Question: Was it a foregone conclusion that Judas had, repeat, had to betray our Lord?

Bob

Answer: Dear Bob,

The passage that usually is cited as we humans wrestle with this issue is John 6:64, "’Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him."

This statement occurs within the context that humans could not come to Christ unless the Father drew them (vs. 44) – that many things Jesus said were not understood or believed, even by the disciples (vs. 60) – that many of his disciples (not the 12, but many from a larger group that had followed him) turned back at this point (vs. 66) – that the 12 disciples did not choose Jesus, but rather he chose them (vs. 70) - and that one of the 12 that Jesus chose "was" a devil (vs. 70).

This is but one of many biblical examples where God’s plan and purpose intersect with human choice, sin and unbelief – and how God’s purposes are never thwarted, for he is sovereign.

For humans, the very idea that Judas was chosen to be the betrayer is unthinkable – yet Jesus, God in the flesh, knew from the beginning that it was Judas. Does, that mean Judas made this choice in the beginning, and that Jesus simply foreknew the choice that Judas had already made? Or perhaps Jesus, God in the flesh, simply recognized the weakness, traits, or predisposition for betrayal in Judas from the beginning – and perhaps Jesus actually chose him for that reason?

This can be a profound discussion – and cannot be within a brief answer. Perhaps it can help us, though, to understand that God is God, and that we as humans are his creation. We do not know everything there is to know about God – all we can know is what he has revealed to us. We know a lot more about being human – for we have had time, experience, precedent, and history to help us learn. But we still don’t know everything there is to know about being human.

Biologically we are finding out – in this last century of our history – that many behavior are pre-dispositions, and that some may be due to genetic codes. Some people are more likely to behave in certain ways than others, some are more likely to have certain diseases than others, etc. We are just beginning to understand a little bit about genetics. And there is a huge debate about cloning – as science progresses – are we "playing" God? At the bottom of all of this is the certainty that all any human, no matter how brilliant, will be able to do is "play" God – for we have our limits.

How God works out his plan – who God is – who we are – how God "works" and how we "work" are things that we understand in a limited sense. From the Bible, we know that Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundations of the world. We know that it was prophesied that he would be betrayed, and that someone would betray him. We know that Jesus knew from the beginning the identity of the disciple who would betray him.

Is this cruel? Is this merciless? Are humans simply robots? No, the testimony of the Bible is that we have choice – Judas did - but on the other hand, the Bible indicates that Judas was chosen because Jesus saw a predisposition. The fact that Jesus can and did see that - that as god in the flesh he had and has insights we do not have – does not make God unloving or unkind. For the fact remains, the One who died on the cross for our sins was God in the flesh - and that was preordained from the foundation of the world.

In Christ,

Greg Albrecht