October 3, 2012

• Biblical Contradiction #45 (How Did Judas Die?)

  #17 – One Thief is Two Thieves: How Many Thieves Accepted Christ? << Previous | MASTER LIST

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  Originally posted July 7, 2012.

  

  YOU LOOK FAMILIAR
  If you’re just coming into my series on Biblical Contradictions from my Master List post, you might have noticed that this is item #45, but it’s actually only my third post so far. I decided to tackle the matter about Judas’ death next for a couple of reasons: 1) The answer is really easy to get to, and 2) it’s a rather well-known topic amongst critics (apparently). It’s also generally known among Christians that Judas died shortly after having betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. So familiarity seemed like a good reason.

  As you may know, I’m working on answering the 46 proposed contradictions referenced in this YouTube video (with a few more of my own to be added). The Bible is many things – a deep reference to God’s character, a history book, a moral foundation, a book of prophesies, encouragement, admonishment, a scientific reference, and most importantly, the source of hope for the human race: the promise of God’s Salvation through Jesus Christ. The amazing thing is that it is a multi-faceted book that is woven together very tightly.

  Tightly woven or not, making sense of His written Word is no easy task in many cases; and the cases that are simple don’t always seem to make much sense when compared one to another. That’s what I’m attempting to do in this series – to offer answers and clarification so you can make a better-informed decision about the credibility of the Bible and what it has to say about you and God.

  THE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO DYING TWICE
  So, what’s the deal with Judas’ death? Well, the question is concerning how the Bible depicts how he actually died. Was it from a suicidal hanging or a long plummet to the ground? With rare exception, everyone only dies once (only two people in history never died). So how could Judas, of all people, die twice? This is definitely a matter that appears to contradict logic and basic biological fact.

  Now, let’s examine the evidence.

  And the first part of an investigation is to understand the context the evidence is found in. Always examine the surrounding context (if you’re not familiar with my writing, I’m huge on context). For there is something far more important than simply addressing the supposed contradiction…more important than discussing how Judas died: the why. Thus, I’ll be combining the hermeneutical and more personal Biblical study approaches. I’ll explain towards the end how this culminates to an important point.

  MY NIGHT-VISION GOGGLES ARE BROKEN
  Before Judas’ death is mentioned, we see that many of the Jewish priests were plotting to murder Jesus [1]. This isn’t the first time any conspiracy against Jesus was attempted, but things really began to take root now. After a woman named Mary (there sure are a lot of Marys in the Bible) anoints Jesus’ feet with expensive oil perfume, Judas secretly goes off to the priests, unaware of their own plot:

  Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Him.
  (Matthew 26:14-16 ESV)

  This is a subtle point in the story, but it’s important to recognize. Judas was the guy in charge of the group’s finances. He carried the money bag around (as we see in John 12:6). Despite the three years of walking around with Jesus and seeing all the awesome things He did, Judas was still more concerned about himself. Jesus already knew how Judas’ betrayal would play a part as the event unfolded – He even foretold it [2]. So the evening when Jesus identified who would betray Him, He tells Judas to go do what he had planned to do and to do it quickly (much to the confusion of the other Disciples), and off Judas went to gather up a mob and wait for the chance to betray and arrest Jesus.

  Fast-forward through that night and we find Jesus and the Disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. After praying through blood, sweat, and tears (literally)…

  [...] Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the Man; seize Him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed Him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him [3].

  Stop and think for a moment. Imagine you are Judas. Imagine the plot you helped to plan. Imagine for a moment that you are a pawn in the priests’ scheme against Jesus (Luke 14:11), but you don’t yet realize just how deep you are in it. Up to this point, your heart is still filled with Satan’s influence [4] and are blinded to the pending consequences of your actions.

  Fast-forward some more, as a number of things have happened. After meeting with the high priests, Jesus was finally condemned to die.

  Then when Judas, [Jesus'] 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 (Matthew 27:3, ESV).

