they don’t realise their double-mindedness.

The money came from the treasury of “Corben” for the upkeep of the temple. It certainly didn’t come from their personal funds. These men were political beings, and full of error, blown about by every wind of doctrine, and suiting only themselves. They assigned their goods as they thought best and enforced rules so that they could always justify their decisions. They took the money out for illegal and evil purposes, but took their “high moral ground” of not putting it back in. They follow the gnat and choke on the camel.!

Christ referred to the temple as His body, which would be torn down and rebuilt in three days. It is ironic that the money used to start that process should come from these funds. The temple money bought the very body of Christ so that it could be torn down as the sacrifice for sin. These hateful people were unaware of their role in that process. And yet, God purposed this.

These rulers of the synagogue had heard Jesus words of challenge and the call to repentance, which they have refused. They have become progressively worse in their rejection of Him.

They refuse to believe and accept that Jesus Christ is Lord, and have now gone past the point of no return. They are completely in the pay roll of Satan, as they unknowingly act out the fulfilment of God’s law and holy will. Their blindness is complete.

With this stained money, they bought a field. A cheap field outside the city walls for the stranger and the person without status, so the foreigner could belong there and be buried there in death. This was an attempt at moral cover-up to staunch their conscience and hide their sin. But they could not. Everyone knew where the money for this field came from and people called it “the field of blood.” This monstrous sin of injustice and the deliberate moral failure was forever remembered by all. The Scripture says this field is called “The field of blood” to the present day.

The price for Christ the Lord and Saviour of the world is thirty pieces of silver. The cash was taken from the temple and used to pay the traitor. The money landed back in the laps of the authorities, and their self-righteous mindset wouldn’t permit them to put it back into the temple funds. Then chief priests then took the money and bought a cheap field for the benefit of people they despised. The traitor ended up dead in it and the place became infamous for treachery and godless religious hypocrisy.

O how much we need a Saviour, and what a Saviour He is. Who can resist someone who would go through such shame, disgrace and ignominy? What He endured, we will never know. His loving heart reached out to His beloved people and He rejoiced to pay the penalty for sinners. That price was far beyond money. It was a priceless cost for those wholly unworthy of its sacrifice.

May we love Him and do whatever He requires of us, with great joy.