Was Judas Forgiven?

“Was Judas forgiven? After all, the Bible says he regretted betraying Jesus and even tried to return his 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests who paid him for the betrayal.”

Yes, the Scriptures do indeed portray Judas as feeling bad about his actions toward the end of the story. He becomes a very sympathetic character. I think we’d all like to believe that Judas will be in heaven. Unfortunately, what we would like to believe and what may actually be true are often different.

Let us start by saying that Judas’ forgiveness was at least possible. Pleading to God for mercy was certainly an option he could have chosen. True, he betrayed Jesus, but Peter also let Jesus down by denying Him out of fear for his own life. Peter then went into the woods and wept bitterly. I’m not sure the betrayal of Judas as an isolated act was worse than the denial of Peter. But we must also remember that God looks beyond isolated actions. He weighs the entire life of a person. He also searches their hearts.

Peter (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) repented of his cowardice and became such a faithful disciple that decades later he did offer his life for Jesus, even to the point of experiencing crucifixion himself under the wrath of Emperor Nero. Once a coward, Peter became a courageous inspiration.

Judas on the other hand, ended his own life. That alone, would not rob him of Christ’s forgiveness any more than the betrayal alone would rob him of Christ’s forgiveness, but the drastically different ways in which both men dealt with their sins is noteworthy.

A somewhat similar comparison can be made between two Old Testament characters, King David and King Saul. Saul and David are easier to study than Peter and Judas because we have much more information to draw upon. For this reason, we cannot claim an exact parallel but the observation is still helpful. Both Saul and David disobeyed God, but only Saul fell out of favor with God. David committed adultery and murder. Saul disobeyed God’s command to sacrifice every animal of a conquered enemy. To the casual observer, David’s offense is much greater, yet David remained King while Saul fell in battle void of God’s protective hand. The actions of each man after being confronted, may provide a clue as to why God treated them differently. Saul, after receiving a stern rebuke from the prophet Samuel, expressed regret but showed no sign of genuine repentance. He even went on to persecute David out of fear and jealousy. David, when confronted by Nathan the Prophet, repented of his sin publically. We are also told that in general, God viewed David as a “man after God’s own heart.”

Likewise, when God looks at Judas and Peter, he sees their hearts. He sees all of their actions (including the times Judas stole money from the disciple’s treasury, demonstrating an ongoing character issue.) God not only watched Judas betray Jesus, he looked inside the soul and understood why Judas betrayed Jesus. Had Judas continued to live after returning his thirty pieces of silver, what would his life have been like? Would he have followed Jesus or would he have continued acting in rebellion as Saul did after he fell out of God’s favor? We will never know for sure. Many assume Judas would have turned his life around simply because he expressed regret over one horrible mistake. That’s not enough with which to go on. Suffices to say, the betrayal, in and of itself, did not put Judas at a point of no return, but the betrayal may have been revealing a much deeper problem with Judas’ heart.

We will never completely understand Judas’ inward conflict, but the Bible does not leave us guessing his eternal destination either. Sad as it sounds, Scripture actually says that Judas ended up in hell. More correctly put, he was on that road and we have been given no reason to believe he ever got off the road. There are two passages that discuss Judas’ eternal destiny. One, at least, strongly suggests hell. The other cannot possibly be interpreted any other way.

Here’s the first passage:

Acts 1:15-26
“In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus– 17 he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.” 18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, ” ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ” ‘May another take his place of leadership.’

21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” 23 So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.”

Notice how Luke (the writer who quotes Peter and inserts some additional information before continuing to quote Peter) is still referring to Judas as wicked. Evidently Luke is unaware of any genuine conversion/repentance, even though he is aware that Judas felt bad enough to return 30 pieces of silver. As a matter of fact, Luke is actually reporting that everyone in Jerusalem knew. That would include Peter, who despite such knowledge neither speaks sympathetically of Judas nor offers any comfort about Judas’ eternal destiny.

Luke tells us Judas bought a field with the reward. This does not mean he is contradicting Matthew’s account of Judas returning his blood money. Ancient Jews were well known for their ability to describe one incident two different ways and Luke interviewed many Jews before penning his book. What happened, of course, is that the Sanhedrin purchased a field with the money Judas cast back. Matthew’s report provides the detail:

Matthew 27:3-8
“When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” 5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. 6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.”

Luke describes the incident as if Judas himself purchased the field, meaning that Judas’ money had purchased the field.

The apostles also stated in their prayers that Judas “went where he belongs.” Usually, when a believer died, the person was described as having gone to the Lord. “Went where he belongs” seems rather derogatory.
The Old Testament quotation and application also weighs in, providing zero reason to draw an optimistic conclusion. Peter is reciting a typological prophecy from the Psalms, saying that nobody is to ever again live in Judas’ place. This must be a reference to Judas’ home, not his place amongst the 12 apostles, since that vacancy was filled by Mathias. In short, Judas will not be remembered with any fondness. Does that sound like a description of a man in heaven?

