Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 27:1-5

"Now when morning was come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: and they bound him, and led him away, and delivered him up to Pilate the governor. Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. But they said, What is that to us? see thou [to it]. And he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and departed; and he went away and hanged himself." — Matthew 27:1-5 (ASV)

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Evangelist had previously brought his account of what was done to the Lord up to the early morning. He then turned back to describe Peter's denial, after which he returned to the morning to continue the sequence of events.¹

When the morning was come, etc.

Origen of Alexandria: They supposed that by His death they would crush His doctrine and the faith of those who believed Him to be the Son of God. With this purpose against Him, they bound Jesus, who looses those who are bound.ⁱ

St. Jerome: Observe the evil zeal of the chief priests; they watched the entire night in order to commit this murder. And they handed Him over to Pilate bound, as it was their custom to send anyone they had sentenced to death to the judge in bonds.

Rabanus Maurus: It should be observed, however, that they did not bind Him for the first time now, but earlier, when they first seized Him in the garden, as John relates (John 18:12).

St. John Chrysostom: They did not put Him to death in secret, because they wanted to destroy His reputation and the awe in which many held Him. For this reason, they intended to put Him to death openly before everyone, and therefore they led Him to the governor.²

St. Jerome: Judas, when he saw that the Lord was condemned to death, returned the money to the priests, as if it were in his power to change the minds of his persecutors.

Origen of Alexandria: Let the proponents of those fables concerning intrinsically evil naturesⁱ answer me here: from where did Judas come to acknowledge his sin, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed righteous blood, except from the good mind originally implanted in him, and from that seed of virtue which is sown in every rational soul? But Judas did not cherish this, and so he fell into this sin.

If any man was ever made of a nature destined to perish, Judas was certainly of such a nature. Indeed, if he had done this after Christ's resurrection, it might be said that the power of the resurrection brought him to repentance. But he repented when he saw Christ handed over to Pilate, perhaps remembering the things Jesus had so often spoken of concerning His resurrection.

Or, perhaps Satan, who had entered into him (John 13:27), remained with him until Jesus was handed over to Pilate. Then, having accomplished his purpose, Satan departed from him, at which point Judas repented.

But how could Judas know that Jesus was condemned, since He had not yet been examined by Pilate? One might say that Judas anticipated the outcome in his own mind from the very beginning, when he saw Him handed over. Another might explain the words, when he saw that he was condemned, as referring to Judas himself—that he then realized his terrible situation and saw that he himself was condemned.

St. Leo the Great: When he says, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood, he persists in his wicked treachery, since even in the final struggles of death he did not believe Jesus to be the Son of God, but merely a man like us. If he had not denied His omnipotence in this way, he would have received His mercy.³

St. John Chrysostom: Observe that he repents only when his sin is finished and complete, for the Devil does not allow those who are not watchful to see the evil before they carry it out.

Remigius of Auxerre: But they said, What is that to us?—that is to say, "What is it to us that He is righteous?"—See thou to it. This means, "That is your own concern; see what will come of your deed." However, some would read this as one phraseⁱ: "What are we to think of you, when you confess that the man you yourself betrayed is innocent?"

Origen of Alexandria: But when the Devil leaves someone, he watches for a time to return, and having found it, he leads the person into a second sin, and then watches for an opportunity for a third deceit. So the man who had married his father's wife later repented of this sin (1 Corinthians 5:1), but the Devil again resolved to intensify this very sorrow of repentance, so that his overwhelming grief might swallow up the one who sorrows.

Something similar took place with Judas, who after his repentance did not guard his own heart. Instead, he received that overwhelming sorrow supplied to him by the Devil, who sought to consume him, as the text continues: And he went out, and hanged himself. But if he had desired and sought an opportunity for repentance, he might have found Him who said, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11).

Or, perhaps, he wanted to die before his Master on His way to death, hoping to meet Him as a disembodied spirit so that by confession and pleading he might obtain mercy. He did not see that it is not proper for a servant of God to take his own life, but that he should wait for God's judgment.

Rabanus Maurus: He hanged himself to show that he was hateful to both heaven and earth.

Pseudo-Augustine: Since the chief priests were occupied with the murder of the Lord from the morning until the ninth hour, how can it be proven that before the crucifixion Judas returned the money he had received and said to them in the temple, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood?⁴

It is clear, however, that the chief priests and elders were not in the temple before the Lord's crucifixion, since they were present to insult Him while He was hanging on the cross. Nor can the timing be proven from the narrative order, because many things that were clearly done before are narrated after the fact, and vice versa.

This could have happened after the ninth hour, when Judas—seeing the Savior dead, the veil of the temple torn, the earthquake, the rocks splitting, and the elements terrified—was seized with fear and sorrow as a result. But after the ninth hour, the chief priests and elders were, I suppose, occupied with the celebration of the Passover. And on the Sabbath, the Law would not have allowed him to carry money. Therefore, it remains unproven to me on what day or at what time Judas ended his life by hanging.

1. de Cons. Ev., iii, 7
2. Hom. lxxxiv
3. Serm., 52, 5
4. Hil. Quaest. V. et N. Test. q. 94