Is it possible
that Judas could be saved?
In my estimation, yes, it is possible.
Is it probable? Maybe, maybe not. But I do not believe it is
my place to say.
First and foremost, I hold firm to the notion that as it
says in James 4:12:
“There is only one lawgiver and
judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your
neighbor?”
I suppose one could argue that Judas is not my neighbor the
way James was referring to neighbor, but I do think the first part of that
scripture is key; only God is able to save and destroy.
Another important scripture I look at to bolster the thought
that I have no place to pass judgement on someone else’s salvation is Romans
2:1-3:
“Therefore, you have no excuse, O
man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you
condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We
know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.
Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do
them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?”
I must ask myself; am I blameless of ever betraying Jesus? Clearly,
I have not sold him out to be killed, but when I take his gifts and so selfishly
and greedily hold them for myself, isn’t that a betrayal? Have I seen Christ
hungry and not fed him? Have I seen Christ needing clothes and yet not clothed
him? Jesus says in Matthew 25:45:
“Truly, I say to you, as you did
not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”
I know that there have been times when I have walked by the
homeless person on the street and looked down on them with disdain and
judgement.
Judas may be guilty of a graver sin against God, but far be
it from me to presume to know how God judges Judas. On the converse, woe to me to judge myself as
blameless, or deserving of salvation outside of God’s profound grace.
Now, looking
specifically at the story of Judas in Matthew 27:3-10, we find that Judas was
remorseful, changed his mind, and tried to return the money gained by his
betrayal. The Greek word used in this passage is metamelētheis, and some
translate this to “repented himself”.
The word metamelētheis is used in just one other place in Scripture.
That is in the Parable of the Two Sons found in Matthew 21:28-32:
“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he
went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he
answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind (metamelētheis)
and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I
go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They
said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors
and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you
in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax
collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did
not afterward change your minds and believe him.”
Isn’t the metamelētheis the key here? The repentance, the
changing of the mind, holds huge importance to doing the will of the Father.
Jesus drives the point home that this metamelētheis is key by saying, “Truly, I
say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God
before you.” They go into the kingdom of God because they believe and have metamelētheis.
It could merely be a coincidence that Matthew uses the word metamelētheis in
this parable and also to describe Judas, however, at the very least, the word’s
use in both instances by the same author should drive one to at least consider
the Judas passage in light of this Parable.
With all of this in mind, there is possibly something more
troubling about Judas than the actual betrayal of Jesus. While he had the metamelētheis
and tried to undo his betrayal by convincing the chief priests that he had
betrayed Jesus’ innocent blood, instead of allowing God to judge him, he judges
himself and takes his life just before Jesus’ life is taken at the cross. In contrast, Peter denies Jesus, he repents,
and he weeps. Judas betrays Jesus,
repents, and hangs himself. So, before
Jesus is hung on a tree outside the city walls, Judas hangs himself on a tree,
outside the city walls. In other words, before Judas can see the Judgment of
God, Judas judges himself. Judas is full of himself and so tries to judge
himself and so destroys himself.[1] Judas’ suicide seems to me to be the harder
thing to reconcile, but then all suicide is tough to reconcile. Suicide is really the ultimate expression of
an attempt to judge ourselves unrighteous, is it not? (I do not intend to
demean the very real mental illness that can result in a person taking their
own life, that is something that must be dealt with separately) Judging
ourselves as righteous or unrighteous is really outside our scope. Only God
gets to do the judging and whether we try to judge ourselves or not, we can
never usurp God’s sovereignty of being the ultimate judge. Revelation 20:11-15
says:
Then I saw a great white throne and
him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no
place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before
the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the
book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books,
according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it,
Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each
one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if
anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire.
I am not totally clear of how it works, but I think Judas
tries to judge himself and judges himself right into Hades. However, death and
Hades give up the dead were in them (I might say those that are apart from
God’s sovereign judgement) and they are ultimately judged by the one true
Judge. How does God ultimately judge Judas? Once again that is not for me to
say, but I know that in Jesus’ fullness he came to provide us grace upon grace
(John 1:16). I know that same Jesus that comes with grace and truth (John 1:17)
is the one who is coming to judge the living and the dead. I hope Judas is
saved by grace, just as I hope that you and I are similarly saved by God’s
unfathomable grace.
Love it!
ReplyDelete