"Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, 'I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.' And they said, 'What is that to us? You see to it!' Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple, departed, and went and hanged himself." Mt 27: 3 ao 5

Judas was one of Christ's twelve apostles. They were chosen to preach the gospel and establish churches. However, he eventually lost his way and sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. After realizing he had made a grave mistake, he retraced his steps and returned the coins. Ultimately, he committed suicide.

It is commonly believed that he felt only remorse—that there was no true repentance. Yet, his act of returning the money demonstrates the fruit of repentance. He refused to keep money obtained in such a wrongful manner. It was similar to what happened with Zacchaeus in Luke 19; Zacchaeus resolved to return what he had stolen upon meeting Jesus. In a way, Judas even tried to convince the Pharisees not to do such things anymore.

Judas's problem was that he allowed the Devil to dominate his thoughts. The Devil put it into his mind that there was no forgiveness left for him, and that is why he committed suicide. Had it been merely remorse, he would not have killed himself; he would have continued living normally with the money he had diverted from Jesus. Judas repented, but he fell into despair.

Be careful. Do not think there is no way out for you. In Jesus, there is always a solution. Jesus can help you with the problem you are facing. Christ can change the story of your life. In Him, we have newness of life. To think otherwise is heretical.