Recently at my church, we held a Bible study. Judas came into conversation when a pastor said that he didn't kill himself until later, and how not all stories relayed in the Bible are told in chronological order. He also made the argument that Judas betraying Jesus wasn't Judas' real offense. He claimed that his suicide was the worst thing he did. Naturally, I had a lot of questions. I've been nicknamed Doubting Thomas after all.
Why didn't Jesus visit Judas after he rose again? Why didn't he express forgiveness if his betrayal wasn't a sin but rather a tool of God? He could have stopped Judas' suicide, so why didn't he?
The pastor answered all my questions carefully. He thought that Jesus did appear and expressed forgiveness. Again, not everything was written in chronological order. Matthew 28:4-5 is an example of that. Jesus hasn't died yet so to already cry about innocent blood wouldn't make sense. In 1 Corinthians 15:5 Jesus visited the twelve, including Judas.
Just because it isn't written, doesn't mean it didn't happen. We know that Judas was there when Jesus appeared to the twelve, we just don't have an indication interaction.
And just because Jesus expressed forgiveness, doesn't mean he didn't feel guilt. Wiping away blood doesn't mean it was never there. Judas had blood on his hands, and even if others could look past it, he might not have been able to.
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