Joel M Bradshaw

3Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.–Matthew 27, with emphasis

“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance…” (Luke 3:8a)

1. While linguistically the word meant repentance, did Judas repent?
2. His changing of mind led him to give back the money and ultimately to suicide.
3. Judas was ultimately selfish and his actions led to further (catastrophic) sin.
4. My greatest season of hypocrisy was when I confessed my habitual sin to God, but never changed.
5. Had I repented? Obviously not, for that repentance produced no fruit.
6. We see Judas confessing here, but his heart is not with God, but rather with himself. His “repentance” produced no God-honoring fruit.
7. True repentance leads to change and self-denial. Judas was still on the Judas path and not on the Jesus path. Judas didn’t truly repent.–JMB