Matthew 27:6
And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.
Matthew 27:6
In Matthew 27:6, the chief priests declare that it is “not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.” The religious leaders interpret Judas’s thirty pieces of silver as blood money, tainted and spiritually defiled, unworthy of temple treasury. Their legalistic stance reveals a conflict between ritual purity and the moral implications of actions that yield bloodshed. They are concerned with ritual propriety and avoiding contamination, even as they have orchestrated or allowed a broader pattern of injustice leading to Jesus’s arrest. This moment exposes the hypocrisy of protecting ritual cleanliness while ignoring moral righteousness, mercy, and the value of human life. The money is repurposed, not to honor God, but to bury the dead, ironically turning a symbol of betrayal into a field for the dead—a reversal that the Gospel uses to critique misplaced priorities.
This verse highlights the tension between external religious purity and internal moral accountability. It demonstrates that ritual cleanliness cannot reconcile with violence and exploitation. The “blood money” becomes a moral stain that must be handled, even if it cannot be poured into the temple treasury. Theologically, it foreshadows God’s judgment on systems that sanctify power while denying justice. The inability of the priests to profit from the money within sacred space points to God’s sovereignty over human plans and his ability to redirect evil toward redemptive ends (the field purchased later, “The field of blood”). It also raises questions about purity laws and how they intersect with God’s ultimate will for mercy toward the vulnerable.
Application centers on integrity and how institutions handle wrongdoing:
- When money or resources are tainted by unethical acts, ask who benefits and who is harmed.
- Create transparent processes for handling funds connected to wrongdoing; refuse to profit from harm.
- Seek reconciliation and moral accountability, not mere ritual avoidance.
- Teach and practice ethical stewardship in workplaces, churches, and communities, ensuring that decisions prioritize human dignity and justice.
In personal life, this means resisting shortcuts that rely on harming others or ignoring the consequences of our actions.
Cross-References: Zechariah 11:12-13; Isaiah 1:15-17; Acts 5:1-5; Mark 12:41-44; Luke 19:45-46