Acts 1:18

Wednesday, 13 October 2021 <p> </p> <p>(Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. Acts 1:18</p> <p> </p> <p>Note: The explanation of this verse comes with a gross-out warning.</p> <p> </p> <p>The words now continue to refer to Judas. The gospels record this concerning his death –</p> <p> </p> <p>“Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’</p> <p>And they said, ‘What is that to us? You see to it!’</p> <p>5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.</p> <p>6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.’ 7 And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.</p> <p>9 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ‘And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, 10 and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.’” Matthew 27:3-10</p> <p> </p> <p>Understanding the context, Luke now parenthetically records, “Now this man purchased a field.” Obviously, Judas was unable to actually purchase anything while dangling from a rope. Instead, the idea is that the money he earned through betraying Jesus was used in his name by the chief priests. As Vincent’s Word Studies says, “The expression means merely that the field was purchased with the money of Judas.”</p> <p> </p> <p>From there, Luke continues, “with the wages of iniquity.” This expression means that the silver he was paid was reckoned to him as wages. He earned the money through his actions, but they were actions of iniquity. Therefor