Did Judas Really Have Free Will? Understanding God’s Sovereignty and Human Choice

You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone

podcast ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone Church

in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan Merrick,

and it's our prayer that this message strengthens

your faith and draws you closer to Christ. Let's

dive in. Hello and welcome into the Christ Our

Cornerstone Church podcast. My name is Pastor

Logan. And yeah, I had a really good question.

come in from someone in our congregation. And

I think it's a really good one. I think it's

one that many of us find ourselves asking. You

maybe wondered yourself when reading the scriptures.

And then another person at the same time asked

a question about something that coincides with

this question. And so I was like, you know what,

I'm going to take both of these and put them

together and we're going to talk a little bit

about it. So that question was this. If Jesus

already knew Judas would betray him, Did Judas

really have free will and that's one of those

questions that touches on the mystery of God's

sovereignty and human choice God's sovereignty

meaning God is fully in control. It's a Kind

of a theological term of God being fully in control

of all things and so as something that Christians

have wrestled with for centuries And it's not

just a theological debate. It's actually something

Excuse me that that tells us a lot about the

heart of God and also the heart of man. And so,

let's walk through this together. So, who was

Judas really? I think we all know for the most

part who Judas was, but I think there's some

things that often get forgotten or overlooked.

And so, we all know that ultimately Judas would

betray Jesus, right? But there's actually a lot

more to his story. And so, Judas wasn't some

random outsider. He was one of the 12 chosen

disciples. He was trusted. so much so that he

was the group's treasurer meaning he was in charge

of all the money and he kept all their money

and And that's the position of trust and responsibility.

So does that mean that Jesus? Who chose he literally

chose Judas he knew what was in Judas his heart

and so was he just too trusting of Judas? No,

not necessarily he he knew He already knew about

Judas and that there was cracks in his character,

which we're gonna see in just a second. But like

He knew what he was doing by bringing him in.

He wasn't manipulating, he wasn't doing, like

he, but he knew who Judas was. And so when he

chose the 12, which by the way there's more disciples

than just the 12, there was a lot more, but we

learn about the 12 because that was kind of the

inner circle of Jesus and inside that 12 there

was a smaller circle of three, which is Peter,

James, and John. And so anyway, that being said,

like We, by the way, we at churches can be a

little too trusting at times, and this happens

a lot in churches where people trust people they

shouldn't. Those people get put over money. They

end up stealing money or laundering money and

things like that. And so we got to be careful

of a lot of that stuff. But Jesus knew what was

happening. He knew that there was an end in mind

that God had. And so, but the Gospel of John,

it tells us that Judas was a thief. He used to

help himself to the money that was in the money

bag. And so even early on, we see that there's

cracks in his character, like I said earlier.

But I don't think that Judas started out going,

I'm going to betray Jesus. No, from what I can

tell, from what I understand, Judas saw Jesus

as a potential political leader who would overthrow

Rome. much like everyone else. And you say, what

do you mean? Well, I think all the other disciples

were doing the same thing. And we see that a

lot of the Jews saw Jesus that way because they

saw the Messiah as coming as a kingly figure.

And we see that with when Jesus is going to Jerusalem

to his death, the people are singing Hosanna,

Hosanna, and they're waving palm branches and

putting their jackets down. And Jesus is on a

donkey and all this stuff. And for them, that

is them going, Jesus is going to become our king

and a political leader. And so it's not just

Judas that makes this mistake. Okay. Everyone

was making this mistake. And so Judas really

saw him as a political leader, someone who could

lead a revolt against Rome and restore Israel's

power. So when Jesus healed people, Judas probably

thought things like, Hey, we could probably really

rally these crowds to help us. in this revolt,

and he probably also thought we could charge

for the miracles and build funds for our movement.

That was more than likely Judas's driving thought

was two things. One, he cared about his own desires

and monetary influence, and he also cared about

power and political power. When he began to see

as time went on that Jesus was making it clear

that his kingdom wasn't political, it was actually

spiritual, Judas becomes frustrated by this.

And so what does he do? He takes matters into

his own hands, right? So he goes to the religious

leaders and he arranges to hand Jesus over for

30 pieces of silver. Why 30 pieces of silver?

That is also crucial and something I can do a

whole nother podcast on, but I will briefly just

kind of, it's an amount that actually fulfills

prophecy, uh, in books like Zachariah and in

Exodus as, um, there would be those who, who,

uh, were masters. And if their ox actually gouged

and killed a slave, uh, accidentally then those

masters were then to pay those family members

30 pieces of silver, which you read Zechariah,

you read these things, that's ultimately imagery

for the betrayal and worthlessness. So that's

kind of where we're at at this point. So if we

keep going, Sorry, I'm making sure that I'm covering

all my bases and looking through my notes. And

so now let's go into God's plan and Judas' choice,

okay? So let's talk about God's sovereignty and

Judas' free will and his choice and all that.

So here's the tension, right? If those prophecies

predicted in the Old Testament, Judas' betrayal.

Now, it doesn't name Judas, okay? But it just

says that these, like, you can see this in Psalm.

You can see it, like I said, in Zechariah. You

can see it throughout the Old Testament. So,

if they know that there's these prophecies that

Jesus would be betrayed, does that mean that

Judas had to do it? Did he even have a choice?

Well, the answer is yes, he did. He has his own

free will. But here's the key. God's foreknowledge,

and I want you to write this down if you're listening

to this and you have the capabilities. God's

foreknowledge is not the same as God's coercion.

