CS Kronz is an abortion abolitionist and regular participant in the Revelation 3:2 Project
"…and Judas said (to the High Priests and Elders), "I have sinned, in betraying to death one who is innocent." "What does that matter to us?" they replied; “It is your business." Flinging the shekels into the Sanctuary he left the place, and went and hanged himself. When the High Priests had gathered up the money they said, "It is illegal to put it into the Treasury, because it is the price of blood." So, after consulting together they spent the money in the purchase of the Potter's Field as a burial place for people not belonging to the city; for which reason that piece of ground received the name, which it still bears, of 'the Field of Blood.'" Matthew 27:4-8 (Weymouth New Testament)
Abortion is a Gospel issue. Nevertheless, the industrial church (ie: the contemporary industry known as “church”) has made a point of disregarding the carnage of abortion. Although professing to be “pro-life” and holding a good moral opinion on abortion, the church is largely silent on the topic from the pulpit, during mid-week Bible studies, on the college campuses, before civil magistrates, and even on their own websites. At every single church outreach I’ve been part of, the response from church leadership to our presence and plea, calling for repentance over abortion and decisive, public actions to end it, is this: “We are unbelievably pro-life… We support our local crisis pregnancy centers…. Outlawing abortion? That’s not our call. It may be your call, but it’s not our call.”
If you are a Christian abolitionist seeking to eradicate abortion, you’ve heard this. Often. The account given in Matthew Ch 27:4-8 reveals some startling parallels. Judas is cut to the heart – his personal culpability regarding what will clearly result in the death of an innocent man is now clear to him. He laments, and fervently appeals to the priests and elders, recognizing this catastrophe for what it is. Judas won’t personally hammer the nails through Jesus’s hands and feet into the cross, but his avarice and guilt regarding this murder are unavoidable, and he sees the truth.
Judas isn’t standing alone with bloody hands. The abortion holocaust has been steadily moving forward under our watch. We may not have been “Roe,” nor sat berobed on SCOTUS in 1973, but our responsibility remains as approximately 3,000 babies a day die in vicious violation of God’s law not to murder. Each of our generation can rightly say, "I have sinned, in betraying to death one who is innocent."
Judas bursts in on the religious leaders with his confession and call to action. It’s clear cut. The response of the priests and elders to his confession of sin is simply: no response, no counsel, no Scripture. The religious leaders of the day are not concerned with his desperation, his admission of sin, or his confirmation of Christ’s innocence. This is eerily suggestive of the response by the industrial church when challenged to get serious in the fight against abortion. They are not happy to see anti-abortion activists at “their” church; they persist in denying culpability for their lack of response to the devastation of abortion; they are more concerned with their own sense of being offended, than the horrific fate handed out to thousands of babies each day – each one made in the image of God.
Although silent regarding Judas’ confession of sin, the priests do respond to his plea for help by saying:
• “What does that matter to us? It’s your business.” (WNT)
• “What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.” (NLT)
• "What do we care? Attend to that yourself." (ISV)
Sound familiar?
• “It’s not my call. Move on away from here; handle that yourself.”
• “That’s not our call. It may be your call, but it’s not our call.”
• “The church doesn’t involve themselves in matters of politics; we make disciples.”
By the way, this begs the question: what is a disciple? According to our King, Jesus Christ, under His absolute authority in heaven and on earth (“all authority”), disciples are to be made of all nations, baptized in the Name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, and taught to obey all He has commanded. (Matthew 28:18-20)
• He commanded us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. (Matthew 22:37)
• He commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:39)
• He commanded us to love one another, as a testimony to all that we are His disciples. (John 13:34-35)
Which one of these commands leaves any doubt as to the stand the bride of Christ is to take against the sin of abortion?
Judas Iscariot throws the 30 silver coins into the sanctuary, tragically goes out, and kills himself; his guilt unatoned for by simply returning the blood money. Every year in January the industrial church recognizes Sanctity of Life Sunday. Part of this (technically) one-day acknowledgment is a month-long fundraiser conducted for local pregnancy resource centers (PRCs). It’s the baby-bottle drive. Individuals and families of the church deposit extra change into multi-color baby bottles, satisfying their consciences that they’ve done their part to wash off the stain of innocent blood from their own hands. I know; I used to participate in this charade. I repent of this.
These baby bottles full of coins are paraded right into the church, yes – even into the sanctuary. Blood money for babies. Why blood money? Because the local PRCs provide supplies to women who are pregnant, and certainly counsel women to keep their babies - but they do not operate on any level to outlaw the slaying of preborn humans. Duping masses of church goers into thinking they are doing “something” about abortion by donating their extra coins is deceptive at best. Yet even worse is keeping parishioners in the dark regarding a proper Christian response to the slaughter of millions of defenseless children. At least Judas had a right moral response to the money used to betray an innocent man; he was disgusted by it. But the response of the industrial church is the polar opposite; she congratulates herself on the “awesome” contribution of excess change, which does nothing to end this perpetual brutality.
The 30 pieces of silver lay there on the sanctuary floor. Now priests and elders have a problem: Blood money is not suitable for the work of God. They have a concern regarding the disposition of ill-gotten funds, though not to the murder of the incarnate God. Expositing this monetary quandary, the Pulpit Commentary reveals another alarming detail:
“The price of blood. The wages of murder. It was inferred from Deuteronomy 23:18 that no money unlawfully gained, or derived from an impure source, might be used in purchasing things for God's service. Under Jewish Law such money must be restored to the donor; if circumstances rendered this impossible, or the offeror insisted on giving it, it was to be expended for some public object… and that which was paid for by the money being deemed as a gift to the community.” https://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/matthew/27.htm, accessed 7/18/20 (italics mine).
After the baby bottles with their offerings are piled into the sanctuary of the church, these same coins are delivered to the local PRC with the implication that the money will provide some community benefit. Note the church doesn’t raise funds for its own efforts to end abortion this way. In fact, the thought would be repulsive. It’s blood money, meant to numb the sensibilities of the people. The high priests in our passage used their money to bury dead foreigners. We don’t provide a burial our aborted babies. No. These babies created by the fingers of God, are sold for even more filthy lucre. …for which reason that piece of ground received the name, which it still bears, of 'the Field of Blood.'
I wonder how God refers to the United States in 2020? S ome have said, “Babylon.” Perhaps it is rather, “the field of blood.”