11/08/07

Repentance not regret

Mat 26:24-25
The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

Judas must have tried to tell Jesus you said 'A saved person cannot be demon possessed. Only an unsaved person can be demon possessed. Light and darkness cannot dwell together. I am one of your disciples.' For satan entered into him later.

Luke 22:1-6
Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people. Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

Mat 27:1-4
¹ When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
² And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
³ Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
⁴ Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

Judas did not repent of his sin. He had regret for betraying "innocent blood" but notice that he did not say, "I betrayed the Messiah...the Son of David..." rather he only came to the chief priests in the morning; when he saw that Jesus was condemned to death. All night long, as Jesus was being tried and beaten and questioned, Judas held on to his money. It was only when he saw that Jesus was condemned to die that he went to the priests. It was an act to redeem himself-- a futile attempt to undo what he had done. Notice what he said, "I have betrayed..." It was still all about himself. He was trying to rid himself of his guilt. Notice he did not storm in and yell, "Jesus is innocent. He is the Messiah."

Repent in Matthew 27:3 is 3338. metamellomai (met-am-el'-lom-ahee)
from meta and the middle voice of melo; to care afterwards, i.e. regret, repent (self).

As compared to "Repent" used in as used in Matthew 3:2 -"Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

3340. metanoeo (met-an-o-eh'-o)
from meta and noieo; to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider (morally, feel compunction) repent.

Judas' remorse (Greek word. metamelomai) does not indicate a sorrow for sinning against God but rather a remorse for the consequences of his deed.

Kind of like someone saying. "Oh, if only I did not do it...I should have done that."

Rather than asking God for forgiveness, Judas chose to end his life. He did not believe the words of Jesus concerning hell. He hung himself, thinking that it would end it all for him--All his guilt and shame.

Repentance can bring a change in your life but just regret will never change you.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)