Could Judas Have Been Forgiven?

Patrick Muntu

• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781098016029
• eBook ISBN: 9781098016036
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

Could Judas have been forgiven? Did he ask for forgiveness? Will an earthly court adjudge him unforgiveable? Many questions surround the destiny and eternity of the man who sold his Lord and Master for thirty pieces of silver and committed suicide thereafter. But even the divinity of Jesus (in most people's psych) makes Judas more accursed.

Patrick Muntu explores the minds of the opposing sides on these questions. He sums up acknowledging the supremacy of God and conceding the fate of men to judge as men. "Could Judas have been forgiven?" is a question with an answer you should seek.

Chapter 2

Why Did He Betray Jesus?

Why did Judas betray Jesus? Was it to expose him for some atrocities that he committed? Did he do it to show loyalty to the scribes and the chief priests? Did he betray Jesus to pull him down and have himself lifted?

The Gospels suggest that Jesus foresaw (John 6:64; Matthew 26:25) and allowed Judas’s betrayal (John 13:27–28). One explanation is that Jesus allowed the betrayal because it would allow God’s plan to be fulfilled. Another is that regardless of the betrayal, Jesus was ultimately destined for crucifixion.

In April 2006, a Coptic papyrus manuscript titled the gospel of Judas from AD 200 was translated, suggesting that Jesus told Judas to betray him, although some scholars question the translation” (Wikipedia).

Bible accounts do not validate this in anyway. It will neither be fair to the Bible nor to the Gospel to proffer one subjective reason why Judas betrayed Jesus Christ, who went about doing good. Rather it may be wiser to consider different reasons that had been suggested or are apparent from Bible accounts, especially from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We need to identify the position(s) of the Bible on this crucial matter.

It may be better to look at the betrayal holistically and not just limit it to the incident where Judas kissed his Master for the assailants to recognize him. Bible account infers that Judas had brewed evil intentions in himself even before he went to the chief priests to ask for a price to betray Jesus. However, the reasons discernible from Bible accounts are as stated below:

1. It had been prophesied ahead of time.
   It is interesting that as early as about 600 years before the birth of Christ, David, his forbear, had prophesied. “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of mine bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). This prophecy was farsighted and accurate.
   Obadiah, the prophet, also prophesied in his book, Obadiah.
   All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border; the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee: they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee; there is none understanding in him. (Obadiah 7)
   Jesus himself forewarned about his betrayal and death in Matthew 16:21, Mark 8:31, and Luke 9:22. “From that time on, began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”
   However, his prophecy was more specific when he sat with his twelve disciples at the table of the Lord’s supper. He said, “Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me” (Matthew 26:21).
   The disciples were not happy about this, and each of them started to ask, “Lord, is it I?”
   But Jesus only went further specific, giving clues as to how to know who the person would be. “He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me” (Matthew 26:23).
   The most specific prophecy, which finally let the cat out of the bag, however, was when Simon Peter, lying on Jesus’s breast asked who would betray him. Jesus then answered, “He it is to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it.” And as soon as he dipped it, Jesus gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon (John 13:23–26).
   So as to why Judas betrayed Jesus, we could see that from time immemorial, prophecy had been given that somebody would betray Jesus and he would be nailed to the cross. But as the time became closer, Jesus became more specific with this prophecy until he eventually unveiled Judas as the culprit.
2. Reprisal for Christ not doing the expected.
   Another school of thought is that Judas betrayed Jesus because he was disillusioned with his ministry. Jesus had been taken for a savior that would be a solution to all problems (of the Jews) in that age. Many expected that a man with such grace from God should stand up to face every challenge of that time, which included the colonial power of the Romans over Israel. Such expected Jesus to help deliver the Jews from the colonial power of the Romans. When this group of people now heard, Jesus saying that it was his time to depart and go back to the Father; they were disillusioned. They were disappointed when he uttered statements like “And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!” (Luke 22:22). “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2–3).
   Judas must have been a very radical one among this group, who could not temper his bitterness with restraint but had to vent his spleen on Jesus.
   The reasoning here is that Jesus did not measure up to the larger than life position ascribed to him. And being a celebrity of such magnitude, the way to pay him back was to betray him to his assailants.
3. Judas was envious of the costly oil in a peculiar manner.
   However, to identify the immediate reason why Judas betrayed him, the saga of the woman that anointed Jesus for his burial, Mary Magdalene, was very relevant. The Gospel according to St. Mark shows that Judas became jealous because of the costly perfume that she poured on the head of J...

Table of contents

• Is Judas Not a Hero Today?
• Why Did He Betray Jesus?
• Who Was Judas?
• How Did Jesus Choose Judas?
• Did Judas Repent of His Atrocity?
• Forgiveness in the Bible
• Could Judas Have Been Forgiven?