Judas
By Janina Leone
Question: Was Judas filled with demons when he betrayed Jesus? Surely Jesus knew Judas would betray him. Is Judas in hell? Or was he forgiven?
Answer:
Judas hanged himself. We see this in Matthew 27:3-5: “Then Judas, who betrayed him, seeing that he was condemned, repenting himself, brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and ancients, Saying: I have sinned in betraying innocent blood. But they said: What is that to us? Look thou to it. And casting down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed: and went and hanged himself with an halter.”
We also see this in Acts 1:18, “Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.”
Judas was also possessed by Satan when he betrayed our Lord.
John 13:21-27 says, “When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit; and he testified, and said: Amen, amen I say to you, one of you shall betray me. 22 The disciples therefore looked one upon another, doubting of whom he spoke. 23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him: Who is it of whom he speaketh? 25 He therefore, leaning on the breast of Jesus, saith to him: Lord, who is it? 26 Jesus answered: He it is to whom I shall reach bread dipped. And when he had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the morsel, Satan entered into him. And Jesus said to him: That which thou dost, do quickly.”
In verse 27, it says that after Judas ate the morsel, that is, the Body and Blood of Our Lord, Satan entered into him and possessed him.
On the night Judas betrayed Jesus, Jesus instituted the Last Supper. We see an account of this in Matthew 26:14-28:
14 Then went one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, to the chief priests, 15 And said to them: What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from thenceforth he sought opportunity to betray him. 17 And on the first day of the Azymes, the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the pasch? 18 But Jesus said: Go ye into the city to a certain man, and say to him: the master saith, My time is near at hand, with thee I make the pasch with my disciples. 19 And the disciples did as Jesus appointed to them, and they prepared the pasch. 20 But when it was evening, he sat down with his twelve disciples. 21 And whilst they were eating, he said: Amen I say to you, that one of you is about to betray me. 22 And they being very much troubled, began every one to say: Is it I, Lord? 23 But he answering, said: He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, he shall betray me. 24 The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed: it were better for him, if that man had not been born. 25 And Judas that betrayed him, answering, said: Is it I, Rabbi? He saith to him: Thou hast said it. 26 And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. 27 And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins.
At the Last Supper, Jesus ordains His priesthood. He gives them Himself. This is the first time the bread and the wine become the Body and Blood of Our Lord. It is truly His Body and His Blood He gave to us, and ordained His Priesthood and their successors that we should have it to obtain eternal life. When Judas ate of the morsel, he did so unworthily and in a state of mortal sin. He knew already that he was going to betray our Lord for thirty pieces of silver. Paul warns us about eating the Body and Blood of our Lord in a state of mortal sin in 1 Corinthians 11:24-32.”
“For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. 24 And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. 25 In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. 26 For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he comes. 27 Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. 30 Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. 31 But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world.
Here it shows that if we eat the Body and Blood of Our Lord in a state of unworthiness, i.e., mortal sin, we will be judged for it. Judas ate of the Body and Blood of our Lord unworthily, and the devil entered into him. Judas betrayed Jesus, but instead of repenting like Peter did when Peter denied our Lord three times, Judas fell into despair and killed himself. He was not forgiven since he did not repent but took his own life through the sin of despair.
We have no infallible certainty of where Judas is spending eternity, although we have many strong and clear indications from the mystics and Tradition that Judas is in hell. Furthermore, by applying Christian Theology as it relates to sin, repentance, forgiveness, and redemption, Judas is a textbook example of someone who did not merit the rewards of eternal life. Not necessarily by his sin in and of itself, but by his refusal to seek the grace of God’s forgiveness. By taking his own life, he effectively rejected God’s grace, which we know leads to damnation. “Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born” (Matt. 26:24)
St. Augustine: For if it is not lawful to take the law into our own hands, and slay even a guilty person whose death no public sentence has warranted, then certainly he who kills himself is a homicide. … Do we justly execrate the deed of Judas, and does truth itself pronounce that by hanging himself he rather aggravated than expiated the guilt of that most iniquitous betrayal, since, by despairing of God’s mercy in his sorrow that wrought death, he left to himself no place for a healing penitence? … For Judas, when he killed himself, killed a wicked man, and passed from this life chargeable not only with the death of Christ, but also with his own: for though he killed himself on account of his crime, his killing himself was another crime.
Our Lord also says in John 17:12, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Jesus said this in the Garden of Gethsemane before Judas betrayed him, and throughout these passages, it is clear Jesus knew Judas would betray him. In this way, Judas was the first priest and bishop to betray Christ, yet God willed it to fulfill the Scripture.
