Judas Repented

Judas kinda gets a bad rap. I mean, he betrayed Jesus Christ. For money. It's a pretty big deal.  Judas is in the list of top betrayers. No one really likes him. The name Judas, especially Judas Iscariot, carries a nasty connotation. (Personally, I always thoughts "Iscariot" fit him. "Scary" and all.)

Point is, we don't like him. We think he's pretty dang terrible. He did the worst thing a person could do, right?

But.

"When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’" -Matthew 27:3-4a

He repented. Judas changed his mind. He said he didn't want the money, he knew Jesus was innocent of sin. Judas knew he sinned. And repented.

We are quick to condemn. Others, that is. You know, David was an adulterer and murdered Uriah. But David repented. Everybody loves Psalm 51. We look to David as this great example of repentance. And I mean, David was a man after God's own heart, right? So we can forget his misdeeds. Well, we don't forget; it's rather an exciting story. But we don't forget his repentance.

Let us not forget Judas' repentance.

So Judas killed himself. And maybe his repentance gets complicated because of that. But maybe it doesn't. God judges the heart, not me. I'm reminded of the last book in the Narnia series, The Last Battle. When the New Narnia comes, more people are ushered in than people expected. People others had personally condemned. I'm not saying that is perfect theology. I'm not saying C. S. Lewis is the ultimate authority on God or heaven. What I am saying is that God is doing things we may not know about or understand. I'm saying I don't decide who believes and who repents.

I personally wouldn't be surprised to see Judas when the kingdom comes in fullness.