“So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.” (Matthew 27:5, NIV)
“(With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.)” (Acts 1:18, NIV)
When working through lists of biblical “contradictions” it doesn’t take long before you run into the one with Judas and his death.
The indictment usually goes something like this. In Matthew’s gospel, he tells us that Judas hung himself. But, in Acts, Luke tells us that Judas fell headlong and his body burst open with his intestines spilling out. The “contradiction”—they tell us—is obvious. He can’t both die by hanging and falling headlong at the same time.
The ones leveling this accusation of a “contradiction” often lament that even two gospel writers couldn’t get their stories straight.
Poor, poor gospel writers. If only they had met more often to make sure they were telling the same story.
They then they use this “fact” to begin their onslaught against the rest of the Bible’s consistency and eventually its trustworthiness. Admittedly it’s not a bad plan. If the Bible is grossly and embarrassingly “contradictory” over the same story between two gospel writers, who knows what else is wrong. Probably quite a bit.
From my perspective, however, it’s not the gospel writers who haven’t paid close enough attention to the stories they were writing; it’s the readers searching for “contradictions” that haven’t really understood what they’ve read. It’s funny how, on this side of The Enlightenment, a lot of us often assume we’re seeing what those before us couldn’t see.
Let’s go over the facts of the story and see if an answer to this accusation of a “contradiction” can be offered. First let’s look at the information given to us from Matthew in his gospel and then the information from Luke in Acts.
Matthew
Matthew begins by telling us that Judas, who had betrayed Jesus, returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders (27:3) and then announced his betrayal before all of them (27:4). Next Judas threw the money into the temple and left because they chief priests and elders wouldn’t accept it from him, and then he went out and hung himself (27:5).
That’s the story presented by Matthew of how Judas died. He was remorseful over the arrest of Jesus and his role in it, he gave back the money, and then he killed himself.
Luke in Acts
Luke tells us about Peter who stood up among a group of Christians (1:15) in order to put into biblical perspective what had just happened with Judas (1:16-17). Then (and this part of the text being in parentheses probably means this is Luke’s comments on the events and not an actual part of Peter’s speech) Luke tells us that Judas “bought a field” with the money he received where he fell headlong and his body burst open with his intestines spilling out (1:18).
That’s the story presented by Luke about what happened to Judas after the betrayal of Jesus. He “returned the money” and then fell headlong in a field that was purchased with that same money.
The most striking thing to me when both of these stories are put side-by-side is the fact that Matthew and Luke aren’t actually telling the same story. Matthew is telling the story of how Judas died—hanging. Luke is telling the story of what happened to Judas after he died—fell headlong and his insides burst out.
For a long time and even now those who have seen a “contradiction” between these two stories have assumed that Luke was writing about how Judas died. I don’t see it that way. I don’t think Luke was telling us how Judas died; he was telling us what happened after he died. And that changes everything as far as “contradictions” go with Judas and his final moments.
What does this mean for us?
I think the main thing it means is that we shouldn’t worry so much when people tell us the Bible is filled with “contradictions”, because most of them—like the Judas thing—can be explained just by carefully looking at the text. For nearly 2,000 years people have been reading, studying, and thinking about the New Testament. They’ve been thinking about it in Greek, Latin, Syriac, German, Spanish, Dutch, French, and English—not to mention the scores more that could be listed.
That’s a lot of different people looking at the same stories.
And, in all that time, the common perception by those who take the texts seriously is that they are reliable and consistent. Now, this isn’t the same thing as saying there’s nothing to work through when it comes to putting it all together; instead, it’s a way of saying that, with the right motives and with the appropriate effort, the “contradictions” seem to melt away.
This means, in part, that you can enjoy your New Testament—and your entire Bible for that matter. And, if something comes up in your reading or from something someone has said that looks like there’s inconsistency in the text…relax, read, think, pray, and expect to see unity rather than chaos.