Meaning like God's, you know, they're little

robots or God's literally like Little puppets

on a string like that's not what he's doing.

He just knows he knows the heart of Judas and

So he's allowing Judas's own choice and his own

desires to take over to ultimately bring about

His God's own end like he knows what God knows

what needs to happen. He knows what needs to

take Jesus to the cross and so therefore God

is just using Judas's own wicked heart to get

Jesus there. And so just because God knew Judas

would betray Jesus doesn't mean he made Judas

do it. So think of it like this, God's omniscience,

which just means God already knows it's a fancy

theological term, omniscience, means he already

knows every choice we'll ever make, but he doesn't

override our will to make them. meaning he doesn't

force us. Even in the book of Jonah, which we're

walking through at our church right now, Jonah

still had the choice to obey. Like God ultimately

got him to Nineveh, right? But it took Jonah

a lot longer to get there because he took a massive

detour along the way. And so Judas acted according

to his own heart, a heart that valued money and

power and control. more than faithfulness to

Christ. And so, God didn't force that. He already

knew it. And in His sovereignty, God wove even

Judas' sinful choice into His redemptive plan

to bring Jesus to the cross for our salvation.

And so, that's what's so amazing about God's

sovereignty. He doesn't need to violate our free

will to accomplish His purposes. He can work

through our own choices, even our bad ones, to

bring about his good plan. That's what's so amazing

about God. Okay, that's what's awesome. He can

use your own mistakes to bring about his own

endings. And so the Bible says that when Judas

went through with his plan, Satan entered him.

And so that doesn't mean that Judas lost control.

It wasn't like he was all of a sudden like he

was a puppet for Satan. It means that he opened

himself up completely to evil. through his own

choices, which by the way, that's another thing

I could do a podcast on is when you begin to

open yourself up to evil. But he made money and

self -interest his idol. That became the thing

that he was actually desiring. And so when his

heart was fully given over to that, it created

space for Satan to move. And so then Satan is

then coercing at this point because that's what

Satan does. God doesn't coerce. He doesn't force.

Satan does those things. Satan really begins

to control and manipulate. And so, you see, sin

always starts out small. Maybe it's just cutting

some corners, holding on to bitterness, or chasing

control. But over time, it shapes who we become.

And so Judas's story is tragic, not because God

forced him into betrayal, quote unquote, but

because Judas chose something other than Jesus

again and again and again until there was nothing

left but regret. Even after getting those 30

pieces of silver, the money didn't comfort Judas.

It couldn't. He realized too late that he thought

what he thought would satisfy him never could.

And in his despair, he ended his own life. You

can read about that in the book of Acts. And

so, like, that's something that you need to remember

is those things that you think will fulfill you,

that take you farther away from Jesus, they won't

fulfill you. And you ultimately see this too

late when sin has fully made itself, excuse my

alarm, When sin has already fully manifested

itself and you are fully in its grips and control

and despair And so what does it mean for us like

what does what does all of this mean for us?

Well? It's a sobering reminder Judas's story

is a sobering reminder that proximity to Jesus

is Not the same thing as faith in Jesus Here's

what I mean Judas spent years walking beside

the Son of God, hearing his teaching, seeing

his miracles, and yet his heart was never truly

surrendered. So when you hear someone say, well,

if God would just show himself to me, or if Jesus

just proved, or Jesus did a miracle, or blah,

blah, blah, blah, blah, then I would believe.

No, no, no, you wouldn't. Because again, Judas

is a perfect example of someone who saw the Son

of Man. He walked next to him. He touched him.

He heard him speak. He watched him perform miracles.

He saw the dead come alive and yet still was

not surrendered to Jesus. And so we can go to

church, we can serve, we can give, and we can

still be clinging to something else as our real

treasure. So the question isn't just, do I know

about Jesus? It's, do I trust him more than anything

else? That's the real question. And so when it

comes to free will, remember this. Yes, God is

sovereign. He's completely in control, but he

also gives us the dignity of choice. So every

day we decide who or what we're going to serve.

And so in the end, Judas's story isn't about

a warning. Isn't just about a warning, I should

say. It's also a picture of how far God's grace

goes. Because even Judas's betrayal couldn't

stop God's plan of redemption. I'm gonna say

that again Even Judas's betrayal Couldn't stop

God's plan for redemption. He uses our own bad

choices To bring about his own endings So what

Judas meant for evil God used for good that's

in Scripture. Yeah To bring about the salvation

of the world That's how powerful and sovereign

God is. So today, if you're wrestling with guilt

or past failure, I want you to remember this.

The same Jesus who knew Judas' heart still invites

you to draw near to him with an honest heart.

And unlike Judas, you could find real repentance,

real forgiveness, and real hope in him. So thanks

for joining me today. If you want to go deeper,

I want you to check out Matthew 26, John 13,

and Acts chapter 1. They give us a full picture

Acts 1 · chapter mention

of Judas's story and how it fits into God's plan.

And tomorrow I'll be dropping another episode

where we're going to talk about how God's sovereignty

and human freedom actually work together in our

daily lives. But until then, remember the things

of this world will never satisfy you. Only Jesus

can do that. Hope you have a good rest of your

day. If you would leave a review on this podcast,

share it with someone who needs to hear it. and

I hope you have a great rest of your day. Come

visit us sometime at Christ Our Cornerstone Church

here in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I am Pastor Logan

Merrick. We'll see you again. Bye bye.