Question:

I feel sad for Judas Iscariot for commiting suicide.I wish he could have
waited, but my understanding is after Jesus’s death on the cross he was
preaching to the dead. Somewshre in Hebrew or Peter it’s mentioned &
Jesusmakes acomparison toJonahwhowas inside the fish for 3 days. In the
same waythe son of man (Jesus)might have met Judas there & forgivenhim.P
lease shed some light on whether I am right.

Answer:

I agree with you that the life of Judas Iscariot is a tragedy. His problem
was not so much that he betrayed Jesus. All of the apostles betrayed
Jesus, including Peter. His problem was that he did not repent. I
believe you are referring to the interesting passage in 1 Peter 3:18-20.
This is one of the more difficult passages to interpret in the Bible. “He
was put to death in the body, but made alive by the Spirit, through whom
also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago
when God waited patiently in the days of Noah?” Like I already said, this
is a difficult passage to interpret. What does it mean that Jesus went
and preached to spirits in prison? Could these be souls waiting in Hades
for Judgment Day? Could it be that those who did not achieve salvation in
this life can get a second chance? To be completely honest, I am not sure
exactly what this little passage means. One thing I can say for sure is
that he is not talking about Judas, because the passage mentions spirits
who disobeyed “long ago” Given that this is a difficult passage with a
debatable interpretation. I would caution very strongly against building
some sort of doctrine of a second chance. The Bible is clear that “man is
destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) It
is very bad practice to pit a clearly understandable passage against a
difficult one. I see no assurance for anyone that they will have a second
chance to repent after this life. Let me go farther. I believe it is
dangerous for anyone to teach such a doctrine, as it will tempt some to
blow off their personal spiritual responsibility in this life. So,
although I can not tell you for sure what 1 Peter 3:18-20 is teaching, I
can say for sure that we need to be ready for Jesus to come back. We need
to be saved in this life, or we will have to face the second death. I
definitely do not want to face the second death (Revelation 20:14). I
want to be sentimental. I hope I am wrong, but I believe that Judas will
not be in heaven.

John Oakes, PhD