I believe that Jesus had every opportunity to redeem Judas while on earth. Jesus clearly positioned Judas betrayal as he dipped his bread on his tongue. Jesus could have appealed to Father God right then, He could have responded in a similar way as He responded to Satan on the precipice when offered the world… but He did not. Judas did not respond as Peter did when he realized his darkened heart. Judas did not steal opportunity from Jesus to be restored…. Betrayal is a strong action of ruthless disregard for Love in its most elementary age. At the cross, Jesus love for us is at its highest yield and Peter knew this. Judas did not….
I believe you are mistaking the two responses for they are inordinate.
Thank you for your reply and for sharing your take on this. I'm happy to share a bit more about some of reasons I wrote this in the way that I did. First, I'm not sure what you mean that "Jesus had every opportunity to redeem Judas while on earth." If you mean that Judas had every opportunity to know Jesus, learn from Jesus, and ultimately repent and believe, then I agree. It is deeply regrettable (and this is what I was trying to point out) that he did not every come to this place. But if he had, even after betraying Jesus, I believe that Jesus would have forgiven him. I don't see any good argument against believing that this not only could have happened, but would have happened had Judas responded differently to his own desperate grief.
Second--I'm not sure what you mean by "Jesus clearly positioned Judas betrayal..." If you mean that Jesus planned, carried out, and coerced/forced Judah to do what he did, then I do not agree. The gospel of Mark says nothing like this. John write that "the devil had already prompted Judas." This puts the temptation in the hands of "diablos" (the accuser, liar, or tempter; similar to the image of the serpent in Eden). Luke 22:3 indicates that "Satan entered Judas." Again, this puts the action in the hands of "satanas" (the adversary or the spirit of evil). Both of these statements could also be used to describe the ways in which human beings have always been tempted; that is, we can still conclude that Judas ultimately made a choice (as did Adam and Eve in Eden). Nowhere are we encouraged to believe that it was Jesus who engineered and carried out this plan by taking control of Judas' freedom to choose.
Third, you are correct that "Judas did not respond as Peter did." That's the point I was trying to make. Matthew tells us that Judas "was seized with remorse," after realizing what he had done the seeming unintended consequences that were playing out. Peter, who had also turned his back on Jesus was also distraught over his own betrayal. In fact, Mark tells us that all the disciples fled. At some point, however, they came back together. All of them but Judas. You are right that Judas did not take the opportunity to return to Jesus to be restored. But, as I have written, I do believe that had he taken that opportunity, Jesus would have wrapped his arms around even Judas with great love. Remember, Jesus knew that Judas would betray him and yet he washed his feet and shared a table with him. I simply cannot imagine a scenario (and I don't think Scripture gives us one) where Jesus would have rejected Judas' sincere repentance.
Perhaps that explains a little better the point I was trying to make.
I believe that Jesus had every opportunity to redeem Judas while on earth. Jesus clearly positioned Judas betrayal as he dipped his bread on his tongue. Jesus could have appealed to Father God right then, He could have responded in a similar way as He responded to Satan on the precipice when offered the world… but He did not. Judas did not respond as Peter did when he realized his darkened heart. Judas did not steal opportunity from Jesus to be restored…. Betrayal is a strong action of ruthless disregard for Love in its most elementary age. At the cross, Jesus love for us is at its highest yield and Peter knew this. Judas did not….
I believe you are mistaking the two responses for they are inordinate.
Thank you for your reply and for sharing your take on this. I'm happy to share a bit more about some of reasons I wrote this in the way that I did. First, I'm not sure what you mean that "Jesus had every opportunity to redeem Judas while on earth." If you mean that Judas had every opportunity to know Jesus, learn from Jesus, and ultimately repent and believe, then I agree. It is deeply regrettable (and this is what I was trying to point out) that he did not every come to this place. But if he had, even after betraying Jesus, I believe that Jesus would have forgiven him. I don't see any good argument against believing that this not only could have happened, but would have happened had Judas responded differently to his own desperate grief.
Second--I'm not sure what you mean by "Jesus clearly positioned Judas betrayal..." If you mean that Jesus planned, carried out, and coerced/forced Judah to do what he did, then I do not agree. The gospel of Mark says nothing like this. John write that "the devil had already prompted Judas." This puts the temptation in the hands of "diablos" (the accuser, liar, or tempter; similar to the image of the serpent in Eden). Luke 22:3 indicates that "Satan entered Judas." Again, this puts the action in the hands of "satanas" (the adversary or the spirit of evil). Both of these statements could also be used to describe the ways in which human beings have always been tempted; that is, we can still conclude that Judas ultimately made a choice (as did Adam and Eve in Eden). Nowhere are we encouraged to believe that it was Jesus who engineered and carried out this plan by taking control of Judas' freedom to choose.
Third, you are correct that "Judas did not respond as Peter did." That's the point I was trying to make. Matthew tells us that Judas "was seized with remorse," after realizing what he had done the seeming unintended consequences that were playing out. Peter, who had also turned his back on Jesus was also distraught over his own betrayal. In fact, Mark tells us that all the disciples fled. At some point, however, they came back together. All of them but Judas. You are right that Judas did not take the opportunity to return to Jesus to be restored. But, as I have written, I do believe that had he taken that opportunity, Jesus would have wrapped his arms around even Judas with great love. Remember, Jesus knew that Judas would betray him and yet he washed his feet and shared a table with him. I simply cannot imagine a scenario (and I don't think Scripture gives us one) where Jesus would have rejected Judas' sincere repentance.
Perhaps that explains a little better the point I was trying to make.