The Redemption of Judas Iscariot

Every good story needs a villain. In the passion narrative of the New Testament that role is played by Judas Iscariot. He is the one Christians love to hate. I have been thinking about Judas because of something a pastor friend said recently. She believes that Judas is in heaven.

Is that true? Is Judas chumming around with Peter and Paul in the heavenly Jerusalem? I never gave it much thought. I know the conventional wisdom concerning Judas’ fate. I know that Dante’s Inferno places Judas in the ninth circle of hell, not far from the prophet Muhammad, Pope Boniface VIII and several of Dante’s personal enemies (which says more about Dante than these men.)

Dante pictures Lucifer as having three mouths, and in each of them he eternally devours one of the three greatest sinners of human history (in Dante’s opinion). In the left and right mouths dangle Brutus and Cassius, who murdered Julius Caesar in the Roman Senate. Judas Iscariot is given special treatment by being placed head-first into the devil’s central mouth with his back eternally clawed by the devil's talons. Ugh! It is not a pretty sight.

But my clergy friend insists that Judas repented of his sin and thereby qualifies for a place in paradise. This is in spite of the fact that he took his own life, which for much of Christian history was considered an unforgivable sin. Thank God that is not the Christian consensus any longer. Now suicide is viewed as a result of mental illness and does not disqualify one from heaven.

When I read the gospels, I find that Judas did indeed “repent.” (Matthew 27:3) At least that is the way some versions translate it. Other translations use words like remorse and regret. In any case he had a change of heart that prompted him to try to set things right by returning the thirty pieces of silver. In the end he was so consumed by guilt that he took his own life.

Another biblical account tells a different story of Judas’ end. The Acts of the Apostles says that he used the blood money to buy a field “and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.” (1:18) Double ugh! Why do these religious punishments have to be so gory?

On the other hand the non-canonical Gospel of Judas insists that Judas didn’t do anything wrong. Judas was privately instructed by Jesus to betray him. It was all part of God’s plan. Judas was acting under divine orders to turn Jesus over to the authorities. Judas was actually a faithful disciple and the first martyr. Interesting take on the old story!

So is Judas Iscariot strolling the streets of gold or is he an everlasting snack for the Prince of Darkness? I don’t know. I am not in any position to judge anyone, not even Judas Iscariot. At least that is what Jesus taught me: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Therefore to avoid being a Devil’s food snack, I will withhold judgment.

Personally I have a difficult time with traditional depictions of heaven and hell anyway. I don’t take the biblical descriptions of afterlife literally. I certainly cannot conceive of my loving Lord sentencing – or even allowing - anyone to suffer torment eternally, not even his betrayer. That is not the God I know. The one who taught me to love my enemies and forgive those who persecute me surely would not turn around and do the opposite.

In any case the problematic figure of Judas should teach us to be careful how we judge another’s soul and faith. Anyone who thoughtfully reads the Passion story can see themselves reflected in the faces of all the characters – including Peter who denies Christ, the apostles who abandon him, and the crowd that shouts “Crucify him!”  If we look carefully, we can even glimpse the face of Judas Iscariot in the shadows of our own soul. So let’s be careful how we judge … lest we be judged.