judas is "seized with remorse" when he recognizes the enormity of his sin. he feels the need to confess his guilt to someone, but having burned all his bridges with the other disciples, judas has no one else to turn to but the chief priests and elders. "i have sinned," he tells them, "for i have betrayed innocent blood." their answer to him is predictably callous and unfeeling: "what is that to us?that's your responsibility"."what is that to us?" they replied. "that's your responsibility."
judas accepts their "sentence". unable to bear his guilt, he goes and hangs himself. i can't help thinking that if he had truly repented to God, even then he would have been forgiven. instead, judas tries to atone for his sin himself by returning "the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders". the chief priests and elders refuse the money, stating, "that's your responsibility".
poor judas! if only he had really repented. Jesus would have taken judas's sin and said, "that's MY responsibility". He would have died even for the sin of judas's betrayal if only judas had repented. how many of us are "seized with remorse" for the consequences of our sins, but fail to truly repent of them? this passage shows us that it is not enough just to feel badly about our sin. "feeling badly" is the worldly sorrow that leads to death; true repentance is the "godly" sorrow that leads to salvation and eternal life.
1 comment:
when i read that judas was "seized with remorse," my first thought was, "wow, he felt truly sorry for what he did." but as you say, that's not enough!
so judas had a way out... even he could have been saved!
thanks for your insight smn.
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