How Could Judas Follow Jesus and Not Be "Saved"?
There are few people in the Bible I find more intriguing—or more sobering—than Judas Iscariot.
Think about all the things he would have experienced.
For roughly three years, Judas walked with Jesus, heard Jesus teach, watched Jesus heal the sick, witnessed blind people receive sight and saw the deaf begin to hear again. He watched Jesus feed thousands of people. He sat at the table with Him. He traveled with Him. He watched the way Jesus treated people when nobody else was watching.
And Judas didn't merely see all these things...he participated in them!
Matthew tells us that Jesus called His twelve disciples together and “gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness” (Matthew 10:1). A few verses later, Matthew names the Twelve. And Judas is one of them.
And yet John tells us that Judas did not believe (John 6:64).
How is that possible? How could someone spend that much time with Jesus, experience all that he experienced, even participate in all of those things—and still not actually know Jesus as his Savior?
First, we should be careful with the question.
I've often heard the question asked this way: "Was Judas saved?" It's a legitimate question, but it can be complicated because Judas lived at a unique moment in salvation history.
He lived before the cross. Before the resurrection. Before Pentecost.
That doesn't mean people couldn't be saved before those events. Of course they could. Abraham is perhaps the clearest example. Genesis says Abraham “believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6) and also “...the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham..." (Galatians 3:8). Paul later uses Abraham to explain justification by faith in Romans 4.
People have always been saved by God's grace through faith on the basis of shed blood- “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22).
But Abraham didn't know everything we know. Neither did David. Neither did Isaiah. God progressively revealed His plan throughout history, and people were responsible to believe what God had revealed.
The disciples themselves are a fascinating example of this. Peter could look at Jesus and say, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). That's real faith. And yet, just a few verses later, when Jesus explained that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer, be killed, and be raised, Peter rebuked Him.
Peter believed in Jesus while still having a great deal to learn about what Jesus had come to do. So Judas' problem wasn't simply that he couldn't have explained the death and resurrection of Jesus the way you or I can today.
Neither could Peter. That tells us that something deeper in Judas was wrong.
John tells us exactly what that was.
In John 6, some who had been following Jesus began to walk away because of His teaching. John explains: “For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.” (John 6:64).
Notice how John describes Judas. It's not just that Jesus knew he would betray Him. Judas' betrayal is placed within the context of "unbelief".
In that same passage, Peter makes one of his great confessions: “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68–69). And immediately Jesus responds with those words...“Didn't I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” (John 6:70). John then tells us (v.71) that he was referring to Judas.
That contrast seems intentional. Peter certainly didn't understand everything. He was going to stumble in a bad way. Shortly, Peter would deny three times that he even knew Jesus.
But Peter believed unto salvation and Judas didn't. Whatever privileges Judas possessed as one of the Twelve, John presents him as a man who did not believe in Jesus which is the primary condition of possessing eternal life (John 3:16-17).
Judas really was a disciple though! He actually followed Jesus.
This is where I think Judas forces us to make an important distinction. Judas wasn't pretending to be one of the Twelve in the sense that he had somehow snuck into the group.
He didn't manipulate his way in. Jesus chose him (See John 6:70 again)!
Judas really traveled with the Twelve. He really heard Jesus teach. He really participated in their ministry. He really held responsibility among them. John tells us that Judas kept the money bag (John 12:6).
So in a very real and historical sense, Judas was a disciple of Jesus. What he apparently was not was a believer in Jesus.
That's an important distinction because sometimes we use "disciple" and "believer" as though the words always mean exactly the same thing. To be sure, there's often overlap. But in the Gospels, “disciple” can simply describe someone who follows or learns from a teacher. John 6:66 even says, “From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
It's clear. There were disciples who followed Jesus...until they didn't. Judas followed longer than almost all of them. But following alongside Jesus was not the same thing as trusting in Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life.
And apparently nobody knew that Judas wasn't a believer.
