Today, I am reading and commenting on  Matthew 27-28.

I do not think it is an accident that Matthew records Peter’s denial of Jesus just before he tells us about Judas hanging himself.  I think Matthew wants us to recognize that both betrayed Jesus, but Peter accepted Jesus’ forgiveness while Judas never gave Jesus a chance to forgive him.  Perhaps Judas’ betrayal was unforgivable, but it was not his place to make that decision.  In the same way, it is not our place to decide that we cannot be forgiven, we need to leave that decision up to those against whom we have sinned.

What I wrote in the previous paragraph has been rattling around in the back of my head for the last few years.  However, the first thing which struck me when I read today’s passage was that it was the chief priests and Pharisees who remembered that Jesus said He would rise after three days. So, we have the priests and Pharisees, who remembered that Jesus said He would rise after three days and Jesus’ disciples, who did not remember that.  However, when Jesus actually did rise from the dead, the priests and Pharisees made up a story explaining why the tomb was empty, while His disciples believed.  They knew their story was not true, yet chose it over the truth.  Be wary of those who do similar things today, those who choose what they know to be a lie over the truth.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.