I assume your are quarelling with the term “approach”.

Good point. The disciples fled shortly after the arrival of the soldiers. Still, the disciples were just waking up when Judas arrived, and even though Jesus warned them that His betrayer was at hand, matters quickly dissolved into bedlam and confusion. It remains plausible to suppose that no one clearly perceived at the time that Judas was the betrayer.

“Someone must have heard Jesus say it”

Isn’t it possible that Judas provided this piece of information? Do you think it is possible that Jesus provided this information?

Which verse are you referring to that says most of the disciples ran away at the approach of the soldiers?

Whatever the case, Luke 22:47-50 is very clear – Judas was leading the pack, and Jesus says “are you btraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

Someone must have heard Jesus say it – it’s in the Gospels ;)

A second response is that Jesus also appeared to Matthias, who eventually replaced Judas. Perhaps Matthias was one of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (the other being Cleopas), or perhaps he was also in the upper room (or both).

A third response is that Judas committed suicide not at about the same time as the crucifixion, but sometime between the Resurrection and the Ascension. So Jesus appeared to Judas as well. Thus he appeared to the twelve.

Crazy?

Mark 14:14 says that Jesus appeared to the eleven right? So Judas must have been missing, right? No. Thomas was missing (John 20:24). Since there were eleven, and Thomas was missing, Judas was there. Jesus does, famously, reveal himself to Thomas later, so Paul’s claim that Jesus appeared to the twelve is still quite true.

But doesn’t Matthew describe Judas’ suicide (27:5) between his description of Peter’s denials at the temple (26:69-75) and his description of the trial before Pilate (27:11+)?

Yes, he does.

But he also places his description of the High Priest’s purchase of the field of blood between the other two descriptions. I will guarantee you that the priests did not buy the field on the way from the temple to Pilate’s court. They had other things on their mind at the time, and ‘the real estate office was closed’ it literally being the crack of dawn. That purchase happened long after the events in Pilate’s court. Probably days or weeks after. Perhaps Judas’ suicide also happened long after the events in Pilate’s court. The return of the thirty pieces of silver might even have happened well after the events in Pilate’s court. There’s even a hint of this in Matthew 27:3 where it says that Judas acted after Jesus was condemned. Matthew is simply finishing up his story of the plot to betray Jesus before he moves on to the next story about how Jesus was tried by Pilate and crucified.

But wouldn’t the others reject Judas, him being the betrayer and all that?

They would tend to do so. But the whole point of Christ’s teaching was God’s forgiveness of our sin. After Christ’s reappearance, at least, there would be no rejection, but only forgiveness.

But even before the reappearance of Christ, the disciples might not have rejected Judas for a somewhat different reason: they might not have been aware of the fact of his betrayal. Since most of the disciples ran away at the approach of the soldiers, they may not have been in a position to recognize who the betrayer was. And even Peter and John may have been asleep or still bleary eyed when Judas first arrived. His betrayal might not yet have registered until much later. Perhaps it was only fully revealed and processed by the disciples after the resurrection.