What was Judas's real sin?

[SAMF]

In Matthew 26:24, Jesus says, “But woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed. It were better for him, if that man had not been born.”

Was Judas’ sin in betraying Jesus, or was it in Matthew 27:5 where we read, “And casting down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed and went and hanged himself with an halter”?

We know that the only sin that is not forgiven is the sin against the Holy Spirit. Could Judas have sought forgiveness instead of falling into despair and hanging himself?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

SAMF:

Could Judas have sought forgiveness instead of falling into despair and hanging himself?

Yes, of course. Archbishop Fulton Sheen, in his book Life of Christ devoted a chapter to the sin of Judas, contrasting it with the sin of Peter (which was similar in some respects), and offering the conclusion that the tragedy of Judas’s life was that even after the betrayal he could have been St. Judas Iscariot if only he had demonstrated repentance instead of despair.

The sin against the Holy Spirit, the one that cannot be forgiven, is the sin of impenitence. God can forgive any repented sin, but man must repent of his sins before he can be forgiven. As only God can judge hearts, we cannot know whether Judas was impenitent even to the death, but we can know that he did not demonstrate the heroic virtue of St. Peter, who repented his betrayal of Christ rather than allowing despair to consume him.