Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

As I see it, although Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, and Jesus' betrayal had been foretold in the Old Testament (Psalm 41:9)(as Jesus Himself noted at the Last Supper (John 13:18)), Judas as an individual still made the decision to betray Jesus out of his own free will and entirely bore the responsibility for it (as Jesus had also noted in Matthew 26:24 and Mark 14:21).

God is omniscient, but He is also outside of time. When God sees an event happening in what we would think of as the future, it is the same to God as if He were seeing it in "real time", or what we would call the present. We do not think of someone who merely witnesses an action as having been the cause of it, and, in my opinion, it is the same with God.

Someone would betray Jesus, but it did not specifically have to be Judas. Judas made that choice himself. It is the same with us. God also knows (and has known from eternity past) everything (good or bad) that each of us will do, say, or think during every moment of our earthly lives. Does that deprive us of our own free will; or cause us to view ourselves as mere puppets without the power of choice; or relieve us of responsibility for the things we do? No. We are all still accountable for our own individual decisions and actions.

April 06 2016 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report