Sustaining Judas

Hugh Nibley said this about Judas who betrayed Jesus: “I would sustain Judas.  He was one of the apostles….  If we sustained only perfect people, we wouldn’t sustain anybody.  The Lord has his purposes in these things” (Nibley the Scholar, 10).  That’s certainly the kind of faith that we should put in the Lord—that if we will sustain the leaders He calls, even though they may be very imperfect, He will bless us for it.  In some respects, I think it is beneficial to us today that the Savior picked an apostle who would commit such a grievous sin.  I say that only to suggest that it helps us to see that the Lord does not just pick perfect leaders, and we should not expect perfection of our leaders today.  The treachery of Judas is certainly worse than anything we might expect from leaders in the Church today, and his actions help us put things in perspective when we may have a hard time sustaining someone whose imperfections are before our eyes.  If the Lord would knowingly pick Judas and support him in his calling even when Judas was about to commit such an act, then surely we can do more to sustain those that we may not agree with or get along with. 

               The question itself of the fate of Judas is certainly an interesting one.  About six months before his betrayal, the Savior said, “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve” (John 6:70-71).  Later at the Last Supper we read that “Satan entered into him” and then Judas left to go commit his terrible dead (John 13:27).  Was there perhaps some of his agency that was taken away because Satan was controlling him?  Was he not fully responsible for his acts?  Certainly we can’t know, but we should be careful before condemning him in our minds to outer darkness.  The Savior did say of him, “Woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matt. 26:24).  Surely there will be great punishment that Judas will have to endure.  And yet at the same time, the Savior did tell the Twelve while He was alive (Judas therefore must have been included): “When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28).  The Book of Mormon seems to confirm as well that the original Twelve would become judges.  For example, Nephi learned this from the angel after having seen the twelve who were with Jesus: “Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb? Behold they are they who shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel” (1 Nephi 12:9).  Mormon also left us these words, “I write also unto the remnant of this people, who shall also be judged by the twelve whom Jesus chose in this land; and they shall be judged by the other twelve whom Jesus chose in the land of Jerusalem” (Mormon 3:19).  The “twelve whom Jesus chose” certainly included Judas.  These scriptures suggest that the Twelve Apostles are to hold some kind of judgment seat at the last day, and if the Lord chooses to replace Judas for his wickedness then certainly none of us will argue.  But given the love and forgiveness the Savior has, I wouldn’t be surprised if Judas eventually did take his position as judge after some kind of period of his own repentance.  And if he does, we would do well to have the attitude of Brother Nibley: of course we will sustain him.