You Shall See

When Judas returns the thirty shekels of silver, the chief priests and elders tell him (in the NASB) “see to that yourself” (Matthew 27:4).    Pilate says virtually the same thing to the Jews during the trial of Jesus: As he tries to wash off the stain of Jesus’ blood, he says “see to that yourselves” (27:24; NASB).  The only difference is that Pilate speaks in the plural, and the chief priests in the singular.

What are they saying?  ”Take care of it yourselves”?  Yes, but there’s something more too.  In both cases, the verb is the future of orao and could be translated as “you shall see.”  That is, it is prospective; it is virtually a prophecy.  You shall see what the blood-money brings, the chief priests say to Judas; you shall see the consequences of accepting the blood that I wash off my hands, says Pilate to the people.  And they do, when all the righteous blood from Abel to Zechariah to Jesus and beyond is charged to “this generation.”