  COMING TO GRIPS WITH REALITY or WHEN REALITY COMES TO GRIPS WITH YOU
  I imagine that it was this moment that Judas suddenly realized scope of his sins; how they had done far more than Judas envisioned. That Judas changed his mind once it was revealed that the priests’ plot was to kill Jesus must have been like a knife to the heart, realizing that he was responsible for putting an innocent man – and he knew that Jesus was innocent – through an unjust trial that resulted in Jesus’ fate soon-to-come.

  Personally, I do not yet know just what motivated Judas (short of speculation) to plot to betray Jesus in the first place, but it seems very clear that this was not what he had in mind and grief would be an understatement to describe why Judas did what he would do next.

  Then 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, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.
  (Matthew 27:3-5, ESV)

  FOR ONE LOW PRICE OF $19.99, YOU GET NOT ONE DEATH, BUT TWO! ACT NOW!
  The book of Acts starts out with the Disciples discussing who should replace Judas’ place as the 12^th Disciple. A side-note is given regarding the matter of Judas’ death.

  Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out (Acts 1:18, ESV).

  There are a few things I want to point out here.

  1. Acts 1:18 only describes that Judas’ body fell and broke open…disgustingly. It does not say that’s how he died.

  2. Given the insight we have on what led up to Judas’ suicide, in my opinion, Judas’ grief was deep enough that he saw fit to take his life – he essentially passed sentence on himself. This seems to me that the preparation needed to hang himself was a sign of him personally accepting his guilt rather than (for example) simply flinging himself off a cliff or other high place out of despair.

  3. Acts 1:19 – just one verse later – describes the place where Judas died as a field. Trees most likely occupy fields, which sets up the location and keeps in line with the description of Judas’ death in Matthew 27, thereby adding credibility to the non-contradiction of the matter of how Judas died.

  What I’m attempting to illustrate here is the reality of the guilt Judas must have faced as a result of his betrayal and the actions he took per the Bible’s description, thus giving credibility to the Matthew 27 account of his hanging as the sole method of his death.

  Where the proposed contradiction is concerned, we only need to look at just a few details to show the contradiction just isn’t so, however: 1) what each verse actually says, 2) the natural way of the body in decomposition, and/or the rope or branch breaking under Judas’ body’s weight, 3) what it would take for his body to burst open so violently.

  INVOLUNTARY CADAVER
  Let’s glance at Acts 1:19 really quick, for it clarifies something that happened right after Judas threw back the 30 silver coins. After describing that Judas’ body fell from a great height and burst open, it is added, “And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.”

  Earlier, in Matthew 27, we read:

  But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

  Judas’ betrayal resulted in the priests using the blood money to buy the very field Judas hanged himself in. It was a field of blood because of the nature of the money used to buy it and because of how his body fell and burst open. This offers a distinction between the two accounts surrounding Judas’ death – one was his actual death (hanging), the other was the immediate aftermath (body splat).

  Acts 1 makes an assumption of logic: one doesn’t need to be hanging very high off the ground to commit suicide by hanging; just be high enough that the feet don’t touch the ground. And falling from a small height won’t cause his body to burst open. It’s certainly possible that death can occur from a great height, clearly, but all that Acts asserts is that Judas happened to be high enough off the ground that, when his body did fall (when gravity had its way), it was enough for the impact between his body and the ground to be rather…revealing.

  Thus, there isn’t a contradiction, but a very rational way for both accounts related to a singular event to co-exist harmoniously. Unfortunately, all this does is to prove the Biblical account of how he died…it doesn’t resolve the horrible way he chose to respond to his terrible mistake. Especially in light of the forgiveness He heard Christ offer to everyone. The same forgiveness he would have been given if he had only asked of it.

  FOOTNOTES
  [1] Matthew 26:3-5, Mark 14:1-2, Luke 22:1-2, & John 12:9-11
  [2] Matthew 26:20-25, Mark 14:17-21, John 13:21-30
  [3] Matthew 26:47-50, see also John 18:1-9 & 12
  [4] Luke 22:3 & John 13:27

  ADDITIONAL LINKS on Judas’ death
  Got Questions?
  C.A.R.M.

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