Subject: Judas went to hell? |
Bible Note: Hi, Nolan; If I have you and Tim arrayed against me I know I've written something that requires further thought. But having thought about it a bit more, I'm inclined to defend my position. (That position, by the way, is NOT that "Judas went anywhere but hell". I said I didn't know where he wound up; I still don't know.) The various translations of Matthew 27:3 certainly do hold open the possibiliy that Judas truly repented. In these four, for example, the Greek word is translated as either "seized with/felt remorse" or "repented": [NIV] When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse ... [NASB] Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse ... [KJV] Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself ... [RSV] When Judas, his betrayer, saw that he was condemned, he repented ... Is this a word unrelated to true repentance? It is the same word that Jesus used in Matthew 21:28-32, translated first as "changed his mind" and second as "repent": [NIV] "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him." The second use is clearly related to gaining entrance to the Kingdom of God. We don't know what was in Judas' heart and so don't know if he truly repented. English translations of Matthew's gospel may not prove that he did, but they certainly leave it as a real possibility. The other passages are inconclusive. Judas in either Heaven or hell could not be a part of the disciples' earthly ministry, so they replaced him. "His place" might have been the field where he died - that was probably the last they'd heard of him. "Better if he had not been born"? Yes, far better than to be the one who betrayed Jesus. Perhaps Judas in his remorse/repentance figured that out and did what little he could to correct the error of his birth. What the Bible does not say is that Judas went to hell. It says he committed a grevious sin and the consequences of his sin were terrible. It describes the earthly cost to him - remorse, suicide, and universal contempt. It does not say that the cost included eternal damnation. I am not willing to judge Judas' heart. And I am not willing to assume that the actions of a man clearly driven by remorse and self-loathing were improper and somehow prove that he did not really repent. What I am willing to do is express thanksgiving to a God who could - and perhaps did - forgive even Judas. Peace and grace Steve aka Indiana Jones |