Pilate, Jews, and Judas

Matthew tells us that the Jews delivered Jesus to PIlate the governor (27:2), but then interrupts his story of Jesus’ trial before Pilate with the episode of Judas’ remorse (27:3-10) before getting back to Jesus before the governor.  Why?

The structure of the passage helps to answer that.  Matthew 27:1-26 is surrounded by a (mainly) chiastic inclusio that brings out parallels between Judas and the Jewish leaders.  Judas is to the Jewish leaders as the Jewish leaders are to Pilate:

A. Jesus delivered ( paradidomi ) to Pilate, 27:2

B. Judas: betrayed innocent blood ( haima athoon ), 27:4

C. Jews: you will see ( su opse ), 27:4

. . .

B’. Pilate: I am innocent of blood ( athoos . . . apo tou haimatos toutou ), 27:24

C’. Pilate: you will see ( humeis opsesthe ), 27:24

B”. Jews: blood on our heads, 27:25

A. Jesus delivered ( paradidomi ) to cross, 27:26

Pilate repeats the words the Jewish leaders speak to Judas to the Jewish leaders, the only difference being the plural.  The import is clear: Judas is headed to hanging; his betrayal of Jesus is suicide.  So is the betrayal carried out by the Jewish leaders.

The structure, though, complicates things too.  The proportion is not only Judas:Jewish leaders::Jewish leaders:Pilate. With his talk about innocent blood and his effort to remove it, Pilate also picks up the language and actions of Judas himself.  So Pilate before the Jewish leaders is, in a sense, a repeat of Judas before the Jewish leaders.  Judas’ blood money goes to the temple, and the Jewish leaders try to remove it; the second time, though, Pilate washes off the blood of Jesus, and the Jews (the crowd now, inspired by the Jewish leaders) accept it.