This morning I was thinking – for some unknown reason – about Judas, who betrayed Jesus.
This was prophesied, that Jesus would be betrayed by one close to Him.
So I got to thinking about this whole thing.
Jesus knew. He invited Judas to be one of the disciples – even knowing.
Which made me wonder, do we have free will? Was Judas destined to betray Jesus, and nothing could change that – so Jesus chose Judas knowing this?
Or just maybe… Maybe it wasn’t predestination – but simply knowledge. Maybe Jesus knew what was going to happen because He is omniscient (all knowing). Maybe He chose Judas to give Judas a chance to make a different decision – even though He know that wouldn’t happen. But He was THERE for Judas. He made Judas one of His inner circle. He counseled with Judas, taught Judas, loved Judas. Waited, with an eternal hope that Judas would make a different decision – even though He knew that wasn’t to be.
But what THIS viewpoint means is amazing. Jesus is SO full of hope, and of love for us, that even KNOWING what choices Judas would make, He was there FOR Judas. Judas wasn’t a tool, Judas was undying hope and grace. Judas was Jesus never giving up, even though He is omniscient. It was Jesus walking side-by-side until Judas made his final choice. It was Jesus giving Judas ALL the chances to see things differently, to hand his life truly over and truly follow Jesus. It was allowing Judas complete freedom to fall on his own sword, as it were.
Which, for ME, means that no matter how stupid I am, I can ALWAYS CHOOSE to follow Jesus. To lean into Him, to hand him control of my life, to fall into obedience and trust even when it makes no sense. Jesus may already know what I’m going to do – but He won’t ever walk away from me, turn His back on me, or give up on me, until my time is gone – and if I live for eternity with or without Jesus – well, that’s on me – but HIS grace and love will never be the point of failure.
That’s pretty dang amazing.