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EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored ninety-two books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
Matthew 37:3–5 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
Judas Hangs Himself
3 Then when Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins[1] to the chief priests and elders, 4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself!” 5And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.
[1] I.e. silver shekels; it takes 50 shekels to equal 1 mina, and 60 minas to equal 1 talent.
Judas “betrayed innocent blood” when he gave Jesus into the hands of those who wanted to kill him. The Greek term (metamelomai), which is rendered “regretted” means that Judas felt remorse, felt sad on account of what he had done, he changed his mind, wishing that things could have been different. After having betrayed Jesus, he tried to return the bribe.
Nonetheless, Judas did become completely, inexcusably corrupt. No doubt it is for this reason that he is placed last in the list of the apostles and is described as the Judas “the one who betrayed him” and “who became a traitor.” (Matt. 10:4; Lu 6:16) Whatever Judas may have felt in his heart, we cannot say with absolute certainty. However, his action of committing suicide means that his regret, remorse was over what was going to happen to him not what he did, so he was not fully repentant.
We have no Scriptural evidence that Judas truly fully repented. Instead of going to the Father in prayer, to confess his sins, he chose to confess them “the chief priests and the elders.” Judas likely realized that he had committed “a sin leading to death,” he rightly became overcome with feelings of guilt and anguish and hopelessness. (1 John 5:16) Therefore, Judas’ regret stemmed from his realization that he was in an irreversible unforgivable state. Again, it seems that his regret was not about what he had done but the consequences that he now realized were to follow.
The magnitude of his crime, the terrifying certainty of divine judgment against him obviously overwhelmed him. (Compare Hebrews 10:26-27, 31; James 2:19.) He felt the shame, regret, and remorse of his guilt, despair, and even desperation, but there is no Scriptural evidence to show that he expressed the godly sadness of the inner heart, the seat of motivation, that leads to repentance (metanoia). Basically, Judas committed treason against the king of the coming kingdom. He was guilty of the death of an innocent man. To these heinous crimes, Judas goes on to commit self-murder. His suicide was not from some overwhelming mental illness that may impact the judgment he would receive from God.
We can contrast Judas with that of Peter. Matthew 26:75 tells us, “And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly,” for having denied Jesus Christ three times. Peter showed genuine heartfelt repentance, which resulted in his being restored to the fold. (Luke 22;31-32) Judas Iscariot, on the other hand, when he truly realized the enormity of what he had done, he did not go and weep, turning to God, but rather went to the Jewish religious leaders to confess his sins with them. He returned the thirty pieces of silver, likely thinking that maybe this could lessen the egregious crimes he had committed. – See James 5:3-4; Eze 7:19.
Let it be made clear that God did not predestine Judas Iscariot or coerce him to act against his own free will. How do we correctly understand Judas’ freedom as it relates to God’s foreknowledge? Because God has the power to exercise his foreknowledge of everything in advance, some have suggested that it was fated prior to Judas’ birth that he would betray Jesus. In short, yes, God foresaw that Judas would betray him; however, Judas had the free will choice to change his mind at any point of such an idea entering it. If Judas had changed his mind, God would have foreseen something else. However, we must keep in mind that God is able to also foresee heart condition, heart attitude, not just events. Therefore, God would have not only foreseen the decision Judas made but also his unreceptive heart.
