Why Judas?

Mark 3:13-19

          I’ve had 3 different devotions typed up to share and none of them have felt quite right for this week. I’m sure eventually those drafts will see the light of day, but today’s not that day. I sat down last night to do my Bible study, and I asked God again to put on my heart what I needed to share this week. The rest of this week when I’ve prayed about what to share, I just hadn’t felt a pull in a specific direction, but boy did I last night. Almost immediately a passage I read last week came to mind. It’s one of the passages that we all just read through a little too quickly sometimes. But last night, God brought something to my attention. Mark 3:13-19 is the passage for this week if you want to take a bit to read through it. Here’s the thought that came to my mind: Why Judas?

                I know that seems like a bit of a weird question but I’m not asking in the sense of why would Judas betray Jesus or why did he make the decision he did, but rather why did Jesus call Judas in the first place? Why would Jesus make him a disciple knowing what was going to happen? In Mark 3:13, the Bible tells us that Jesus “calleth unto him whom he would” or in other words, Jesus called who he wanted to be His disciples. Jesus wanted Judas. Yes, Jesus was fully man at this point, but He was also fully God. He knew Judas was going to betray Him. He knew that betrayal led to Calvary, the cross, and the thorns. So why did Jesus choose him?

                When this passage came to mind, I pulled out my concordance and read through the passages which Judas Iscariot was mentioned and do you know that almost every single time he is mentioned, his betrayal is tagged or is at least an underlying theme of the text? Almost like a nurse having RN after their name, “the one who betrayed Jesus” was Judas’s title. So, if Jesus knew this was the legacy that Judas was going to have, that this would be what his entire existence revolved around, why in the world would He choose him in the first place?

                Well, I’ve got some thoughts as you could probably guess. The obvious answer is that if it wasn’t for the betrayal, there wouldn’t be the cross, there wouldn’t be the resurrection, and there wouldn’t be salvation for you and me. But I believe that if God had it in His plan for Jesus to be crucified, any ordinary person could’ve betrayed Him and still carry out the fullness of His plan. So why make Judas a disciple when he could’ve been just any other man? I think the answer to this is not found by looking at Judas, but rather by looking at Jesus.

                Here’s the crazy thing about Jesus and Judas: Jesus loved Judas just as fiercely as He loved the other disciples to the point that none of them had a clue who was going to be the one to betray Him. Jesus didn’t treat him any different even though He knew that kiss of betrayal was coming. Jesus still loved him. Jesus still fed him. Jesus still washed his feet. And believe it or not, Jesus still used him to carry out His plan.

                Here’s something that none of us want to accept: We’re no better than Judas. I read a quote the other day that said, “It’s easy to look at Judas and shake our heads in disappointment. Afterall, he chose money over Jesus. But I have to ask myself, how often do I choose something over Jesus, but I do it for free?” Wow. Sit with that one for a minute. We look at what Judas did, and we immediately think the worst. He’s the one that led the Roman guards to Jesus. He’s the one that delivered Him into the enemy’s hands. He’s the one that chose worldly riches over the Savior of the world. He’s the reason Jesus died. But guys. We’re also the reason Jesus died. We’re the reason Jesus had to come to this world. We messed everything up so bad that it took the death of our perfect Savior to make things right. Yeah, Judas’s kiss is what led them to arrest Jesus, but Jesus’ love for us is the reason He was still in that garden in the first place. He could’ve left. He could’ve hid. He could’ve called Himself up to Heaven right then and there. But He didn’t. Because that’s how much He loves you and me. Because He knew it took His shed blood to save us.

                So back to my original thought: Why Judas? I think the answer is pretty simple once you take a step back and look at it. I don’t think it had anything to do with Judas, and I think it had everything to do with Jesus. He chose Judas because Jesus loved him, despite of the betrayal. Jesus chose Judas because His actions towards others weren’t dependent on their actions towards Him. He chose Judas because even when it looked to the world like nothing could reach a worse point, that’s when the miracle came. Jesus chose Judas to show us an example of what it fully means to forgive and to love the way Christ loved. Without limit and without exception. To live like Christ means to follow through with His plan for your life, no matter the consequences. And to Jesus, that plan was choosing Judas and that consequence was the cross.