What's so important about Judas' death? Why do the Gospels relate this material to us in such graphic detail? Why does St. Peter quote from the Psalms as his justification for filling the vacancy left by Judas in the apostolic college?
There is more to Judas and his death than meets the eye. A few snippets:
Both Psalms mention a condemnation that involves "blotting out" the memory of the wicked, and both refer to a desolation or casting out, so that "habitations" are left empty.
It is interesting, too, that both of these Psalms contain prophecies of the Passion of Christ. In Psalm 69, the prophet speaks in the person of the Messiah: "They gave me also gall for my food, and made me drink vinegar for my thirst" (vs.21), and the fulfillment of this prophecy is recorded in all four Gospels (cf. Matt. 27:48, Mark 15:36, Lk. 23:36, Jn. 19:29-30). Psalm 109 opens with the lines, "the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the crafty man have been opened against me: they have spoken against me with a crafty tongue. And they have compassed me with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause." (vv. 2-3) This is an apt description of what Our Lord experienced when His enemies "[spoke] against me with a crafty tongue" and "compassed me with words of hatred." Verse 25 of the same Psalm says, "I became also a reproach to them: when they saw me they shook their heads," a text that St. Mark probably has in mind when he writes of the Passion, "And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads, and saying, etc." (Mk. 15:29)
Thus both Psalms are bound up with the fates of both Jesus and Judas - and their close proximity to the Passion is likely what made these texts suggest themselves to St. Peter at that moment. That is to say, they predict certain details of the Passion, but they also speak of what must happen to the Betrayer after the Passion is accomplished: he is to receive his own just recompense, leaving desolation behind him, and an "office" that must be taken by "another." St. Peter sees that these things have taken place, all except for the replacement of Judas in his "office of overseer."
However, a closer look at the texts cited by St. Peter shows that he has altered the first one slightly
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The shifting from the plural their in the original to the singular his in St. Peter's quote may appear pragmatic at first: St. Peter needs to apply the quote to a singular individual, not to a group of people, so he alters the quote to suit his purposes. Or, perhaps he alters the text to bring it into line with the second text that he quotes, which refers to a singular individual ("his office"). But there is a third option: St. Peter knows that the true fulfillment of this text is multi-faceted - that it applies to an individual, but that ultimately the fate of this individual is only a micro-fulfillment of what will ultimately befall the collective that is personified by this individual.
Read more of Double-Meaning in the Death of Judas.
Also posted: the second part of Jonathan Field's on-going series on Mary as Mediatrix of Grace: A Trinitarian Approach.
