Why did Judas hang himself?

We learn from the pages of Scripture about the fate of Judas after he handed Jesus over to the chief priests, the Pharisees and Pilate. The Evangelist Matthew writes that "having thrown the pieces of silver into the tabernacle, he went away and hanged himself. We don't learn much more from Acts, chapter one, verse 18. So why did Judas hang himself?

Two verses earlier, in Matthew's Gospel he has location The scene in which Judas begins to regret his act when he learns that Jesus has been sentenced to death. He comes to the chief priests to hand over the silver and tells them that he has sinned. They put all the blame on him, saying that it was his problem. We can conclude from the description of this event that Judas realized the wrong he had done and wanted to make it right. But he knew it was impossible, and he doubted the mercy of God and took his own life because he saw no future for himself.

Sin in itself does not forever close our path to God. His mercy is able to help us try again - an example, standing in opposition to Judas' behavior, is St. Peter, who denied Jesus three times. However, he did not doubt and allowed God to act. He accepted His forgiveness and went on to become the head of the Church on earth.