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.