The Fate of Judas Iscariot

[Michie]

How should we understand the differences in how Matthew and Luke (in Acts) record the fate of Judas?

Taken from my book A Daily Defense:



Day 170: How Judas Iscariot Died

Challenge: Matthew and Luke contradict each other. Matthew says Judas hung himself (Matt. 27:5), but Luke says that “falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18).

Defense: The accounts preserve different aspects of the event but do not contradict each other.

Both agree Judas died shortly after the Crucifixion. Matthew says Judas hanged himself after returning the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests, while Luke has Peter speaking of the event during the period between the Ascension and Pentecost (between forty and fifty days after the Crucifixion). The fact they agree on the timing, but describe the death differently, shows independent traditions in circulation that affirmed Judas’ death very shortly after the Crucifixion. That indicates Judas did die at this early date.

Continued below.
The Fate of Judas Iscariot – Jimmy Akin