By: Obed Pineda
“But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.” (Ecclesiastes 9:4)
Labels are very common in society. Quite often a single decision made by an individual is enough to earn them their reputation. For example, a man who enters a burning building and saves someone from burning alive will forever be labeled as a hero. Who that man was before he saved a life is overshadowed by his one act of heroism, and will always be identified by the world as a brave man. However, what if before he saved that life he was the one who accidentally set the building on fire? Would his mistake polarize his heroism? There is very little doubt that if that were the case, his status would immediately switch from valiant hero to clumsy fool among his community. Sadly, his unintentional mistake will erase the intentional act of saving a life. Although it is true that certain actions one takes have a greater impact than others, it is just to keep in mind that one action (whether good or bad) should not define the whole character of a man. He who is wise understands that there is not one human being who is absolutely good (outside of the Master) nor absolutely wicked. When one studies the inspired pages of Holy Writ, one will realize that every person spoken of by the Holy Spirit is displayed with their virtues and their flaws. Unquestionably, one reason for this is so that we can learn from those examples of the past and apply those lessons to our own daily life (cf. Romans 15:4). It allows the diligent Bible student to relate with other men and women who lived similar situations and to learn from them how to overcome those difficult moments of life. Furthermore, it allows a person to grasp a better understanding of why Jesus came into the world to die for mankind as well. Our Savior’s decision to give His life in ransom for us all, proves that God’s eyes perceived more than just the bad within us. The good that the merciful Father saw in His creation also determined that humanity is capable of reaching redemption (cf. Romans 5:6-8, 2nd Peter 3:8-9). This extraordinary lesson is majestically displayed by the Bible when one can look beyond Judas Iscariot’s treachery. Admittedly, it is extremely difficult to think of Judas as a man who had good qualities since the mind’s eye automatically races to his betrayal of Jesus the Christ. Yet, it is unrighteous to limit Judas’ character to just that one horrible choice and ignore that, like every human being, he also made right choices prior to that one. Let us recall that the Master says of Judas, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil” (John 6:70)? The Master’s revelation that He chose Judas to be one of the twelve, even when He knew he was His betrayer, proves that the Lord saw that he was not beyond redemption. Remember that before stating this about him, Jesus had given them the option to leave and return home, but Judas made the choice to remain with the Master and the other disciples (cf. John 6:66-67). Regardless of what may have been his reasoning for staying with them, it is indisputable that Judas chose wisely in continuing his walk with Jesus. Judas, too, did not dispute Peter’s affirmation to Jesus that “we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:69). Observe carefully that Peter was speaking on behalf of all the disciples in response to Jesus, Judas included. His silence and his decision not to protest against Peter speaking for him, is a strong indicator that Judas agreed with Peter’s statement. Judas had arrived to the same conclusion that only in Jesus could man find words of eternal life because He is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God! Thus, this manifests that at least in this moment, Judas did have faith in Jesus as the Christ. Judas’ voluntary choice of following Jesus cannot be denied either, since Scripture reveals “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles” (Luke 6:12-13). Among the twelve names given by the inspired Luke, Judas Iscariot is found. Luke also takes the precaution to remove any possible confusion in identity (since “Judas” was a common name in that time period) by verifying that it was indeed he “who also became a traitor” (Luke 6:16). Once more, it is terribly difficult to separate Judas from his lamentable choice, but observe that before he did so he was among the disciples of Jesus who had followed Him before He was selected as one of the twelve by the Master. The significance of this selection expands when it is brought back to mind that Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, and still included him as one of the twelve (cf. John 6:70-71). It is unwise and blasphemous to suggest that our Lord purposely included Judas so that the prophecy of His betrayal could be fulfilled (cf. Psalm 41:7-9, Zechariah 11:12-13). This evil concept implies that Jesus set Judas up to fail, and thus Scripture erroneously records Him proclaiming, “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). These words uttered by the precious lips of the great Redeemer actually proves why He chose Judas to be one of His official emissaries (cf. Acts 1:15-17). Jesus was able to pierce the veil of sin and see that in Judas there, too, was good. Our Lord sought to harness the virtues that Judas possessed (as He did with all of His apostles) to aid him in dominating his fleshly weaknesses. It is worthy to remember that on the night of the Lord’s unjust trial, it was Judas who defended Him, making an attempt to correct his betrayal by seeking Jesus’ release from the death sentence (cf. Matthew 27:3-4). After returning the bribe he received from the chief priests, Matthew records Judas admitting, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). Judas feeling guilt over his betrayal of the Master proves yet again that he was not beyond saving. His boldness and determination in trying to correct his wrong at first must not be disregarded because of the action that followed (cf. Matthew 27:5, Acts 1:18). On the contrary, his initial attempt in trying to convince the chief priests to repent from the injustice they were about to carry out reveals what the gentle eyes of Jesus had seen in Judas from the start. Had Judas not taken his life, it is undeniable that he would have been restored, as Peter was (cf. John 21:15-19).