JUDAS ISCARIOT

We actually know very little concerning Judas outside of the fact of his betrayal of Jesus. Of course, in John 12:1-7 we learn that he was the treasurer of the group and used to steal from their common purse. This sets the stage for his approaching the Jewish authorities for money for the betrayal. I have wondered why Matthew was not the treasurer instead since he obviously was better suited for the position due to his previous occupation of tax-collector. One could even speculate that Judas jumped in to volunteer for the position before anyone else had the chance to say anything.

We know that Satan entered into Judas' heart at the Last Supper, and that Jesus told him, “What you have to do, do quickly.” But one certainly can't remove all blame from Judas himself for his actions, even if (a) Satan was guiding him, (b) the betrayal had been predicted in the Old Testament (Acts 1:15-20), and (c) the betrayal was necessary to bring about God's ultimate plan of redemption. The first of these “excuses” for his behavior is contradicted by Peter's comment in Acts 1:25 that Judas had turned away from their ministry and apostleship of his own volition. The next two excuses deal with the sovereignty of God over all events. But even there, we must keep in mind that Jesus in Matthew 26:24 states regarding the coming betrayal, “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.”

As to the primary motive behind Judas' actions, we will probably never know exactly in this life. But that certainly has not stopped scholarly and non-scholarly speculation regarding the matter. There must have been something in addition to greed since after Jesus' arrest, Judas gives back all the money he had gotten. And at that point, he told the chief priests and elders, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” (Matthew 27:4) It is impossible to know what Judas had thought Jesus was guilty of and what caused Judas to subsequently change his mind.

The most reasonable explanation I have heard was that Judas thought all along that Jesus was setting himself up to be an earthly king. But when Jesus seemed to make no moves in that direction, Judas thought he would force the issue with the betrayal. At that point, Jesus would have to strike with supernatural power against his enemies and set up his kingdom. When that didn't happen, Judas then realized that he had totally misunderstood Jesus' ministry on earth.

Whatever Judas' reasoning was, Matthew tells us that he “repented” of his actions. So the remaining question is: “What is the eternal fate of Judas?” I have heard two completely opposite answers to that question, neither of which was based on sound biblical grounds. One Sunday school teacher told our class with great certainty that Judas is in heaven right this very minute. His pronouncement was based on a total misunderstanding of the doctrine of eternal assurance by saying that all a person has to do is once in their life say that they believe in Christ as the Son of God and they are saved forever even if they totally deny Christ five minutes later.

The opposite opinion on Judas' fate is far more prevalent, but is sometimes based on equally shaky reasoning. The common explanation I had always heard was that suicide is the unforgivable sin since you can't go to heaven without asking forgiveness for every single sin you have committed, and there is obviously no way you can ask forgiveness for suicide after you have committed it. For more on this specious argument, see my post entitled “Suicide in the Bible.” Another variation on that theme that is similarly without biblical support is to say that despair is the unforgivable sin.

Despite the above poor arguments for Judas' damnation, the biblical evidence appears to agree with that final assessment. For one thing, although Judas did repent of his betrayal, the Greek word for “repent” can merely mean to rue your actions rather than expressing a total about-face in the direction of your life. Secondly, let's revisit two of the Scripture passages I mentioned earlier. In Acts 1:25, Peter goes on to say that Judas had turned from the ministry and “gone to his own place.” This is probably a reference to hell. And Jesus' own assessment of Judas in Matthew 26:24 is: “It would have been better for that person never to have been born,” apparently stating the same thing in more forceful terms.

The bottom line is that God is the ultimate Judge, and so I don't want to try and usurp His job. I am personally very glad that I am not in that position.