Someone recently posed a thought-provoking question during a Bible study. To put the matter in context, the discussion was about sin. What is sin? Some have proposed that sin is a violation of purpose. God created us to glorify Him by fulfilling the purpose for which He created us. Adam fell by sin and through Adam, sin entered into the world. He missed the mark and because we are born in the image of Adam, we too, by nature, miss the mark. What mark? The glory of God.
The question was then raised, “What about Judas? According to the Scriptures, Jesus was going to be betrayed and the man who would betray him would die a violent, unrepentant death. Wasn’t this the purpose that God had for Judas? I have thought in the past if Judas would have repented after the betrayal he may have been a great disciple of Christ. But if he had repented then he would not have fulfilled the Scripture which prophesied of his betrayal and suicide. So then would Judas not been fulfilling his purpose if he had repented?”
That’s a great question! Wasn’t Judas preordained to betray Christ? Wasn’t this his purpose? Could he have repented? If he did repent, would the Scripture have been broken? Would God have forgiven him? Here are some thoughts we came up with from the Scripture.
1. God is sovereign and omniscient, which means there are no “what ifs” in God’s will and plan.
Isaiah 46:9-10, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose…'”
2. Jesus came to do the will of the Father and to finish His work. Jesus chooses Judas to be a disciple according to the will of God and in the fulfillment of Scripture. Jesus knew the heart of Judas, that he was an unbeliever who would betray him.
John 6:64, “But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)”
3. We know Judas was an unbeliever who gave himself up to Satan, for he was possessed by Satan himself, which does not occur often. John 13:27, “After the sop, Satan entered into him.” Paul said that one who is delivered unto Satan will be destroyed in the flesh (I Corinthians 5:5). Judas was as close as one could get to the Light of the world, and yet he remained in unbelief because of his love of darkness. He was a thief and a liar. Jesus was going to use one of Satan’s prize pupils to fulfill the will of God!
4. Judas was not fulfilling God’s purpose for his life. He was fulfilling Satan’s purpose. The Scripture foretold of this event and the prophecy came to pass; but it does not mean that Judas was created for this purpose, to betray Christ. The question is not “if Judas would have repented…” The son of perdition was going to betray the Son of Man and not going to repent. God foretold of this in Scripture. Jesus fulfilled the will of God and this prophecy by choosing Judas. As hard as it is to comprehend, the betrayal by Judas and his violent death brought glory to God and benefited the body of believers. How? This brings us to our last point.
5. All that God does will both bring Himself glory and produce good for the believer (Romans 8:28). We may not see it or know how it will all pan out, but all the evil in the world which affects us as individuals and the world as a whole will work out in the grand scheme of God’s will for our benefit. We certainly cannot see it with our finite understanding. Even the martyrs in heaven do not currently see it
Revelation 6:2, They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth.“
Genesis 18:25 says, Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just? God’s will is going to be accomplished and the Scripture cannot be broken. We may not like the current outworking of that will, but in the end, because God is good, we can trust that it will work out for His glory and our good.
Interestingly enough, the very first church service after Christ’s ascension was spent addressing this issue. The first message preached by Peter was not on Pentecost, it was in the upper room. His text was Psalm 69 and 109, along with a few other texts referring to the betrayal of Christ (quite a graphic message, I might add. Read Acts 1:18!). No glitz and glimmer. Because of Judas’ betrayal and death, the church had to search the Scripture to understand how to move forward with such a traumatic event having just transpired.
According to the Bible, someone else had to take Judas’ place. The church chooses from too godly men, and the unsaved, ungodly Judas was replaced with a humble servant of the Lord. Peter also mentions the field where Judas’ bowels gushed out. According to Matthew, the field was cursed (given the name “field of blood”) and was purchased using the betrayal money. Non-Jewish people who died in Israel were buried in this field.
To the enemies of Christ, this was evidence of perdition, that Jesus was a failure and a curse as were His disciples. But what a beautiful picture of the salvation of God is given by this field of blood where they buried foreigners. Because Jesus was betrayed and crucified, being made a curse for us, He opened a way for all men, Jew and Gentile, to find life. We are crucified with Christ, buried with him and given new life by His resurrection. The betrayal of Jesus was the price paid to give me a place to rest in Him when I die.
Thank the Lord that He fulfilled the will of God and chose Judas. Thank God that He who is sovereign over all can make all things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to His purpose.