The other day, when my son and grandson were studying the Scriptures together, my grandson (8 years old) asked his dad, “Will we see Judas in heaven?” A great question! Especially coming from an 8 year old!
What do you think? Was it too late for him? Will we see Judas in The Kingdom?
We are told in Matthew 27:3-5, “Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”
5Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.”
Consider this:
- He was remorseful.
- He confessed that he had sinned.
- He returned the money!
Wow! Regret, confession and restitution! Those would probably gain a person entrance into most evangelical circles today! But would those same attributes also gain that person entrance into the Kingdom of GOD?
Lets look at several verses that are commonly used in reference to Judas.
Matthew 26:24 “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” The “woe” stated in 3 of the gospels is not a good indicator of a positive ending for him.
Acts 1:16-17 “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; 17for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.”
18(Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20“For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
“Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; (Psalm 69:25) and, ‘Let another take his office.” (Psalm 109:8)
Looking further into Psalm 109, that Peter quoted from, we get a clearer picture of the context and it’s original sentiment… And why Peter is inspired to quote it in reference to Judas…
9 Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.
10 Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;
Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.
11 Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder his labor.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy to him,
Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off,
And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.”
Consider the seriousness of outcome for the one who betrays JESUS! Even his children shall be no more…
Seeing that Judas’ end was that of death inflicted by his own hands should cause us to realize that, even though he was “remorseful”, he did not experience the kind of godly sorrow that produces repentance like that which Paul describes:
2 Corinthians 7:10-11 “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”
Based on these verses, I believe that it is safe for us to say that Judas, though he realized the error of his ways, did not come to a place of biblical repentance, and thus went into eternity without forgiveness of his sins. The bible is clear to say that once death occurs for an unrepentant, unforgiven sinner all that remains for them is to face judgment.
Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…”
We have seen that it is not enough for one to just feel remorseful and recognize their sins. Neither is it enough for one to attempt to make restitution or right their wrongs when these acts are in place of true godly sorrow that leads to true repentance that in turn produces true salvation and life! True salvation will be witnessed by a life of true godliness, or a life that is committed to obedience to the entire Word of GOD!
If YOU HAVE NOT experienced that kind of conversion, YOU NEED TO on this side of eternity!
It is refreshing to see questions and issues of life and the church dealt with according to the Word of God and not according to traditionally held doctrinal positions without Scriptural merit. Keep ‘em coming, brother.