Sermon Video - Judas: The Hopeless Sinner, Matthew 27:1-10

Peter disowned Jesus, repented of his failure with bitter tears, saw the empty tomb and believed, and was finally restored by Jesus and made useful again for the kingdom.  Judas betrayed Jesus, was remorseful and admitted his guilt, despaired of the future, and killed himself.  Have you ever wondered, why Peter's outcome was so different from that of Judas?  In the Gospel of Matthew, these two episodes are consecutive, highlighting the commonalities of the failure of these two disciples of Jesus.  In the end, the attempted repentance of Judas, for all we can tell sincere, failed because he didn't seek mercy and forgiveness from God, instead giving in to hopelessness and committing suicide. 
Hopelessness is a major issue in our world, it always has been, the numbers of suicides annually are staggering.  So many people without hope, and yet, the Church has hope, we have been given hope through the Holy Spirit and can therefore share that hope with those around us in desperate need.  The priests turned Judas away when he expressed his remorse saying, "What is that to us?"  May the people of God, his Church here on earth, not make the same mistake.  It is our solemn duty to make it easier, not harder, for the Lost to find Christ, helping those living in darkness to see the light.

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