Why did Jesus allow Judas to betray him?

Judas, like all of us, was a human being, and like all humans, he was subject to temptations. Again, like all of us. he had a choice. He could either give in to temptation or resist it.

The Bible relates that, when Judas was tempted to betray Jesus, he yielded. He went to the chief priests and elders of the Jewish people and offered to help them arrest Jesus in return for thirty pieces of silver.

God is all-knowing. Jesus, being God, knew that Judas would give in to the temptation to betray Him. Had this not been the case, He would have devised some other means of putting Himself into the hands of His enemies.

Jesus willingly accepted death on the cross in order to atone for the sins of all humanity, past, present and future. He made the supreme sacrifice because of the love He has for each and every one of us.

It is difficult to understand Judas' motive. Was he really so in need of money, that He would betray the Man whom he had followed around Israel for three years, the Man whose many miracles he had witnessed with his own eyes?

It must be remembered that at the time of Jesus, Israel had been conquered by Imperial Rome. Every Jew, including Judas, were hoping for a warrior Messiah, one who would battle the Romans and free the Jewish people from foreign domination. It must have disappointed Judas when Jesus went about preaching love and forgiveness.

Did Judas perhaps hope to push Him into displaying His power? If Jesus was delivered into Roman hands and threatened with a shameful death, would He finally rise up and throw the enemies out of Israel?

Also, Judas had seen Jesus miraculously slip away when a crowd in the temple tried to stone Him. (John 8:59). Perhaps he thought that Jesus would do that again, and not really be in any danger.

Betraying Jesus for money did not seal Judas' fate. Peter had also been disloyal when he denied knowing Jesus, not once, but three times. The difference was in the attitudes of the two men after they had sinned.

Peter repented and was forgiven. In contrast, Judas doubted Jesus' love, compassion and power. He gave in to despair and went out and hanged himself. Had he repented, he likely would have also, like Peter, have been forgiven.

Judas was in fact, a weak character. He yielded to temptation when he betrayed Jesus and again when he failed to seek forgiveness. Jesus did not allow Judas to betray Him, Judas chose to do so. Free will is a gift God bestows on all His children. How we choose to use that free will determine our eternal fate.