The question has often entered my mind as to whether Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus Christ, is in heaven or hell. Intending to find an answer, I stumbled upon a
source that replied to this question in three words -- "only God knows."
According to the writer of the piece I discovered, Judas undoubtedly committed serious sins, but so have many people that we consider saints today. Consider the apostle Peter. He denied Christ three times, was not present at the foot of the cross during Jesus' crucifixion, and he hid in the upper room after Jesus' resurrection for fear of the Jewish soldiers. However, today, Peter is considered the "rock" upon which the Church is built, the first pope.
And what about the good thief who was crucified next to Jesus? He wholeheartedly believed in Jesus and repented when he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). We know that this thief entered the kingdom of heaven because of Jesus' reply to him: "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).
But in Judas' case, we just don't know where he remains for eternity. His sins were extremely serious. He betrayed the Son of Man for 30 pieces of silver. We're uncertain about what his motivations were. Scripture only tells us, "Then Satan entered into Judas" (Luke 22:3). If Judas was completely under the influence of the Evil One at the time, then is he fully responsible for his actions? Another possibility is that Judas acted out of disappointment because Jesus was not the great military leader the Jewish people had longed for. Also, did God arrange for Judas to betray Jesus so that the Scriptures could be fulfilled?
We can tell that Judas regretted his actions because he tried to return the money. But then he gave in to the greatest sin of all -- despair -- and committed suicide.
The immediate question that is raised here is "why?" Why didn't Judas ask for forgiveness? He knew that Jesus had a heart for the sinners, and saw Him forgive many that had repented and turned away from their sins. So
why did he have to end his life?
We don't know if Judas repented at the last minute like the good thief did. We're uncertain if Satan completely took control of him when he betrayed Jesus. Because we don't know this, we really can't tell whether Judas is now living in eternal pain or eternal agony. Only God knows the final destination of Judas' soul.
Do you think Judas is in heaven or in hell? Do you agree with the article that only God knows the answer to this question and we simply won't be able to tell while we abide here on earth?
Comments (55)
Of course no one can answer that question! I don't even see why it matters to anyone... except the poor guy himself. So.... who cares?
that's a great question. i was just in, Jesus Christ Superstar, and with learning the things i did..i wondered the same thing. i would say, hell..only because he took his life. ..but, who knows..it's one of those things we will never know until our day of passing.
he repented before his death, but a death that was brought on by his own will.
Any question about the salvation/condemnation of Judas must include John 17:12
"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."
And, @heycrystal2052@xanga - it is a good question whether Judas repented, or merely was remorseful.
@Rain_of_Mystic_Sorrow@xanga - I've seen this question at least two other times. Once on Revelife, and once on a church-college-and-career board.
@Romans_837@xanga - for one that is remorseful, could that be their sign of repent ?
@heycrystal2052@xanga - Remorse can be a sign of repentance, but sometimes remorse comes without repentance.
Given the only thing that Judas did afterward was kill himself...based solely on Judas' actions, his state of mind and heart could be interpreted either way.
I've wondered about other people, too, like Saul and many of the other kings. Even Solomon.
Thanks for including the picture in your post. I've always wondered what Judas looked like.
recommend ...
in Dante's Inferno he was in hell.
But who knows???
if ther izza heven orra hell then yeah hez probably in wunna them but i gaurantee werevr you fund him jesus will be with him
Well, if you believe that Jesus' death was necessary and part of the whole plan (Jesus dies, mankind gets saved, etc.), then it would be pretty cruel for God to send Judas to hell for basically fulfilling a prophecy and making the tenets of Christianity possible.
For a religion that puts so much emphasis on a death (and what that death signifies), you'd think the person who caused that death would be celebrated... not condemned.
Why didn't Judas ask for forgiveness? He knew that Jesus had a heart for the sinners, and saw Him forgive many that had repented and turned away from their sins.
For Judas to have done what he did indicates that he probably hadn't the slightest clue about Jesus. Maybe he didn't ask for forgiveness because that whole concept, vis a vis Jesus, had no meaning for him.
Even his remorse probably only revolved around losing his social standing due to betraying a very beloved man. The Sanhedrin probably thought Judas to be a greedy, treacherous scoundrel, too. That left a disgraced Judas on the outside looking in.
Hmmm, he committed suicide, right? But he did so after repenting before the chief priests and elders...lolol, so he acknowledge that what he did was evil and repented of the offense before God. By killing himself he committed murder, but then there are others who also killed themselves like Samson, Saul, and Zimri.
Judges 16:29-30 Samson had been chained to the two middle pillars of a
temple. He pushed them apart. thereby knowingly causing the collapse of the building, his
own suicide and the death of a few thousand people inside. The death toll exceeded the number of people
that he had killed during the rest of his life -which was considerable. Samson had been
blinded, and no longer wanted to live as a captive. And by causing his own death, he had a
chance to destroy many of the enemy.
1 Samuel 31:4-6 In a war against the Philistines, Saul's sons
Johnathan, Abinadab and Malchishua were killed, and Saul himself was seriously wounded. He
asked his armor bearer to kill him, but his assistant refused. So he took a sword and fell
on it. The armor bearer then also fell on his sword. Both committed suicide. These
precise events are
also described in 1 Chronicles 10:3-7. Saul's justification for
committing suicide was that because of his injuries, if the Philistines arrived, he would be abused and killed by
uncircumcised men.
