The Repentance of Judas

The Lamb of God concert film which was released recently has multiple changes from the original version that has typically been performed each Easter season. One of those changes was the inclusion of Judas’s plea for forgiveness in the To Calvary song when the chief priests were arguing for the Savior’s crucifixion to Pilate. Judas pleas during this scene, “I have sinned, please take the money. Please, please! I have betrayed Him, I have betrayed the innocent blood.” I love that this was added because we usually forget that Judas sought to repent after his heinous deed. Matthew recorded what happened this way, “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:3-5). We typically remember Judas only for his treacherous act, but he did seek to make restitution for his crime by returning the money, declaring the Savior innocent, and finally taking his own life.   

               The Joseph Smith Translation of these verses adds a rather gruesome detail. We read that Judas “went and hanged himself on a tree. And straightway he fell down, and his bowels gushed out, and he died.” At first reading we might ask why we needed that description added, but perhaps it is symbolic of how complete Judas’s repentance was. That his “bowels gushed out” suggests to me a sense of absolute revulsion to what he had done, a turning away from his previous treachery. Judas realized how terrible his crime was, especially seeing that it was leading to the Savior’s death, and he rid himself of not just the money but also his whole being. Could not this scene that the JST adds be an indication that in the end Judas completely rejected everything that he had done? We don’t know the fate of Judas, though we do have this foreboding statement from the Savior: “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). Clearly Judas was going to have to suffer some serious consequences for his betrayal to the Savior, but given his possible complete repentance and revulsion at his own act I have to believe that he may have ultimately found forgiveness from the Savior. For whom else did the Savior suffer and die for that day if not for exactly one like Judas? The whole purpose of the Savior’s unimaginable suffering was so that He could redeem us from sin if we would but repent. Surely Judas was no exception to that offering of mercy and forgiveness if he would fulfill the conditions of repentance. We of course naturally condemn Judas for his terrible act and he receives no mental mercy from most of us who read the account, but the Savior’s ways are higher than ours. I am led to believe that He held no grudge against Judas and kept back no forgiveness from Him once the requirements of complete repentance were met. Was not the Savior’s atoning sacrifice powerful and complete enough to cover even the betrayal of Judas?

            I have to think that there is a connection between the story of Judas’ betrayal and the Old Testament story of Joseph being sold into Egypt. While the transgressions may differ in degree, they don’t in kind. Joseph’s brothers sold him and were willing to see the favorite son of their father suffer and possibly die. Judas sold Jesus and was willing to see the Beloved Son of the Father be taken and killed by the wicked chief priests. But in both cases the traitors regretted and, it seems to me, repented of their terrible deeds. Joseph’s brothers suffered for nearly two decades in agony for their deed, saying when they were perishing in the famine: “And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us” (Genesis 42:21-22). They not only regretted their deed but accepted that they deserved punishment just as Judas recognized his wrong and gave himself his own punishment. When Joseph finally revealed himself to them, he immediately forgave them in an act of incredible mercy: “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5). Surely the Savior would provide that same kind of forgiveness to Judas once his repentance and suffering was complete. The whole message of His great atoning sacrifice is that we can all find forgiveness. No matter what we have done, if we will truly repent and turn completely from our sins the Savior’s death and resurrection has power to save us.