Remembering Judas

Matthew 27:3-10

“I mean Judas needed some consequences. Betrayal is not a joke and certainly putting up innocent blood is not something that goes without having to be held accountable in some way. But why do people think that suicide was good ‘payment?’ That’s ridiculous. Nobody won. Everybody lost.”

“I remember when I wanted to kill myself. It’s crazy that you’re asking me this because I remember looking for like reasons not to do so in the Bible and such and I saw this story of suicide. When I looked it up it seemed to be either like not a big deal or celebrated. I remember thinking that if nobody knew what I did, then at least they couldn’t hate me. I felt like I couldn’t be forgiven… In the end, it was somebody saying “it matters what you did but also it matters that you want to change” that helped me. So… I don’t know. When I read how this story has been told I wonder what the people, the ones who think this was what Judas deserved, would say to me?”^[1]

In high school I attended a leadership workshop that shifted my existence in the world. During our discussion of mental health, the presenter paused before stating, “Suicide is always a tragedy.” They went on to discuss the ripple effects inevitably caused by an individual’s suicide and explained that death always impacts the greater community, no matter how isolated the individual may have appeared. This was the first time I heard suicide discussed with compassion rather than condemnation. The presenter didn’t blame the individual or attempt to understand all that had occurred leading up to their death or to their attempted suicide. It was the first time I heard of suicide as a tragedy for both the person and the community, and not as an action that sentenced people to hell. It was the first time any discussion of suicide resonated with me and my own secret moments of considering suicide which were piercingly prevalent during this season of my life.

As I read and reread this pericope, I was troubled – I couldn’t remember any sermon or study on this scripture that discussed Judas’ suicide through a lens of compassion, or even acknowledged the tragedy of Judas’ loss. I googled the text, pouring through dozens of sermons, and I was surprised that Judas’ suicide was either never mentioned, glanced over, or deemed a necessary consequence for his actions. Everything seemed focused solely on his betrayal. With that said, I take a seemingly unpopular approach to this text: I read it through a hermeneutic of compassion, even for the one who betrayed Jesus. This lens of compassion is complicated. However, I believe compassion necessarily acknowledges and addresses the humanity of Judas and considers not just his actions, but the surrounding systems and circumstances that contributed to his story. With this in mind, I aim to advance a framework of transformative justice and to offer strategies for reconsidering and proclaiming this text.^[2]

The Possibilities of Transformative Justice

Judas’ story calls into question the model of “justice” and deservedness that has been preached and proclaimed around this passage of scripture. It is clear that Judas experiences regret and remorse as he attempts to repent and alter the narrative before Jesus is executed. However, based on the responses of the leaders and the depths of his own remorse, he saw no way out of the situation.

Within this narrative, what chance does Judas have at change? Should there be an opportunity for repentance? For me, this transformative justice calls for both accountability and compassion.

A blog focused on transformed justice offered this statement as one of its core beliefs:

The conditions that allow violence to occur must be transformed in order to achieve justice in individual instances of violence. Therefore, transformative justice is both a liberating politic and an approach for securing justice.^[3]

This framework does not allow those who have committed violence to escape accountability and consequence; rather, the framework pulls in those who are hurt and in need of help while also making space for those who have hurt others to make a change as an approach to justice.

I wonder how different Judas’ story would have been if he had felt he had a community that would allow him to repent and foster his potential for change.

For Adrienne Maree Brown, “transformative justice [can] yield deeper trust, resilience and interdependence. All these mass and intimate punishments keep us small and fragile. And right now, our movements and the people within them need to be massive and complex and strong.”^[4] I hear Brown naming that living without community contributes to fragility, and if we can find ways to hold together, even through our horrendous mistakes, we will be stronger for it.

This framework does not equate to care without consequence; however, it does mean that community is a part of the equation. I wonder if any of the disciples wondered where he was? What was their reaction to his suicide? What made him decide that this was it? What has to occur in our communities in order for the possibilities of transformation to arise, even for those that we deem to be the least deserving? This is difficult work that requires complex contemplation and a framework of transformative justice offers a means for leaning into an array of possibilities.

Strategies for Proclaiming

If you are going to use Matthew 27:3-10, I invite you to sit in its complexity and make room for your hearers to do the same. This text is difficult. Far too many innocent people are being executed at the hands of a system that wants them dead simply because they subvert normative ideas. Far too many people in our world are being killed because someone betrayed them, the system is rigged against them, and the powers over those systems are more interested in declaring someone guilty than any sense of justice. Jesus was murdered and executed, and Judas played a role in that. However, if we consider that Judas was also a product of this horrific system and was preyed upon as well, there is room for a form of redemption that includes accountability and consequence. This is brave preaching. It requires a type of bravery that moves beyond a shallow caricaturizing of Judas and instead uplifts his humanity. I caution preachers and proclaimers not to use this text to demonize or glorify the character of Judas, but to unpack the difficulties of the situation and consider the possibility of redemption.

I also urge you to remember that suicide is a real narrative that has affected some, if not most, of your hearers in different ways. They may have had a friend or relative commit or attempt suicide. They themselves may be wrestling with the idea of suicide. Therefore, preaching a narrative that claims this was “God’s judgment” on Judas, or arguing he deserved his fate, tells people that there are things for which they cannot be forgiven or redeemed. It also deeply misrepresents a God of grace and love that is often spoken of in the same breath. That message is dangerous and harmful. Attempted suicide is accompanied by a depth of sorrow and other emotions that cannot be easily understood and does not need to be simplified from any platform. When one thinks the only way to achieve peace in life is to not have life, that is not something to celebrate as a community. We know different mental health issues and other circumstances can exacerbate these feelings, and we know that those left behind with grief are often filled with confusion. This topic must be approached with care.

If possible, I think this text is best unpacked through Bible study, small group discussion, individual conversations, or sermonic moments that offer an opportunity for individuals to talk back, as opposed to one voice preaching to many. These environments facilitate conversation and allow participants to wrestle with the text and come to a conclusion birthed from their own thought processes. These environments also give both the facilitator and the participants permission to wonder. Finally, if you are going to approach this topic it is critical to offer resources for help both in and beyond your community.

Wondering Beyond the Norm

My mentor, the late Dr. Dale P. Andrews, used to end all of his classes with this saying: “I have more questions than answers and more problems than solutions; from these gifts, I freely share.” I bring that wisdom with me to this text. Through the conversations I shared with my collaborators and through my own engagement with the text, I’ve realized we must bring these gifts of wrestling, vulnerability and narrative to the text, rather than abiding by a stagnant and inhumane reading of someone taking their own life.

The Lenten season offers us an opportunity to think through the passion narrative – we are invited to consider and reconsider all of its details. We don’t have the luxury to treat this text as anything other than a complex narrative that deserves in-depth reflection. This narrative shows us the bitter end for someone who believed that there was no place for their guilt and shame to be held, and in this case, Judas took his own life. We must imagine beyond the normative readings and consider the many ways this text speaks to hearers today in order to engage a possibility transformation. Where this is present, both community and justice can be as well.

Chelsea B. Yarborough
Nashville, TN