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Bible Q&A

Q: How did Judas die? Matthew 27 says he threw the silver back to the priests then went and hung himself. But Acts 1 says he bought a field with the money and there he fell and split himself open.

A: Since we’re not told outright I hesitate to be overly confident in the answer, but at the same time it’s not hard to put together a scenario that makes sense. Both accounts can easily be true, just stated differently; and together they give us the full picture.

Here is the logical scenario: Judas threw the money back to the priests and with that money they bought the field. They did this because it was “blood” money and couldn’t be used for sacred purposes. The author of Acts stated the situation as though Judas bought it, which in one way of looking at it he did. He also hung himself, but apparently the rope broke and he was split open on the rocks below. Is that possible? Given sharp rocks and a bloated corpse it’s entirely possible. So both accounts can easily be true without any contradiction.

* Send your Bible questions to Pastor Jeff 

Bulletin Board

Minnesota Conference Hires New Youth Director
Jeff Wines has accepted the position of youth director and communication director for the Minnesota Conference. Jeff will be coming with his family from Columbia, Missouri, where he has been pastor of the Columbia Adventist Church. He’s not new to Minnesota, though, because he served as youth pastor at Minnetonka back in 1997.

Adventist Church Sends Relief Workers to Haiti
Right after the devastating earthquake in Haiti teams of relief workers are already going into the country in a large-scale relief effort through the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). As of this writing several mobile clinics capable of providing care to 1,000 people per day and drinking water purification supplies capable of serving 90,000 people per day have been provided. Relief workers are also distributing vitamins, pain medication, and antibiotics that have been donated. ADRA has already committed a million dollars to the project, so your financial support in the coming weeks will be greatly appreciated.

Book Recommendation

The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis
It’s been a while since I have read The Screwtape Letters written by C. S. Lewis, but I remember them well enough to have put the book back onto my re-read list for the near future. The book is a series of letters written from Screwtape, a senior devil, to Wormwood, a junior devil-in-training, as he tempts his “patient,” a human, away from God.

The book is couched in deep insight into the spiritual psychology of humans and clearly exposes some of the strategies used by the forces of evil that are bent on ruining our lives with God. Besides being clearly profound, this small book is also delightful and easy reading, and will definitely make you think about things you may have never considered before.