None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
Judas is not generally a topic for discussion in polite Christian circles. The idea of having a traitor among Jesus’ disciples is repulsive to the mind. Yet, like everything else Jesus says, there is purpose and meaning in this sentence.
Jesus is talking with his Father with his disciples present. There is a lot of important information being relayed to God the Father, and the disciples are privileged to hear it. They are all listening intently. All except Judas that is.
Judas is off plotting with the Pharisees and Chief Priests to capture Jesus. He knows where Jesus hangs out, and he knows when he will be vulnerable and without the protection of the crowds. Apparently, the Pharisees and chief priests would not have been able to do this on their own. (I suspect that the reason for this is that even they had a sense of propriety about this. At some level, they could not be seen as actually hunting down Jesus. Having a disciple offer Jesus up, however, would be an entirely different matter.)
The person chosen to be a disciple and still betray Jesus to death had to meet a very special criterion. They had to be doomed to destruction.
Jesus does not elaborate on this point, but let’s apply what we know about Jesus and what he taught and see if we can make sense of this.
Continue reading “God’s Eye View – John 17: 12b”