The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Matthew 27:1-5, “Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death; 2 and they bound Him, and led Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate the governor. 3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? See to that yourself!’ 5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.”

There’s a tragic story in today’s news. A 38-year-old mother and teacher died of

influenza because she believed the $116.00 to be too expensive for her medication.

She left behind a loving husband and two small children.

Judas’ tragedy was even worse. He was a member of Jesus’ discipleship group; yet

he betrayed Him. He changed sides! He reported Jesus’ whereabouts and gave

private information to His enemies! Then, after it was all done, he saw the tragedy

of his actions and “felt remorse.” He was sorry. He regretted his actions and he

tried desperately to undo what he had done –but it was too late!

Have you ever wished you could take back something you had done or said? But

“the cat was out of the bag.” You felt terrible! Your stomach churned within you.

Oh, if only— but the act was done, the word was said. There was no solution.

Judas’ reward for his betrayal was 30 pieces of silver. In today’s accounting, that

amounts to a paltry $13.64. Just Imagine! The One who came from Heaven to

die on the Cross for your sins. And you betray Him for about an hour’s worth of

money. Truly, Paul was right when he said, “The love of money is the root of all

kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). Now, what is Judas to do? The money burned in his

hands! He would just give back the money! Maybe with that he could squelch

the hurt and misery he felt. But, NO! The chief priests and elders would not

take it back. It was blood money; and those sanctimonious religious leaders would

now have nothing to do with it or with Judas. Oh, how like that is with us! Only Christ

can remove the remorse we feel for doing wrong!

In the end, Judas hanged himself. His physical and emotional problems were over,

but he now discovered the real severity of his deception. He was in Hell. And there

was no turning back.

We love you and pledge you no deception –only prayers,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”