Judas, Greed and Worldly Sorrow
Earlier I received a question from a friend based on Acts 1:18 which reads:
With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.
Not a pleasant image, and different from how Matthew described Judas’ demise in Matthew 27:5
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
When I saw the two passages I prepared to address the issue of fitting two different accounts together into a single harmonious story. When I kept reading however, my friend’s question was actually related to Judas’s eternal destiny: “is he in heaven or hell?" Looking into the New Testament to answer this question took me on an adventure of discovery, one that has given me greater clarity regarding Judas’s role in the gospel accounts and a new understanding of the difference between Godly Sorrow and Worldly Sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:9-10 ).
Here is a link to a collection of relevant passages regarding Judas at Bible for your own study, but I’ll summarize the passages in a way that may be helpful.
Equally called - Judas was one of the 12 chosen apostles, chosen by Jesus himself. He spent 3 years with Jesus proclaiming the Kingdom of God, witnessing Jesus’s power, and hearing Jesus’s teaching.
Fully equipped - As an apostle, Judas had the same access to Jesus as all the other apostles, including the power to cast out demons and heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2). In other words, Judas's apostleship was identical to that of the other eleven.
Divided in heart - But...Judas was controlled by greed. This greed (and perhaps some resentment see John 12:7) offered the devil a foothold in Judas's heart. It is in this sense that the gospel writers indicate that Satan "entered" into Judas.
Motivated by Greed- Betrayal of his teacher and friend became a logical way to gain his heart's desire, more money. Jesus had already said that no one can serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:24) . Judas's divided heart eventually turned to hatred for Christ and devotion to wealth. When it came to a decision, Judas was driven by loyalty to his desire for money and traded 30 pieces of silver for an eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:17)
Repeatedly Warned- In Judas’s hearing Jesus said "It would be better for [the one who betrays me] if he had never been born" . Jesus even told Judas directly that he knew of his betrayal (Matthew 26:14-25). Judas did not at that time confess though he was given repeated opportunities to change his mind. In the end, he "stood with" those who wanted to arrest and kill Jesus (John 18:5), using his intimacy with Jesus as a tool to serve his own desires.
The key issue with regard to Judas's eternal destiny is not whether or not he committed suicide, but whether or not his devotion was to Christ as God's unique provision for sin and the Anointed King. Do we have anyway of knowing what Judas’s orientation toward Jesus was at his time of death?
In 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 the Apostle Paul wrote about two kinds of grief: godly grief that leads to repentance and worldly grief that leads to death. Judas felt remorse for what he had done; he returned the blood money received for betraying an innocent man. But instead of moving him to repent his grief ended in his death since it was based on a (worldly) view of reality that didn't see the love of God in the cross.
Some Christians believe that suicide automatically forfeits salvation, but that idea has no biblical basis. The key question is: "Do you know the Father and Jesus Christ whom he sent?" Judas, though he walked with Jesus for three years, had all the proof of Jesus's identity possible at the time, and was warned many times by the Lord, instead chose money instead of Jesus as his Lord. When remorse found him, he became his own judge instead of commending himself to the merciful judge who pardons sinners.
Reflection Question:
How do you view God? As a vindictive taskmaster seeking to condemn you or as a Loving Father who forgives your deepest betrayals and profound failures?
What characterizes your sorrow more: Do you turn quickly to the Father in confession so fellowship can be restored (1 John 1:9)? Or do you hide in shame, hoping to forget, hoping the weight in your heart won’t affect your life and afraid you might be found out?
When you think of Jesus, the friend of sinners, do you imagine a cold, unfeeling judge, or do you picture him with eyes full of compassion and mercy?