Fields of Blood ...

As crop choices go, attempting to plant blood is not going to yield much, except perhaps a harvest of horror.  So when a field anywhere in the world earns that title, it typically means something horrible must of happened there, and what is remembered most about this place, is death, and blood.  Back in Roman times blood was fairly common place.  The value of life perhaps at its lowest throughout history.  People died, so many the numbers are beyond the counting.  Not just soldiers who stood on the battle fields in opposition to the iron kingdom, but slaves because the whim of their masters took the slightest offense.  Those who did not pay the exorbitant taxes Rome demanded to fund the excess of a few, died without notation in lands far and wide, and again without the slightest hesitation.  The manner of death was as varied as Roman imaginations could invent in those times.  Death was never a mercy.  It was a final punishment meant to inflict pain on the dieing, and terror on those who were left behind and forced to witness it.  In this context, for a field to stand out above the others, and still earn the title to be known as “the field of blood”, something extreme must have occurred.  It did.

The story of this field begins with dark notarity.  The prophet Jeremiah foretells the tale of woe many centuries before it will come to pass exactly as he predicts.  In its own time, the field is seeded with silver.  It is silver steeped in betrayal, not just of one man to another, but of one species to the God who created them.  Blood money gives way to buy a field to be used as a cemetery.  And none of us will ever know just how much that cost took from the universe to purchase.  We caused God the Father, to watch us murder His Only Son, to shed not just innocent blood, but divine innocent blood, a thing no being ever thought possible.  This field would truly be a place where people would go to rest in death.  There would be no hope in this place.  And its title would stick with it for centuries, even in a Roman time, when that name might have been at best redundant.  Still it stood out.  For it is where our actions to kill God were noted.

Matthew penned his gospel to his contemporaries.  His goal was to meticulously outline to any believing, studying Jew, how all the prophecies of the Old Testament met their fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ.  Even when those foretellings were dark, steeped in blood and betrayal, and would appear to condemn us all.  Jeremiah was not a light-hearted comedian of his day.  He was a gloom-and-doom, truth-to-power teller of his day.  And let’s face it, nobody likes gloom-and-doom on any day.  Matthew continues detailing the story of the betrayal of our God, of his murder, and of our weakness and horror on display throughout the process.  He picks up in chapter twenty-seven in verse one, continuing from where the church leadership has taken the story to this point.

In verse 1 it continues … “When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: [verse 2] And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.”  Irony of ironies.  The church decides to hide all of the other Jews who had visited violence on their Roman oppressors.  But to the One who loves His enemies, they bind Him, beat Him, and take Him to Roman authorities in order to have Him executed by the power of the state; thus attempting to hide who was truly responsible.  But in truth this was Jews, killing the God of the Jews, because He loved too much, and hated not at all.  It is not how bitter you are, that puts you at odds with the world around you, the world is used to bitter.  It is not how much you hate, that puts you out of tune with society.  Society has more than enough hidden hatred to go around to consider any one hater a particular problem.  But love like Jesus, and you will be too much of an odd ball to ignore.  The world cannot understand that kind of love, and frankly would prefer to kill it, than have to accept it.  A pattern that dates back to before the beginning of our world in the first war ever in heaven; and now finds it ultimate fulfillment in the death of Jesus.

But Jesus did not just get here by accident.  A man put Him here.  Not just any man, but the most respected man of His fellow followers.  The disciple all the others wanted to be more like.  The popular, natural leader, the good-looking guy it would be easy for any of us to follow – all things being equal.  But Judas did not just put Jesus here by accident.  He did it on purpose.  He sealed it with a kiss.  He took money for his deed of betrayal.  Even if his motive was to force Jesus to become the King He was supposed to be, that did not work.  Judas saw all of this up close and personally.  Judas was allowed in to the trial by the High Priest because he was on “their” side.  He watched them put a bag of sorts over the head of Jesus, then hit Him, and ask Him to prophecy as to who did it.  Jesus knew who did it.  But despite their crimes, He still does not offer any of them condemnation.  For those who believe it is our job to point out the sins of others, they miss the example of Jesus who was silent while being sinned against.

Matthew continues in verse 3 saying … “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, [verse 4] Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.”  Now Judas does one last act to see if he can undo what he has done.  He comes and makes a public confession of his sin.  He reminds these men, that Jesus is innocent blood.  By telling them Jesus is innocent, Judas hopes that those who live by the law, will be constrained by the law, to release the innocent and punish Him no further.  But these religious leaders who claim to live by the Law, in no way understand the Law, or the Law Giver.  The use manipulation of the Law, to accomplish what they already set about to do.  They do not wish to be led in their interpretations, they wish to be the sole authority by which men understand any interpretation.  They want control.  And they will kill to get it.  There can be no opposition.

This is human nature on display – even inside the church of God.  And it is no different for the centuries to come even inside of Christianity, nor of the churches who evolve from the reformation.  Men still kill, punish, and excommunicate, any who stand in opposition to their control.  It is a contest of man vs. God that began long ago and will see no end, until God Himself ends it at the end of all things.  The priests acknowledge the words of Judas, and respond in a chilling voice, “what is that to us?”.  The leadership does not care what Judas has done.  Nor do they care that Jesus is innocent.  Jesus is marked for death.  Judas helped get Him there.  If Judas is having second thoughts, that is his problem, not theirs.  They remain committed to seeing Jesus die.  Who cares what Judas thinks?  But Judas has now pushed himself over the edge of brokenness.  His plans have failed.  His last ditch effort to stop this farce has failed.  Jesus will die, and history will record the name of Judas as His betrayer, even though Jesus still called him friend when he was in the middle of betraying Him.  It is too much to take.

