Question:

According to Matthew 27:1-10, Judas hanged himself after he realized what he had done to Jesus Christ; but in Acts 1:18-19, he used his reward money to buy a field and he died and his intestines spilled out–pretty gruesome–when he fell to his newly bought field. Did he died because of worldly sorrow or “karma”?

Answer:

Judas died, not because of worldly sorrow or “karma” but because he hanged himself. Normally, when one hangs oneself, the result is death. I am not being facetious here. “Why” he died is because he hanged himself. The question I think you are asking is why he hanged himself (rather than why he died). I believe he hanged himself out of extreme remorse for his foolish decision to betray Jesus. It is my opinion (though I cannot prove it) that Judas betrayed Jesus to the authorities in an attempt to manipulate him to armed rebellion against the Romans. When this clearly did not work, but instead Jesus was executed, Judas realized that, not only was his a bad plan, but that he began to realize how totally wrong he was. Rather than face the consequences and repent, he chose the “coward’s way out” and decided to kill himself. Clearly, this is a radical case of worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow means feeling bad for what you did–feeling guilty–but not being willing to face the consequences, to accept responsibility and to decide to change so that what happened does not happen again. Judas had worldly sorrow.

Biblically, there is no such thing as “karma” There is no unseen cosmic force balancing out good and bad deeds, bringing bad consequences for good actions, etc. So, I can say with great confidence that Judas did not choose to kill himself as some sort of karmic action based on what he had done to Jesus.

John Oakes