Is it possible that Judas Iscariot was saved for Heaven?

Judas doesn’t seem to have much going for him on his own merit. He was a thief that stole from the deciples. John 12:6 He even complained when expensive perfume was lavished on Christ because he wanted some of the value it represented for himself. Christ correctly spoke of him as a devil He had chosen. John 6:70, 71 We are told that Satan entered the heart of Judas in Luke 22:3 and John 13:26. He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver in Matt. 26:16, Mark 14:10 & 11 and Luke 22:6. Christ even says that it would have been better that Judas had never been born if He betrayed Him as the son of man (God). Mark 14:21 Based on his greed, it appears that Judas might have only joined the deciples hoping to receive power and riches when Christ became an earthly king. Most Jews at that time were looking for a messiah that would deliver them by force from Roman oppression. They even went so far as to choose Barabbas over Christ at His trial because he acted more like the savior they were expecting when he killed the Roman soldier and desired to lead the people in a revolt against their oppressors. Judas could have even rationalized that by betraying Jesus he would force Christ to assume his kingly role to save Himself. Christ kept explaining that He desired no personal glory on earth ( John 8:50). How the deciples had to become servants in order to receive a heavenly reward Luke 22:26-27 and had told how He and the deciples would be beaten, scorned and put to death. Mark 13:3-13 Certainly, these were not things Judas had planned on. How could he make Jesus into an earthly king and reverse these outcomes? Judas had missed the point of Jesus’s ministry.

However, Judas did have true remorse when he realized Christ was condemned to die. Matt. 27:3-4 He even went so far as to return the 30 pieces of silver to the priests. Then he hanged himself in Matt. 27:5, (an act of murder that is unacceptable to God. Mark 7:21) but the sash he used for the hanging broke or came undone and when he fell on rocks below (Acts 1:18) his bowels gushed out. The priests meanwhile realized they could not accept Judas’s tainted blood money and purchased the “field of blood” for Judas’s burial. Matthew 27:6-9 and Acts 1:16-19 So, was Judas lost to sin? Well, Christ said he was in John 17:12. We should take note though, that in order to be lost, at some point prior he likely had to be found (saved). Probably, this would have happened after Jesus had knowingly chosen Judas as one of his flock. Still, when Christ prayed to the Father just before His capture, He counted Judas, the “son of perdition”, as lost. But, then something miraculous happened.

Jesus began praying for the deciples and the world in John 17:14-20. His compassion welled up and He even asked that the Father keep all in unity that they all might be with Him in heaven and see His glory and God’s love. John 17:21-26 Then, when the troops came to arrest Him Jesus told them to release the others. John 18: 4-9 This was to fulfill a prophecy that, “Of those whom You (the Father) gave Me, I have lost none. Was this just physical loss, or did it include spiritual loss as well? Isn’t it conceivable that, realizing Jesus was the true son of God, Judas in his remorse, accepted Christ as savior and asked for forgiveness before killing himself. Oh Lord, how great is the mercy of God! But, you ask, didn’t Judas also commit murder after this when he hanged himself? Surly, then he became condemned again. It would seem so, except for the pardon Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” He spoke of all those who had a part in His suffering and death. Could not Judas also be counted there?

Don’t you feel hope rising that God’s mercy is great enough to forgive anyone that Christ testifies for? Christ even tell us to pray for our enemies. Judas could certainly be counted there. And, Christ was not a hypocrite to tell others to pray for their enemies while He would not. This also brings us to the question, why would an all knowing God have ever chosen a Judas to be a deciple in the first place? God needed a Judas after the priests and pharisees first rejected Jesus in Luke 5:21, for Christ was sent to be betrayed and killed that others might live. God also uses Satan in the world, for without evil there would be no choice to choose God. There would be no testing to build faith. God controls Satan’s evil for good to those that love Him, for God can do no evil Himself. The Father cannot even be in the presence of evil. Then perhaps, like the man blind from birth who had done no evil, perhaps God wanted to use Judas to show just how great His works can be. Great enough to forgive even the man who betrayed and sold His Son for money. This is not to say that God’s forgiveness is automatic for everyone! It does show that anyone can have hope, through Christ, that salvation is possible. There is only one sin so great that God cannot forgive it. See Sin (unforgivable) above. Praise God whose great mercy endures forever. Those who seek Him find Him.