OUR DAILY BREAD : THE SORROW OF BETRAYAL

[cimi]

September 4
Thursday


THE SORROW
OF BETRAYAL

READ:
Matthew 27:1-10
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I have sinned by
betraying innocent
blood. __Matthew 27:4
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When I was a boy, my dad observed my spendthrift ways and often said that money burned a hole in my pocket. I suppose it's not unlike the way those 30 pieces of silver burned a hole in Judas' heart after he had betrayed Jesus for a little cash. Imagine how he must have felt as he watched his friend Jesus, with hands bound, being led to trial. Judas had seen those hands calm stormy sea and touch the blind and lame. How often those loving hand had touched his own life!

For Judas, the silver was no longer a reward but rather a reminder of what he had done to Jesus. With every step, the clanging coins sounded a dirge of condemnation, until in despair he admitted, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood" (Matt. 27:4).

When we make choices that betray Jesus, eventually our lives become filled with sorrow. Even well-intentioned followers find that their desire to love and serve Him is frequently on a collision course with the lure of cash or other seductions. But the things we have gained at His expense ultimately and inevitably become clanging symbols of sorrow and regret.

The next time you have to make a choice about cash__or anything else__remember the clatter of Judas' condemning coins, and don't betray your loving Leader. __Joe Stowell
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``````````````````````Jesus is all the world to me,````````````````
````````````````````````And true to Him I'll be;``````````````````
`````````````````````O how could I this Friend deny,``````````````
``````````````````When He's so true to me? __Thompson``````````
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When faced with a choice,
don't betray your loving Leader.

***************Today's Bible Reading __ Matthew 27: 1-10**********

1 When morning came, all
the chief priests and elders
of the people plotted against
Jesus to put Him to death.

2 And when they had bound
Him, they led Him away
and delivered Him to
Pontius Pilate the governor.

3 Then Judas, His betrayer,
seeing that He had been
condemned, was remorseful
and brought back the thirty
pieces of silver to the chief
priests and elders, 4 saying,
"I have sinned by betraying
innocent blood."

And they said, "What is
that to us? You see to it!"

5 Then he threw down the
pieces of silver in the
temple and departed, and
went and hanged himself.
6 But the chief priests took
the silver pieces and said,
"It is not lawful to put them
into the treasury, because
they are the price of blood,"

7 And they consulted
together and bought with
them the potter's field,
to bury strangers in.

8 Therefore that field has
been called the Field of
Blood to this day. 9 Then
was fulfilled what was
spoken by Jeremiah the
prophet, saying, "And they
took the thirty pieces of
silver, the value of Him
who was priced, whom they
of the children of Israel
priced, 10 and gave them for
the potter's field, as the
LORD directed me."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

According to Robertson's Word Pictures, the thirty pieces of silver
paid to Judas (Matt. 26:15; 27:3) was "a reference to Zechariah
11:12. If a man's ox gored a servant, he had to pay this amount
(Exodus 21:32). These thirty silver shekels were equal to 120 denarii
...the current price of a slave. There was no doubt contempt for
Jesus in the minds of both the Sanhedrin and Judas in this bargain."
__Bill Crowder