In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, “Brothers and sisters,[d] the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”
18 (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms:
“‘May his place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’[e]
and,
“‘May another take his place of leadership.’[f]
Close your eyes and imagine the people you will spend eternity with in Heaven. For most of us, we see heroes of the faith, family, friends, Tim Tebow, and our pet dog Buster. We share the joys of Heaven with the people who share our worldviews and lived lives we think they should be proud of. The reality, however, is quite different. Heaven is going to be filled with people we never could possibly imagine being there. God’s grace covers racists, murderers, rapists, dictators, porn stars, police officers, slave owners, and drug addicts[1]. There are going to be so many people there that we surprise us, and I’m sure it may lead to some awkward encounters[2]. Many Christians, however, don’t like awkward encounters. They create a theology that limits God’s ability to forgive because it’s uncomfortable thinking that those we consider the lowest of the low have a place in the kingdom of heaven.
This is not a new phenomenon either. Even in the Old Testament people were resident to give grace to those they didn’t think deserve it. Look at the story of Jonah. God directly tells Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and tell them to repent. Jonah, knowing the reputation of Nineveh as a wretched hive of scum and villainy, fled the other way. As we know, God wasn’t having it. He used Jonah’s attempted escape as an opportunity to reveal himself to the sailors on Jonah’s boat, and then got Jonah to Nineveh anyway. The people were receptive to Jonah’s message, and this only further enrages Jonah! Jonah is mad at God for being “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity”[3]. It sounds like a great thing when God deals with our sin, but a gracious and compassionate God is not always what we wish upon our enemies.
With that being said, there is a prominent belief among Christians that Judas is definitely in hell. As one of the villains in the crucifixation of Christ, most Christians can’t imagine a heaven that includes him. Yet, the case against him is not much different than the case against most of us. All of us have turned our back on Christ in some way, and need to rely on God’s grace. Our sins are just as responsible for putting Jesus on the cross as the actions of Judas. While I’m not saying for sure Judas is in Heaven, as the whole point of this post is that judgment is not our place, he does have some things going for him in his favor. Satan entered him before he betrayed Christ[4], he repented and gave back the money, and he was still one of the disciples[5]. He followed Christ, he sinned, and then he repented. His story sounds a lot like most of ours. The point is, don’t fall into the trap of thinking some people aren’t worthy of salvation, because none of us. Let the enemy spend his time accusing and condemning people, there is no need to do it for him.
1. Members of the band Creed are also on this list.
2. Not gonna lie, I would love to be there when a slaveowner meets one of his slaves in heaven. I bet he’ll feel bad.
3. Jonah 4:2
4. Luke 22:3
5. Granted, he was obviously the worst of all the disciples, but that’s sort of like being the worst person in the Beatles. And Ringo still made out okay.
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