“When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”
Matthew 27:3-5 NIV
Was Judas close to being forgiven for betraying Jesus? This is a very thought provoking question considering the above passage. He was “seized with remorse.” He knew he had sinned. He made recompense for his sin by giving back the money he received for betraying Jesus.
Isn’t this precisely what we must do to receive Christ’s forgiveness? We are convicted of our sin. We recognize and confess our sins, and we go to Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. Some may even have to pay recompense for the harm our sin has done to others.
Judas did all these things. With one exception. He did not go to Jesus to ask forgiveness. But what if he had? Would Jesus have forgiven him? Would he have been welcomed back into the fellowship of the Apostles? Or is there a line that cannot be crossed? Was Judas’s betrayal the unforgivable sin? Would Jesus have not forgiven Judas because his sin was unforgivable? Or was it unforgivable only because Judas never came to Jesus to ask for forgiveness?
In Mark 3:28-29 Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”” (NIV) It is generally accepted that the unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This blasphemy can be defined as “any sin that a person clings to by continually resisting the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.”
So did Judas commit the unforgivable (unpardonable) sin by resisting the Holy Spirit? Do we commit the unpardonable sin when we resist the convictions the Holy Spirit brings to us? Can we expect Jesus to forgive us when we stop resisting the Holy Spirit and confess our sins?
Would Judas now be with Jesus if he had not resisted the Holy Spirit and gone to Jesus? How would you answer that question?