Did Judas return the thirty pieces of silver to Jewish leaders?

Did Judas return the thirty pieces of silver to Jewish leaders? Well, yes. Sort of. But it's more a question of did the Jewish leaders accept the thirty pieces of silver? More so, what did they do with the silver Judas tried to return? And of course, why do these seemingly minor detailed questions even matter?

Did Judas return the thirty pieces of silver to Jewish leaders? is article #4 in the series: Death of Judas. Click button to view titles for entire series

Doesn't everyone already know that Judas did go to the Jewish leaders and return the thirty pieces of silver? Yes, most probably do. But do you know what happened after Judas showed up to give it back?

Not only that, but do you know why it's important to know not only what they did, but why they did it? There's a message in there for all of us. Yes, actions matter. But so do motives - the reasons behind the actions.

Did Judas return the thirty pieces of silver to Jewish leaders?

So let's take a look at the relevant passage in full. And then go through it in detail. The passage we'll examine is from Matthew's gospel. He's the only one that recorded the events below in their gospel. Having said that, it's also in the book of Acts.

If you are familiar with it, the two passages don't appear to say the same thing. However, it's yet another example of differing points of view, different areas of emphasis, with the result that what's actually one event comes out looking like two different ones. I won't address that here. But it will be closely examined, and explained, in a future article where we look at how the field comes into play. A field that's mentioned here in Matthew as being bought by the Jewish leaders, but bought by Judas in Acts. So please, just try to bear with me as we examine the evidence one piece at a time - and then tie it all together after the individual pieces are more fully explained.

With that in mind, here we go.

Judas Hangs Himself

Mt 27:1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2 They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

Mt 27:3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

Mt 27:5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Mt 27:6 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.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

So, there it is. Now, let's take it apart and go through a bit at a time to see what evidence is provided to see what really happened. And why.

Background - how did we get here?

Judas Hangs Himself

Mt 27:1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2 They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

No surprise here. But for those who may not be very familiar with the events, here's a bit more background. In part two of this series, Was Judas present for the Last Supper?, we looked at John's recording of Jesus predicting his betrayal at the hands of Judas. But there's one really important piece of evidence that was skipped over. Until now. So here's the entire passage again, with one verse highlighted.

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal - John

Jn 13:18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: ‘He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.’