The different birth and death accounts of Jesus in Matthew and Luke are fascinating precisely because of what is different in each of them. They have different interests. They see different things as important.
For example, Matthew is interested in the Holy Family taking a trip to Egypt - in order to recapitulate the history of Israel.
That is of no interest to Luke.
BUT, Luke is fascinated by the pregnancies of Mary & Elizabeth - which get no mention from Matthew.
Luke is also interested in the temple trip when Jesus was a young man - and many of us would love more stories like that... but after the Egypt trip, Matthew jumps right to His adult life.
Luke as somebody who is clearly much more engaged in the Roman world, doesn't find a trip to Egypt to be especially interesting - something he may have done many times in his life.
BUT, Matthew sees that trip in hugely symbolic terms, especially given that Jesus' had an earthly step-dad called Joseph! So, Matthew just goes big on telling that whole infancy story from the perspective of Joseph.
Luke skips the Egyptian family holiday, but finds the mechanics of the incarnation much more fascinating and how did Jesus develop into the Man He came to be. So Luke tells the entire infancy biography from the perspective of Mary - with almost nothing about Joseph at all!
Anyway, we get the same kind of thing in the death narratives - and the Judas story has struck me recently.
For Matthew the key feature of what happened to Judas is that he died a cursed death, hanging from a tree (Matthew 27:3-10) - the classic Deuteronomy 21:22-23 death - "if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God."
Both Matthew and Luke recall that the field was bought with money from Judas - cursed, blood money - and so it was the Field of Blood.
However, for Matthew the purchase of the potter's field with blood money with the money from Judas betrayal is deeply embedded in the prophecies of Jeremiah and Zechariah also.
Zechariah acts out the false shepherd who betrays the flock for a payment of thirty silver pieces in Zechariah 12:10-17.
Jeremiah 19 has the story of Jeremiah buying the clay jar from the potter - and then in the nearby cursed valley of Ben-Hinnom, the destruction of Jerusalem is announced.
Then, importantly, in Jeremiah 32, the prophet is to buy land with silver pieces, because although this terrible judgement must fall... YET, there is hope and redemption beyond that.
All of these deep themes of judgement and redemption, cursing and hope are preached by Jeremiah & Zechariah... and Matthew wants us to dig deep into all this.
Luke is not so interested in these prophecies about the judgement and redemption of Jerusalem, obviously. He is much more interested in the other nations and cities of the world - especially around the Roman empire.
BUT, Luke is much more sensitive to the personal relations involved in all this... and perhaps also the medical details.
For Matthew, the fact that Judas was hanging up is the key to his cursed demise, but for Luke it is the falling down afterwards that is more interesting - especially because all of Judas' guts spilled out...
The guts/bowels are where our emotions or affections are stored up - which is why stress or love has such devastating effects on our digestion.
When Judas bursts open in his fall, perhaps even when people were cutting down his hanging body, the fact that he bursts open like that is a revelation of his true feelings: what he was inside was a mess...
(Note: for Judas to burst open when he fell down is not really plausible if he was still alive - if he just tripped over! People don't burst open, disgorging their intestines, if they simply fall over... It only makes sense if the body of Judas is in some level of bloating or decomposition.)
But, more than that we are aware of Old Testament stories about betrayal, something that Luke is especially sensitive to.
Luke is not so interested what happened BEFORE Judas' death - or even how he was hanging up or anything like that... the key thing to note is that he ended up with his guts spilled out - which is the fate of the traitor in the Old Testament.
Jehoram receives a letter from Elijah (after Elijah had gone to Paradise!). 𝐉𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭.
"You have also murdered your own brothers, members of your own family, men who were better than you... You yourself will be very ill with a lingering disease of the bowels, until the disease causes your bowels to come out." (2 Chronicles 21:13-15)
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭.
The story of Joab betraying Amasa with a kiss may also be in Luke's mind (2 Samuel 20:8-10). Amasa himself had betrayed David, by working for Absalom, and he died by his guts spilling out.
Some have wondered if Luke might have the story of Absalom in mind also (2 Samuel 18:9-18) - especially those who think that Judas did not die by hanging but that Judas remained suspended, dangling in his cursed death...
Perhaps, like Absalom, Judas was suspended from his tree and then died when the rope snapped, so that his actual cause of death was his guts spilling out.
Those that take this view, note how Absalom was hanging from a tree, still alive, but then was stabbed in his guts/heart to kill him.
What is also interesting about this is how Joab offers 10 silver pieces to betray David - but the man said that not even 1,000 pieces of silver would be enough to betray the Lord's anointed.
Anyway, the point is that I am always fascinated by how the different gospels writers have such different passions and perspectives in what they most want us to know about the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth.
Matthew is deeply embedded in the ancient history of Israel.
Luke is a Roman citizen, viewing the "human" perspective.
How much poorer we would be if we had only one of these gospel biographies!