Like Peter, Judas is guilty of apostasy, but unlike that of Peter, Judas's was premeditated. Whereas Peter's remorse leads to repentance, Judas's leads to terminal despair.

This narrative further reveals the heartlessness of the religious leaders, who value laws of ritual purity more highly than their responsibility to human life. They are not unlike some Christians today, more concerned for petty church rules than for the life-and-death needs in the communities around them, except that the religious leaders of Jesus' day probably could have justified more of their rules from Scripture.

Finally, this narrative shows us that even to the smallest details, the events of the passion fulfilled God's purposes previously revealed in his Word.