Central Truth

God uses everything to work out His glory and to point back to Himself.  Even when we turn our back on Him, He is still working.

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Reflections

Growing up, I loved history. You may not have had a history class like mine, but I had a coach who was also a history teacher. He'd use a combination of multiple choice tests and classic American films. From watching Gone with the Wind to learn about the Civil War to using The Last of the Mohicans to learn about the Revolutionary period, we "learned" everything.

And then I signed up for an AP History class. My teacher that year had a different approach to history than others. He wasn't a coach who cared more for football than history. He was a guy who was passionate about history and wanted to show us how important understanding the past was to knowing where we fit in the larger picture.

Like the coach, the Chief Priests were responsible for the history of the people of Israel. They had a charge to know it and pass it along to the people, but failed. Part of that was an incomplete understanding of the Scriptures themselves. Had they known their history books (and more importantly, the God the books revealed) as well as they had known the laws, they would've seen that Jesus was who He claimed to be.

They would have also seen how their story played out exactly like two others in the past. Matthew mentions one in Jeremiah, but one that was better known to the Hebrews was actually Zechariah 11:12-13 (NIV), which ends with, "So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter." Once he realized what he had done, Judas showed his remorse by throwing his wage to the temple floor. The priests took that money and gave it to a potter for his field. It is great to see how even when things are dark in history, God still redeems them and uses those dark spots to point to His Son and, in so doing, adds power and credibility to His redemption story. If only the religious leaders had understood their history, maybe they would have seen it, too.

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Discussion Questions

1. What are some ways in which you are blind to what God is showing or has shown you?

2. Like Judas, there have been times when I have done something I later regretted. Looking back, how has God used similar times in your life to help point to who He is?

3. Judas didn’t want to keep the “blood money” because it was a reminder of what he did. Are there any reminders in your life from the events you described above?

4. When all seemed lost, Judas took the only way out he could think of. What or who can you turn to in times of trouble for advice and encouragement?

FAMILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How did Judas feel about what he had done to Jesus (verse 4)?

2. Have you ever done something wrong and felt guilty afterward? 

3. What should you do? (Repent, ask for God’s forgiveness, ask for forgiveness from the person you hurt.)

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