A dizzying number of Old Testament prophecies – maybe as many as 300 or more – fulfill themselves in the person of Jesus Christ. That staggering number overwhelmingly confirms the Messianic nature of Jesus. But he’s not the only New Testament figure who has a number of remarkably accurate prophecies. While Judas Iscariot doesn’t have near as many prophecies as Jesus – only a handful – they are spookily specific. Luke touches on these when he recounts Peter’s speech about the suicidal death of his fellow disciple, Judas (Acts 1:15-20). In that speech, Peter identifies how Judas fulfills the prophecies of buying a potter's field (Zechariah 11:12-13), that Judas's camp will become desolate (Psalm 69:25), and that Judas will be replaced as a disciple (Psalm 109:8).
Judas betrayed Jesus by accepting 30 pieces of silver from the Jewish religious leaders (Matthew 26:14). For the price of a slave’s wages, he then turned Jesus over to the authorities (Matthew 26:47-56). As a result, Jesus was later crucified. Judas was then horrified when he realized what he had done, and tried to return the money to the religious leaders. They refused to accept the silver, calling it blood money, so Judas threw the money into the temple. Because they considered it blood money, the religious leaders refused to put it in to the temple treasure and instead bought the potter’s field with it (Matthew 27:3-10). This fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 11:12-13. Judas hung himself, then fell headlong into the potter’s field and died. The potter’s field, bought with Judas’s money, became a burial place for strangers, and because of his suicide, was known as a field of blood, which in turn, fulfilled the prophecy that Judas’s camp would be desolate. Judas was then replaced by Matthias (Acts 1:23-26). Scripture had been fulfilled.
While the prophetic stories of Judas serve to further confirm the Messianic nature of Jesus, they also do something else. They teach us about the nature of true repentance. Notice that upon learning about what he had done, Judas changed his mind (Matthew 27:3-4). But this wasn’t true repentance as evidenced by his later suicide (Matthew 27:5). He simply felt bad about what he had done and whether it had been a profitable idea, but he did not love Jesus enough to pursue a new life that would please his Lord in the aftermath of his sin.
Paul speaks about this kind of false repentance in 2 Corinthians 7:10 when he says that worldly grief leads to death, but Godly grief leads to salvation. Likely, Judas was focused only on himself, and the consequences of his actions. This kind of grief spiraled into a descent of self-flagellation, darkness, suicide, and permanent desecration of his image bearing capacity. But when someone truly repents, they accept the consequences of what they have done. They ask God for forgiveness, and then focus on elevating the image of God by living in appreciation of their forgiveness, and seeking to represent God’s goodness in the world. They become saved from sin’s dark power, and from its ultimate permanent consequence.