1 King 16:15-20 Zimri, king of Tirzah, saw his city besieged and taken.
He was distressed at the sins that he had committed. He "went into the citadel of
the king's house and burned the king's house down upon himself with fire, and died..."
See http://www.religioustolerance.org/sui_bibl.htm
I don't know most of these men committed suicide because they were suffering the consequences of their rebellion or disobedience. Maybe the answer is in the trend. But, I like the answer given in the posts: Only God Knows.
I tell you this though, I won't be committing suicide anytime soon to find out whether it's a sin or not!...lolol
We've seen this before.
We don't know.
We can't know.
We shouldn't try to know.
i fail to see how sending to Hell the man who brought about what was needed for salvation is considered justice.
I agree with the article author - Only God Knows. We can speculate, and discuss and argue about it, but really, only God knows (ok - and Judas himself knows). We know that suicide is NOT an unforgiveable sin --- there is only one unforgiveable sin, and that is the sin against the Holy Spirit - where you so harden your heart that you in essence, slap God in the face and say "no thankyou" All the other sins committed by man - from murder to greed to selfishness etc, are forgivable with a truly repentant heart. Was Judas truly repentant? What drove him to suicide? Maybe one day we'll find out - maybe not.
Whenever I've been suicidal, it's never been an "oh screw God" thing. So I'm inclined to think that suicidal people go to heaven. However in Judas case I don't know what exactly is meant by satan inhabiting Judas. I've always been taught in that christians can't be posessed because the holy spirit can't coexist. So basically, only God knows.
Peter's actions of denying Jesus have been compared to Judas's betrayal as being equally egregious. The difference is how these men responded to their actions.
Both felt badly, but it appears only Peter accepted and embraced his wrong doing and repented by being an even more courageous and powerful witness for Christ. It's also probably safe to assume that not a day went by that Peter didn't feel the pain and the shame for his actions.
Judas felt remorse, but appears to try to run away and deny ownership of his actions rather than accept what he did. At first he tries to give back the money as if that will absolve him of what he did. He could have gone to testify on the behalf of Jesus to reveal the clandestine plan the religious leaders made with him, but he was only concerned with his own guilty conscience. Rather than accept responsibility for his actions and strive to make amends for it, he chose the easy way out by ending his life instead of living with the guilt.
I like the answer "only God knows" it says that its none of our business to judge what happened to Judas or what we think SHOULD have happened to Judas. I think a mistake a lot of Christians make is believing that they somehow have a say in the fate of sinners' souls. I don't think I have a right to say that so&so went to heaven and the other guy went to hell, its for God to judge and decide so wherever Judas is I'm sure God make the perfect choice as always.
Actually, I would say he is in Hell. If you look at John 6:60-71, we're looking at the scene right after Jesus declares that he is the bread of life and many disciples desert him. v64 reveals that Christ knew that Judas would already betray him "from the beginning." As the passage continues, Jesus even asks the disciples if they will also leave. Here's he's most likely directing his attention to Judas, because He knows that Judas is not a true disciple. Peter incorrectly responds for the whole group by saying "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." But when Peter says this, how does Jesus respond? He declares to them that one of them "is a devil."
Further in John 17:12: "While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name
you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so
that Scripture would be fulfilled." That's Christ praying for his disciples (I -> Christ, them -> disciples). It says that none have been lost except the one doomed to destruction. In the KJV it says "but the son of perdition" refering to Judas. Perdition means "a state of final spiritual ruin; loss of the soul; damnation." (Dictionary.com) So here we have further evidence that Judas was never a believer to begin with, but part of the devil.
In terms of fulfilling prophecy, just because God knows what's going to happen doesn't make people not responsible for their actions. Judas is still the one who made the choice to betray Christ. If we say that Judas shouldn't be responsible for his actions because it was part of the prophecy or because it was God's will for him to do so, then that would mean we are also inferring that God is causing people to sin. Judas is responsible for his actions because he made the choice to do them.
In terms of his suicide, why do people commit suicide? If we look at the motivations behind his suicide, I believe it's most likely that either a) he figured that there was nothing he can do to repent for his sin, or b) he couldn't stand to live with the shame. There's probably a few other reasons, but these are the big ones (i think). For (a), it means that Judas didn't ask Christ for forgiveness and that he didn't understand Christ at all (someone mentioned it earlier). In (b), he's essentially "running away" or giving up by committing suicide. There's nothing remorseful or worthy of praise/glory in either case.
Hope that helps a tiny bit, but don't take it just from me and look/do some research yourself. The essential difference between Judas and the disciples, saints, all Christians, is they key of repentance.
Jesus said of Judas - "Woe unto him. It would have been better for him if he would have never been born."
In
my opinion, the only logical conclusion you can draw from that is that
he's in hell. There would be no reason for Jesus to say this if Judas
is in heaven.
@Romans_837@xanga - And, @heycrystal2052@xanga - it is a good question whether Judas repented, or merely was remorseful.
The bible says Judas repented of himself, not to God.
@FAB - But he did so after repenting before the
chief priests and elders...lolol, so he acknowledge that what he did
was evil and repented of the offense before God.
See my comment above.
I think Jesus prayed even for Judas. If Satan was possessing me I think I'd kill myself too to end the madness he must have been living. But on the other hand he must not have understood Jesus at all. We can't know, and it's not our place to decide, only speculate. How could Judas be open to possession?
@alexwlee@xanga - Good answer. It goes with what I said.