Certainly the apostles knew that Judas felt bad even to the point of some significant repentance. That’s rather obvious with a return of the money followed by a horrible suicide. But despite their awareness of the facts, none of them offer a reason to believe in a Judas-Jesus restoration such as Peter received.

Some readers, while agreeing that Acts 1 looks gloomy, may still point out that this passage alone is not enough with which to draw a definite conclusion. Fair enough, but one is forced at the very least to admit that Peter and his fellow apostles seem to be assuming Judas went to hell.

As it happens, there is another passage with words that clinch the matter. Before Jesus died, he made a prediction about Judas.

Matt 26:24
“The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

Now let’s just think about this logically. If Judas is in heaven, then it is better that he was born. To be in a situation where it would have been better to not be born at all, one must be in hell.

I submit that Hollywood is partly responsible for a much different, distorted understanding of Judas. In fact, many movies make Judas out to be some kind of tragic, ironic hero:

“Judas had to betray Jesus,” they say in the films, “ He did it because he loved Jesus. He did it to help Jesus in his mission.”

Well, today we aren’t visiting a movie theater. We are reading the Scripture, and when they are studied honestly, the situation looks much different.

“As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. ‘What you are about to do, do quickly,’ Jesus told him” (John 13:27).

Satan does not have the ability to enter one’s heart without permission. Judas’ evil intentions opened a window. Satan merely exploited the situation.

In what way did Judas provide this spiritual opening? We can only speculate. You see, most of Jesus’ disciples expected Jesus to overthrow the Romans like a warrior and then rule as king of Israel. This is exactly why they were following him and after this kingly Messiah took the throne, they expected to rule and reign with him.

Many times, Jesus tried explaining to his friends that long before ruling Israel as king, He was going to die on the cross and rise from the dead. They too, were going to suffer if they followed him. But people often have selective memories and poor attention spans. They believe what they want to believe. They cherry pick the parts they like. Despite Jesus’ many predictions, most of His disciples were completely shocked when He died on the cross.

My own opinion is that Judas was the only one actually listening to what Jesus was saying. Perhaps Judas thought to himself, “This man isn’t planning on ruling as king. He’s planning to die. What did I get myself into? This is not what I bargained for.”

And that, I believe, is the reason Judas betrayed Jesus. The disillusioned disciple was cutting his losses and getting out while the getting was good, hopefully with something to pay him back for some of the time and money lost. Later, Judas greatly regretted the way he had handled things, but he never put his full faith in Christ and never dealt with the totality of his sin nature. Anyone can feel bad and regret a choice, especially a choice that results in the death of a close friend. That’s not exactly the same as trusting Christ with your entire life. Everybody has a conscience. Not everybody is interested in obeying God. Undoubtedly Judas was not expecting Jesus to rise from the dead. But should another come along like Jesus, somebody with a ministry of peace and forgiveness as opposed to militant violence, Judas would probably have remained uninterested. He would not make that same “mistake” twice.

Now there is one wrinkle which could potentially challenge an otherwise airtight case. When the Bible gives predictions about a person’s future, the prophecy can be conditional without the conditional word “if” always being used. For example, Jonah told the citizens of Nineveh that God would destroy them in 40 days. Jonah did not add “Unless you repent.” The Ninevites came up with the idea of repentance all on their own. God still forgave them and spared them.

Could the same be said of Judas? Could Jesus have been describing his eternal fatality with the silent understanding that Judas might get off the road to destruction and put his faith in God’s plan? It’s possible but it seems unlikely.

Keep in mind that Judas was also described as the “Son of Perdition” when Jesus prayed to the Father saying that none of his disciples was lost except one (John 17:12). That same term “Son of Perdition” is also used of the future Anti-Christ in 2 Thessalonians. Perdition means hell. One who is called “the Son of Hell” is probably going to hell. Revelation tells us that the Anti-Christ is definitely going to hell. Wouldn’t another man (Judas) with the same title share a similar fate?

We must also remember that Jesus predicted both Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial, yet Peter’s denial was not going to be the end of the story. Peter was going to be restored. Jesus had full knowledge of this ahead of time. If He knew the same about Judas, then why did He not pray about the “two men” who will fall yet later be restored? The apparent answer is that one will be restored and one will not.

These observations suggest that when Jesus says it would be better if Judas had never lived, it is because He knew the man would never be saved.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Judas, according to Scripture, is not in heaven. Maybe I’m missing something. I hope so, but I do not believe that to be the case. Still, if I get to heaven and find Judas there, I will be delighted to eat crow. (Do they have crow in heaven?) Yes, I hope I’m wrong about the tragic disciple who strayed, but barring some fact that God chose to keep out of the Bible, I must, at the moment, draw a conclusion: God’s word gives every indication that Judas is not in heaven with Jesus.

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Bob Siegel

making the obvious, obvious

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