Recently, someone asked me some questions concering Judas and his betrayal of Jesus:
"If Judas' betrayal of Christ was a key catalyst of The Crucifixion, wasn't that action a necessary evil? Did Judas exert genuine free will, or were his actions ordained and cast in stone by God? Could Judas have been saved if he lived long enough to repent and not commit suicide?"
It was a great series of questions that really got me to thinking. It’s so easy to think of Judas as either absolutely evil or absolutely controlled by God to be evil having no voice in the matter. The latter view comes off like the voice of Curly of the Three Stooges saying, “I’m a victim of coicumstance!”
But seriously, this is an important topic because it’s often use to unfairly paint God as ogre or puppet master or unloving ‘supreme being’ by dooming Judas to hell so that the rest of us could be saved.
My commandment to you is to love those who have wronged you and forgive them, starting with your own self; and be patient with those whom you have wronged. ~ Jesus [Letters from God and His Christ - Volume 6 - Bear Fruit According to the Spirit of Truth]