Judas

He did betray. It's one of those instances where God used the evil of men, both Judas and the rulers who conspired with him to kill Jesus, for our good. They will be judged for their evil actions, the same as they will who stand before Him unforgiven because they refused to turn from their sin and be forgiven.

A similar lesson is shown here,
Jesus even told His disciples plainly, on several occasions that one among them would indeed betray Him and was a devil, and woe to him that does so. Judas was warned beforehand, but didn't care enough to be concerned about it, because he didn't actually believe what Jesus said.

So it will be with many multitudes of others, they will be condemned as well because they did not believe what He said about being the only way to the Father, and they refuse to believe the warnings of their own pending judgment for their sin. Judas wasn't an extraordinary unrepentant sinner, but a typical one.

Star of the Dawn said:

I've never understood why people believe that Judas betrayed Christ, not even when I was a Christian. If it weren't for Judas there'd have been no crucifiction, no death, no ressurection, no forgiveness, no Christianity at all.
Am I missing something? Surely Judas did you all a favour?
Didn't Jesus ask Judas to do that? Only in the Gnostic gospels.
Someone had to get the ball rolling for the ressurection to happen.

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Judas was an unbeliever… he never believed and never obeyed the word… but the rest of the disciples did eventually and they were saved…

Judas had already left to betray Jesus (John 13:30)

If the disciples obey; the Holy Spirit will be with them FOREVER (John 14:16)

Jesus promises not to leave the disciples as orphans (John 14:18)
The disciples must (believe) in Jesus; the true vine. (John 15:1)
The disciples must remained in Jesus and His Word (John 15:7)
Jesus will send the Holy Spirit (John 15:26)
Jesus tells the disciples it is for their good that He going is away (John 16:7)
Jesus tells the disciples He will send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7)
The disciples believed at last! (John 16:31)
The disciples had obeyed the word (John 17:6-7)
Jesus was crucified (John 19)
Jesus was resurrected (John 20:1)
The disciples received the Holy Spirit (John 20:22.)

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory Ephesians 1:13-14

Make no mistake, the crucifixion was the worst event in history. But it also shows, like no other, God's ability to turn that which was meant for evil into good for those who love God (Rom 8.28). At the place where the Son of God gave Himself, we found freedom and life. He allowed Himself to be tortured to death, so that we could share in His joy forevermore.

But God working good out of the Cross does not exonerate the motivations of those who made it happen. They are still guilty of the sins they committed, unless they repent and ask forgiveness in Christ. God is far more concerned with the heart than with outcome. He can handle outcomes, but with the heart He needs our permission in order to work change. Judas never gave God permission to work in his heart, so his betrayal was unforgiven.

Star of the Dawn said:

I've never understood why people believe that Judas betrayed Christ, not even when I was a Christian. If it weren't for Judas there'd have been no crucifiction, no death, no ressurection, no forgiveness, no Christianity at all.
Am I missing something? Surely Judas did you all a favour?
Didn't Jesus ask Judas to do that? Only in the Gnostic gospels.
Someone had to get the ball rolling for the ressurection to happen.

Click to expand...

Judas' betrayal played part yes. It was still betrayal though.

And only in the Gospel of Judas, a gnostic text, does Jesus have Judas do this. Of course that's not the central theme of the Gospel of Judas. Like most gnostic gospels, the theme of the Gospel of Judas is that there is a single disciple of Jesus who understands who Jesus really is, and the others are representative of the ignorant masses.

In fact, the Gospel of Judas is one of the most antagonistic of these, where all of Jesus' disciples are ignorant fools believing in the "false god" of the Jews, indeed Jesus openly mocks this and laughs. It is only then that Jesus takes Judas aside, who truly understands that Jesus is an ethereal agent of the spiritual realm that Jesus imparts to Judas some of the secrets and tasks Judas with being the agent to render whatever humanity Jesus has inert.

Judas is mildly Docetic, that is it presents Jesus as not-quite-human, for example it states that Jesus sometimes appeared as a child, rather than a man. In fact Jesus easily seems to transport himself between different periods of time or dimensions. This underscores the Gnostic cosmological/theological tone of the text.

The text seems to imply that only those with gnosis can depart the mortal realm (by escaping the body) to be received into the spiritual realm (this does not deviate much from the standard themes of gnostic literature); whereas the rest, the mortal world, is effectively screwed; though this part of the text has a lot of holes in it.

Indeed, Jesus having Judas hand him over is found only in one small line, "For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me", then at the end of the text it says some of the priests and scribes approach Judas with a deal, and Judas agrees to the exchange for some coin.

-CryptoLutheran

Judas did the wrong thing, even though good came out of it.

Oh, please, it's not like those people couldn't find Jesus. They didn't need Judas for that. However, the timing was crucial for the fulfillment of prophecies, and for that, the Lord used an evil-doer for good. He does that all the time, but this is probably the most blatant case.

On the other hand, I don't go out of my way to demonize Judas Iscariot. I don't hate Judas, though I pity him.

I remind myself that each and every one of us has been a Judas now and then. We have often betrayed the Master, and usually for far, far less than 30 pieces of silver.

-CryptoLutheran

Star of the Dawn said:

I've never understood why people believe that Judas betrayed Christ

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Mostly because that's what happened?

Interesting story: modern day missionaries encountered a tribe of cannibals, w/ no outside contact. Upon hearing the Gospel (this was a team of translators) they decided Judas was the hero of the story.

razeontherock said:

Mostly because that's what happened?

Interesting story: modern day missionaries encountered a tribe of cannibals, w/ no outside contact. Upon hearing the Gospel (this was a team of translators) they decided Judas was the hero of the story.

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That's a book too.

Peace Child: An Unforgettable Story of Primitive Jungle Treachery in the 20th Century [Book]

ViaCrucis said:

I don't hate Judas, though I pity him.

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Pathos seems a better response to evil than hate doesn't it.

Star of the Dawn said:

I've never understood why people believe that Judas betrayed Christ, not even when I was a Christian. If it weren't for Judas there'd have been no crucifiction, no death, no ressurection, no forgiveness, no Christianity at all.
Am I missing something? Surely Judas did you all a favour?
Didn't Jesus ask Judas to do that? Only in the Gnostic gospels.
Someone had to get the ball rolling for the ressurection to happen.

Click to expand...

Judas, just like the Pharaoh who enslaved the Jews, and many others, was a necessary piece to God's plan. However, none of them had God's love. Their actions, no matter how necessary, were evil, and they had to answer for it when they died.

Judas betrayed Jesus. That's not a nice thing to do, no matter how you spin it. He had no good intentions in mind when he did it.