To answer this question, let us look at Jesus – the one who chose Judas as a disciple. We can safely establish that Judas Iscariot was a product of intense prayers by our Lord Jesus Christ as with the other 11 disciples. Jesus didn’t choose him differently from the way He chose others. He chose them from extensive and intense prayers.
The Bible says in Luke 6:12-13 that having prayed all night, when it was day, he chose the 12 disciples. This shows us that Jesus was not careless in the selection of His disciples. From this scripture, we can be sure that Judas being one of the disciples was not a mistake as Jesus was intentional about his selection. In Matthew 26 as they ate, Jesus said to the twelve that one of them shall betray him. He was very specific with the words ‘one of you’. As we serve an all-knowing God, it is safe to say that Jesus knew who was going to betray Him ahead of time. He knew it was going to be Judas but this doesn’t mean He made Judas do it, or He chose Judas to be His disciple for the sole purpose of betraying Him.
In Matthew 26:31–35, Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him. Jesus knew this because God is all-knowing, just like God knew that the devil would want to use someone in Jesus’ inner circle to betray him. But what does God do about the situation? He warns or tries to turn it around for Good. In Peter’s case, he warned Peter of what peter would do but Peter had a choice to either be vigilant or allow the devil to capitalise on his weakness. Peter ultimately made the choice to betray Jesus despite the fact that Jesus warned him. Same with Cain in Genesis 4:7. We see God warning Cain that the devil wanted to capitalise on Cain’s anger but Cain still made the decision to kill Abel.
At the end of the day, every man has been given free will. God won’t force a man to do anything because that is the gift He gave man – to be able to freely choose and make decisions for himself. In the case of Judas, God knew that the devil would use someone in his inner circle to betray Him but the devil did not know that the betrayal of Jesus would ultimately lead to the salvation of many.
Many times, we are led away from God by our own desires (James 1:14). The devil and God know your weaknesses and the devil tries to use your weaknesses to destroy you but God tries to save us from them or use them to His glory. Even after a mistake is made, rather than see it as the end as Judas did, receive God’s forgiveness like Peter did.
God knows all things doesn’t mean He causes or makes all things to happen. God in His sovereignty and power does not make choices for man. In this case, Judas made a choice. He started drifting away and mingling with the Chief Priests and Pharisees who wanted to kill his master. The Devil only used Judas because he became driven by his lust for money. God never planned the downfall of Judas, and neither does he do for any man. But as men make their choices in life, they are either yielding themselves to God or other influences.
The story of Judas shows us that the devil seeks to use men for his destructive purposes. This is why it is important to guard our hearts because everything we do flows from it.
Till next time,
Stay guarded