I give you credit: if I were young and had to be in a Passion play, I think it would be tough playing Judas. Also, I may not agree, but it’s really nice of you to give Judas the benefit of the doubt. My take: I think Judas had himself in what he may have thought was a win-win position: if Jesus was the Messiah, he would be the guy who got Jesus to reveal Himself as such; if not, he would be a hero for exposing a false Messiah. It backfired. I think there was a lack of true contrition for what he’d done. The Sanhedrin had no respect for him, he was a traitor in the eyes of those who loved Jesus, and was ruined. Was he sorry about himself, or about what he did to Jesus? Of he were sorry for the right reasons, I believe Jesus would have forgiven him for the betrayal, the embezzling and his suicide as well. He despaired and didn’t ask for forgiveness, at least not for the right reasons... Jesus said he would have been better off if he’d never been born... Just my thoughts...