Matthew continues in verse 5 saying … “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”  Judas sees no way out.  How could anyone forgive this level of greed and betrayal?  How could anyone love him after what he has done?  He deserves death, plain and simple.  So Judas does to himself, what all of us are equally deserving of.  He kills himself.  And there is a critical lesson to be learned here.  Judas, still in isolation from any that might have comforted him, or reminded him how much Jesus loves, even murderers, or betrayers (like Peter); makes a rash decision he cannot undo.  While there is life there is hope.  When life is gone, there is only the waiting.  Judas lost faith in the power of salvation, and the power of re-creation of Jesus Christ.  If he had held on to that faith, that hope, Jesus would have done for Judas, what He does for you and I every single day. 

Suicide is not a shortcut to the heavenly gates.  It is a statement that no one else in the world matters more than me.  It happens in loneliness, when faith and hope are lost, and isolation keeps you from getting the comfort you need.  It happens because the victim decides he is of no value to anyone else, and does not test this theory by serving others and letting history decide his value.  It is usually not born of sacrifice (like Samson), but of a break in trust (like Judas); with the God who longs to give you a better life if you would just let Him.  If we are ALL not careful, we may find ourselves on the same road as Judas, sprinting to the same destination.  Not because God will’s it, or is trying to punish us, but because we believe in God’s vengeance more than His mercy; and see ourselves of no value to a Savior who would sacrifice EVERYTHING to save just you, or just me.  This is why loving each other is SO important.  Your tangible demonstration of love might be just the thing, that keeps a suffering one from losing all hope.  And you may never know it throughout your life.  It is not important for you to know it, only to show that tangible love.  When you love like this, you demonstrate to the world, what the real character of God looks like, not what they have been taught to believe.  Anyone can condemn.  Jesus could have condemned Judas, but He did not.  He longed to save him.  But Judas refused to be saved.  Instead he fell to common sense, not divine power.

Meanwhile, the priests who care nothing for Judas, cannot leave money lying around.  Matthew continues in verse 6 saying … “And 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.”  Does the irony meter have a ceiling?  The priests were the ones who just paid Judas (a detail they seem in a hurry to forget).  But they recognize this is still blood money.  And “according to the Law” they are not allowed to put the money into the treasury (where it belongs to them once again).  A wonderfully strange interpretation of the goings on of this evening.  They are driven to use the money in some other way.  But hmmm … how to spend 30 pieces of silver paid to kill innocent blood?  In this case, the innocent blood of God Himself, by the murderers who intend to kill Him.

Matthew continues in verse 7 saying … “And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. [verse 8] Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.”  How incredibly random.  First, that a potter’s field would be for sale at just that time in history.  Second, that the price of the potter’s field would be exactly 30 pieces of silver, just the exact amount of money they had, forced to use for some purpose, they interpreted.  And then, to use this field to bury strangers in.  A usage that would immediately associate death with the field.  And because of how it was purchased (the blood money that is), that it would be called and known for many centuries later as … wait for it … “the field of blood”.  Now to the non-believer, this is nothing more than series of coincidental events with no major significance by a group of people who hated Jesus so much they wanted Him dead, enough to make this price in the first place.  But Matthew has a different take on these events.

Matthew continues in verse 9 saying … “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; [verse 10] And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.”  This was the prophecy of Jeremiah.  This was the dark foretelling, of betrayal of our Lord, and how the money used in that betrayal would come to its final disposition.  And the priests (who did nothing but study scripture) walked right down the list of things required to fulfill this prophecy – something they would have NEVER done because they hated Jesus so much.  If they had remembered these words.  If they had thought about it.  They would have paid hookers rather than use the money this way just to avoid fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah about the One they were in the process of killing.  This field of blood existed because of the actions of the priests who hated Christ.  Those very priests insured the prophecy was fulfilled.

And they could not undo what they had done.  They did not even think to.  Instead the field of blood was born not because the potter came up with this idea, but because the priests did.  There was nothing random about it.  This was orchestrated.  This was the foreknowledge of God, NOT because He forced anyone to do anything.  Only because He knew what each of them would do, before they chose to do it.  It was not pre-destination, it was free will.  But those free-will choices were known by God, centuries before they were made.  Jeremiah notes it.  Jeremiah may not have even understood fully what he was writing.  But his words came true, to the letter – made so by the very ones who hated Jesus the most.  These priests were already sensitive about allowing prophecy to be fulfilled by Jesus.  When he rode on a colt into Jerusalem (fulfilling yet another prophecy), the priests complained, trying to shut the whole thing down.  Jesus told them if they did, the stones would cry out in praise instead of the people they were trying to shew away.  And those priests knew He was telling the truth.  So they left them in peace, and only broiled more in anger.  Yet despite this, here they were acting out their part to fulfill the dark words of Jeremiah.

In the world to come, there will be no more fields of blood.  Blood will be something no longer shed or lost.  Blood will stay inside of you where it belongs, where God made it to be.  Blood, like everything else God touches will be perfect.  But its price will never be forgotten.  That we made our God the Father, sit still, having all the power of the universe, and watch while we did, what we did to His only Son.  This price is beyond reckoning.  A single tear from the Father’s face is worth more than I will ever be.  A torrent of tears from the Father’s heart, is a thought that would crush me forever.  But He did it.  He allowed it.  Because God the Father loves you, loves me, and yes even loves Judas and those priests, SO MUCH; He wants only to see each and all of us reconciled to His throne.  His love is greater than our blood.  His love is greater than our worst deeds, and not a single one of us, is beyond His ability to save.  The dark words of Jeremiah bad as they are, should cement our faith in Jesus, because they happened.  Every detail that was supposed to happen, happened.  If God promises to save you.  You have only to let Him, and He will do it, just like every other prophecy He makes, or promise He offers.  And for you, fields of blood, will be no more …