Single lesson
Judas' Death and Its Aftermath
Matthew 27:3–10
This lesson helps students read Matthew 27:3–10 carefully, follow the events in order, and discuss the choices, outcomes, and the way Matthew ends by pointing to words he says were fulfilled.
Before you teach
In these verses, Matthew records what Judas did after he saw that Jesus was condemned. The passage includes Judas, the chief priests and elders, the thirty pieces of silver, the purchase of a field, and Matthew’s statement that these events fulfilled words he attributes to Jeremiah the prophet.
Students will be able to retell the sequence in Matthew 27:3–10, identify the choices and outcomes in the passage, and explain that Matthew says these events fulfilled words spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
Welcome: prepare to read a serious passage carefully
5 minTell students this is a short but weighty passage. Explain that Matthew 27:3–10 includes remorse, sin, and Judas going away and hanging himself, so the class will speak respectfully and stay close to the words on the page. Ask students to listen for repeated details such as Judas, the silver, the chief priests, and the field.
Matthew 27:3, Matthew 27:5, Matthew 27:6, Matthew 27:7
Read and trace the sequence Matthew gives
10 minRead the passage aloud slowly. Then list the events in order: Judas sees that Jesus is condemned, feels remorse, brings back the silver, says he has sinned by betraying innocent blood, throws down the money in the sanctuary, departs, and goes away and hangs himself. After that, the chief priests discuss the silver and buy the potter’s field.
Matthew 27:3, Matthew 27:4, Matthew 27:5, Matthew 27:6, Matthew 27:7
Discuss choices, words, and outcomes
8 minGuide students to notice what each person says and does. Judas says, “I have sinned” and returns the silver. The chief priests answer, “What is that to us? You see to it.” Later they say the money is not lawful for the treasury and decide to buy a burial place for strangers with it.
Matthew 27:4, Matthew 27:5, Matthew 27:6, Matthew 27:7
Make and respond: build a text-based sequence strip
10 minStudents create a six-part sequence strip with short captions from the verses: remorse, confession, silver thrown down, departure and hanging, priests’ decision, potter’s field. Encourage exact wording where possible. When finished, students mark which details are actions taken by people and which are outcomes Matthew names.
Matthew 27:3, Matthew 27:4, Matthew 27:5, Matthew 27:7, Matthew 27:8
Closing: notice how Matthew ends the account
7 minFinish by observing that Matthew ends with more than the field’s name. He says these events fulfilled words spoken through Jeremiah the prophet about the thirty pieces of silver and the potter’s field. Students write one sentence about human choices in the passage and one sentence stating specifically that Matthew says these events fulfilled words he attributes to Jeremiah.
Matthew 27:8, Matthew 27:9, Matthew 27:10
Questions to explore
What does Judas say about his own action, and what exact words in the passage show that?
Look for Judas’ spoken confession in Matthew 27:4 and connect it with what he does in Matthew 27:3.
Matthew 27:3, Matthew 27:4
How do the chief priests treat the silver, and what reason do they give?
Use the priests’ own words about what is lawful in Matthew 27:6, then note what they decide to buy in Matthew 27:7.
Matthew 27:6, Matthew 27:7
How does the passage name the field, and which earlier details are connected with that naming?
Start with the name given in Matthew 27:8, then connect it with the price of blood in Matthew 27:6 and the purchase of the field in Matthew 27:7.
Matthew 27:6, Matthew 27:7, Matthew 27:8
Make, think or respond
Matthew 27 Sequence Strip
What you’ll need
- paper or thin card
- pens or pencils
- ruler
- scissors
- Bible text
Try it together
- Divide a sheet into six boxes or cut six separate cards.
- Write one event from Matthew 27:3–10 in each box, using short phrases from the passage.
- Arrange the boxes in order and add the verse reference for each event.
- Underline choices in one colour and outcomes in another colour.
- Share the finished sequence with a partner and check it against the text.
This activity helps students follow the order of Matthew 27:3–10, distinguish between actions and outcomes, and notice that Matthew ends by saying these events fulfilled words spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
Adapt for your group
- For younger teens, provide the six verse references first and let them match each verse to a simple event caption before arranging the sequence.
- For older students, add a sorting task within the same passage: place details under 'Judas', 'chief priests', and 'Matthew’s fulfilment statement' using Matthew 27:3–10.
An optional closing prayer
'God, help us read this serious passage honestly and carefully. Teach us to listen closely to your word and to understand what Matthew says here. Amen.'
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Matthew 27
3 Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus was condemned, felt remorse, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”
5 He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary and departed. Then he went away and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It’s not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.”
7 They took counsel, and bought the potter’s field with them to bury strangers in.
8 Therefore that field has been called “The Field of Blood” to this day.
9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him upon whom a price had been set, whom some of the children of Israel priced,
10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.