What do you think about that? Does it anger you? Does it offend your sense of justice? Does it conflict with your theology on suicide? Is it troublesome?
How much of a Calvinist are you? Is God’s sovereignty what weighs in here the most? Where is free will? Where is repentance?
These are all good questions. The home group that I belong to has a Bible study as part of the agenda or “program” each night.
I think if I see Judas in Heaven it would be a little awkward. “What are you doing here?” I might even call him a name – “You Judas!” He betrayed the most awesome, humble, brilliant, simple, wonderful and powerful leader ever. His betrayal was insidious. It was sinister. It was classic. He is the new standard for low.
But (you probably saw this one coming), how often have I betrayed my Lord? Granted, I wasn’t given a bag of silver, didn’t have to hear whipping, nails, groaning and the cries of loved ones as He was crucified. I wasn’t part of the drama that played out on that never-ending Thursday night, but my rebellion or my neglect or my insensitivity to His Spirit — was that not betrayal? Isn’t my “innocence” really just a form of self-righteousness?
Whether there are degrees of sin, betrayal and rebellion, we could argue. Anything less than true loyalty could be defined as betrayal. The heart is primary. The heart is where we are judged. The heart is where we are made — where life or death get played out. In the heart, I may have to humble myself and see equal “footing” with Judas.
Then there’s the sovereign will thing that played out. The plan of God was not ambushed by the devil. Satan may have thought he had a victory in the death of Jesus, but we all know now that His death and resurrection was plan A from the beginning. God wasn’t blindsided by the betrayal of Judas, by the hardened hearts of the Pharisees and Sadducee men that called out for His blood. Jesus gave up His spirit. He gave His back to the scourging. He gave His hands/wrists to the cross. He gave His life.
It wasn’t the Jews that killed Christ. It was the Romans. It wasn’t the Romans, it was Doug Van Pelt. It was you. You killed Christ.
Jesus also told Judas, face-to-face, “What you do, do quickly.” In light of this, Judas was obeying Christ. Judas certainly was a pawn in the hands of the Jewish leaders. Ultimately, he was a pawn in the hands of God, too. It would’ve been better if he were never even born.
The devil entered him. Did the devil make Judas do it? Or did God make him do it? Is God sitting in ultimate authority over Satan and any authority that the devil has? That’s the way I think we ought to see it. Satan has plenty of authority and power, but it’s restricted and given to him by God.
This ultimate plan for evil was certainly turned into the greatest plan for good in the history of the universe (the one He created).
I’d still like to hit the guy … in the face. I’m not happy with Judas. I love Jesus. I am furious over what Judas did to Him. Like Peter (who I often get critical of in my mind over his actions), I would gladly grab a sword and take a swing at the head of Judas, perhaps missing and cutting his ear off.
Maybe Jesus would’ve stooped down and healed the ear of Judas had this happened. Perhaps Jesus had mercy on Judas. Judas certainly had sorrow over his actions. Did he exhibit “godly sorrow” that leads to repentance? I’d say no, but I am a firm believer that attitude and intention do not trump action. Case in point: the Prodigal Son hatched a scheme to become a hired hand so as to survive and eat better food. The details do not tell us that he had a good attitude about it, that he was broken or that he had “a good attitude” about it. But he did return to the Father. I think this is a lesson that shows a little bit of action, sometimes mixed with wrong motives, can bring us mercy, grace and forgiveness. Perhaps Judas met this kind of reaction on the other side.
If I was in control, though, I’d probably make sure he was clear out of reach of many angels that were probably ready to fight on that Friday and Saturday long ago. I would banish him to a state of sleep, prison or something so that he would not approach heaven or the throne without the completed work of Christ finished on the cross and the full ramifications of the resurrection on Sunday morning for good measure.
Is Judas in Heaven? There’s an awfully good case to be made that he is.
Well, I’ll be hornswaggled!
I don’t quite buy it, but a blog isn’t for me to just spout my beliefs and opinions. Sometimes it’s to provoke thought and promote discussion. This is one such idea. I have no clue if he’s in Heaven. Samson is in heaven and his last deed wasn’t so noble, at least in my opinion.
What do you think?
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