It seems to me that arguing for a particular theological system requires trying to force some Scriptures into boxes they can’t quite fit in order to make sense of the rest of the Scriptures. To say this another way, it seems clear to me that when picking a theological system, whether Covenantal Theology or Dispensationalism or Lutheranism or Roman Catholicism or Liberation Theology or Arminian/Wesleyan theology, etc., one must choose which texts to ignore. Each of these systems has texts that don’t quite fit and so are either distorted or ignored so as to not interfere with the “system”. Refusing to argue for a particular systematic theology is what led me to to preach through the entire book of Revelation without once using the terms amillennial, premillennial, or postmillennial, or even “the rapture”! These terms weren’t needed to teach the text; they are quite necessary to teach a theological system, however, and I have little interest in this.
The issue with theological systems is they try to make sense of everything, and such an endeavor is foolish as there are things we are not meant to know. Years ago a text in Deuteronomy really solidified my refusal to argue for a particular system:
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV
I find this statement to be humbling. When a theologian thinks he has all the answers, he’s most likely not thinking of this text and its profundity.
God has revealed a great deal about himself, and this self-revelation is sufficient for us to respond in faithful obedience. There are also “secret things” that belong only to the Lord, things he has not revealed to us. As I’ve said a number of times, everything that can be known about God can be known in Christ, but God is infinite so not everything can be known. If it could be known, it could be known in Christ who is God.
There are some things we can know about but cannot fully understand. Recently I was asked about Judas. In last week’s sermon I pointed out that within a span of a few hours both Judas and Peter betrayed Jesus. Judas turned him in to the Jewish authorities, leading to his arrest, and Peter denied even knowing him after his arrest. Both men betrayed Jesus. Only Peter experienced mercy and forgiveness and was later restored to his role as an apostle by the risen Lord Jesus. Judas’ life ended tragically not long after Jesus’ arrest.
Again, I was asked about Judas. Specifically, when did Judas become the one who would betray Jesus? Was it after a series of choices he had made and after overwhelming temptation to do so, or was it predetermined he would be the one? As with many good and profound questions, the answer is not a simple yes or no, for there are two perspectives in play, and both are true.
First, there’s God’s perspective. Jesus knew all along who would betray him and cited Scripture as the basis of his understanding of it.
And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”
Mark 14:17-21 ESV
He said the Son of Man “goes as it is written of him”. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 cited what is believed to be a very early creed in the church. He said he had received the truth “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 14:3-5). The Scriptures had predicted the death and resurrection of Jesus, but was this merely a prediction? Peter indicates the real reason the Scriptures spoke of the Lord’s death and resurrection, and he gives God’s perspective of it.
…this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
Acts 2:23 ESV
Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. The language here is quite strong. This is why the Scriptures predicted it! The sense here is that God determined exactly how Jesus would be delivered up and killed. When Peter speaks of God’s foreknowledge, this does not mean God simply knew ahead of time. God exists in an eternal present. It means God was intimately acquainted with the death of Jesus precisely because he had determined its manner. It was his definite plan, yet it happened “by the hands of lawless men”. Though God had decreed the manner of Christ’s betrayal and death, and though he had decreed it would come about by the hands of lawless men, God is not the author of sin. God did not force any of them to crucify and kill Jesus, yet they crucified and killed Jesus because God’s definite plan and foreknowledge meant they would. At every step those involved in this greatest act of injustice in history were operating freely in accord with their own wills—including Judas.
When did Judas become the one who would betray Jesus? Paul told the Ephesians they were chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4) and later said this “was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:11). From God’s perspective, Judas was always the one who would betray Jesus. The secret thing that belongs to the Lord, the thing that is not fully revealed to us is how Judas remained a free individual exercising his own will and was the one God determined would betray Jesus. We do see his free will in this. Shortly before the Last Supper we read this:
Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Mark 14:10-11 ESV
Judas went to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus. That is, he was fully aware of what he was doing. We don’t fully know his motivation. Some wonder if he were trying to force Jesus’ hand. This, too, is sinful rebellion, so even if it were true it wouldn’t undo the grave sin of his betrayal. He sought an opportunity to betray Jesus. From a human perspective, Judas made the deliberate choice to betray Jesus and engaged in numerous actions to bring it about, including the final act of betrayal when he led them to the garden and dared to kiss him so as to identify Jesus in the dark.
From God’s perspective, it was always going to be Judas. From a human perspective, Judas freely chose to betray Jesus and took the necessary steps to do so. From a human perspective Jesus was betrayed, arrested, falsely convicted, crucified, died, and was buried. From God’s perspective of his definite plan and foreknowledge, Jesus was betrayed, arrested, falsely convicted, crucified, died, and was buried. God determined it would happen yet Judas and the Jewish officials conspired together, and Roman officials went along with their plan.
How does God’s absolute sovereignty and human free will work? There is no need to nuance either perspective. Judas betrayed Jesus because God determined he would and Judas betrayed Jesus because Judas determined he would. How does that work? Well, the secret things belong to the Lord. I don’t know..
The second question is whether Judas could have repented. All people have the opportunity to repent, so yes, Judas could have repented. In fact, he sort of did! Matthew tells us he changed his mind.
Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.
Matthew 27:3-5 ESV
Matthew clearly states Judas changed his mind! Isn’t that what repentance is? Yes, but also no. He went to the chief priests and elders of Israel and confessed his sin. He did not go to Jesus. This “repentance” is much like Esau’s regret at his own sin.
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
Hebrews 12:15-17 ESV
Esau sought repentance! With tears! Yet he was unable to repent. Selling his birthright seems to have been the final act of hardening his heart that prevented any real change. His real opportunity for repentance was before selling his birthright. We know from the story in Genesis Esau desperately wanted his birthright back. Notice the motivation was not love for God or love for righteousness. When Hebrews says he sought “it”, the author means the blessing, not repentance. “Repentance” was merely the means to gain back the birthright. Esau saw the cost of his sin and regretted the cost, not the sin. So, too, Judas saw the cost of his sin would be the death of Jesus and sought to purchase back Jesus with the very silver they had paid him for his betrayal. Again, he went to the priests, not to Jesus.
How often do we “repent” of sin, but what we’re really desiring to turn from is the consequence of our sin and not the actual sin? Genuine repentance is a turning from sin and a turning toward the Lord. It is not a turning away from the consequences of sin. Genuine repentance will accept the consequences for to repent is to agree with God that the sin was an act of rebellion. Real repentance will produce the desire to do whatever it takes to make it right. We see this with Zacchaeus. He told Jesus he would immediately give away half his wealth to the poor and with the other half repay those he had cheated four times the amount he had cheated from them.
We may never have a clear understanding of Judas. We may never have a clear understanding of God’s definite plan and foreknowledge. We may never comprehend the interplay between God’s sovereignty and human will. We can, however, through stories such as Judas and Esau, gain a clearer understanding of sin and its consequences. We can see the dangers of a heart that hardens toward the things of God. We can learn from this and seek to avoid such hardness in our own lives. No, we cannot know everything there is to know; God has not revealed everything to us. He has, however, given us this promise: the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may walk in faithful obedience all the days of our lives.