"Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said."
Of all the lessons in the New Testament, this one perplexes me the most. Although the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior was the most profoundly divine act the world has ever witnessed, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ had been prophesied throughout the Old Testament, all the way back in the book of Genesis. When Judas Iscariot did what was required of him by the divine will of God throughout those prophesies, handing Jesus over to Caiaphas to begin that divine process, he was condemned by Jesus Himself at the "last supper" and thereby condemned by the whole world to eternity. " The Son of man goeth AS IT IS WRITTEN OF HIM: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born."
Jesus said, "it had been good for that man if he had not been born." yet He knew what Judas was going to do from the beginning of time, and He knew Judas' betrayal was a necessary part of the divine process.
The judgment of God is absolute and cannot be challenged on ANY level EVER. And, it is certainly not my intention to question that judgment. However, the reasoning behind the condemnation of Judas, for obediently doing that awful deed, is something I am yet not able to understand.
This mystery, like so many more, will be revealed when those of us whom have accepted God's saving grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, have reached our promised destination in heaven.~
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