To me, this is one of the most astounding realities about Judas. He seemed to be totally normal to everybody else...everybody except Jesus, that is.
At the Last Supper, Jesus said “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And NOT ONE of the disciples turned and stared at Judas! Instead, Matthew says they were “deeply distressed” and started asking Jesus, “Surely not I, Lord?” (Matthew 26:21–22). John tells us specifically, "The disciples started looking at one another--uncertain which one He was speaking about." (John 13:22).
Think about that! They had lived with Judas. Traveled with Judas. Eaten with Judas. Ministered along side Judas. Prayed with Judas. And evidently Judas' life didn't look so dramatically different that everybody immediately knew Jesus was talking about him.
That's a pretty sobering reality and there's a real spiritual truth to grasp here.
Spiritual activity isn't the same thing as saving faith.
Judas had even been sent out in ministry! Matthew 10 says Jesus gave the Twelve authority over unclean spirits and diseases and sent them out to proclaim that “the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 10:7). We shouldn't speculate beyond what Scripture tells us about exactly what Judas personally did during that mission. But he was undoubtedly among those Jesus commissioned and sent.
That should make us think about something Jesus says elsewhere:
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you.’” (Matthew 7:22–23).
That's an astonishing warning. Evidently there is an enormous (and eternally significant) difference between doing things associated with Jesus and actually knowing Jesus.
That's not just a Judas problem. It's a human problem. Humans are remarkably good at substituting external things for faith.
The contrast between Peter and Judas is especially helpful because Peter prevents us from drawing the wrong conclusion.
The lesson for us isn't that a real believer never struggles. Peter definitely struggled. It isn't that a real believer understands everything correctly. Peter certainly didn't. It isn't even that a real believer will never fail Jesus terribly. Peter did!
So what separated them? Listen again to Peter: “Lord, to whom will we go?” I love that. Peter didn't have everything figured out. But he knew where life was found! He said, “You alone have the words of eternal life.” That's saving faith!
Imperfect faith. Growing faith. Faith that still had plenty of misunderstandings mixed into it. But real faith nonetheless.
Judas on the other hand, had extraordinary proximity to Jesus without that kind of faith in Jesus.
That's what makes the record of Judas so uncomfortable.
Most of us will never stand where Judas stood. We won't physically walk the roads of Galilee with Jesus. We won't sit in the upper room and watch Jesus wash our feet.
But we can become very familiar with Jesus. Especially those of us who have been around church for a long time. We can know the Bible stories. Sing the songs. Understand the language. Know when to stand. Know when to pray. Serve in ministry. Teach. Lead. Give.
And after enough years, all of that can begin to feel like evidence that we must know Jesus.
But Judas' story reminds us that being around Jesus is not the same thing as belonging to Jesus. And perhaps that's why his story is preserved for us in the Biblical record.
Not so that every Christian lives terrified that they might secretly be Judas. But so none of us substitutes familiarity with Jesus for faith in Jesus.
The most important question isn't how long you've been around Him. It's not how much you know about Him. It's not even how much you've done for Him.
The question is much simpler: Do you believe in Him? And by “believe,” the Bible means more than simply acknowledging that Jesus existed or agreeing with certain facts about Him. Saving faith means believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31), that He died for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3–4), and entrusting ourselves to Him as our only hope of salvation. Jesus called people to “repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15), and Paul said simply, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). It isn’t perfect understanding, perfect obedience, or perfect faith. It is turning from sin and self-reliance and resting the weight of our eternal hope on who Jesus is and what He has done. That’s the difference between merely knowing things about Jesus and actually believing in Him.
Peter didn't understand everything. But he did know enough to say: “Lord, to whom will we go?”
And I believe that's still one of the simplest descriptions of faith we have. I don't have to have everything figured out. I don't need to understand everything God is doing. I certainly haven't followed Him perfectly. "But where else would I go?"
Only Jesus has the words of eternal life!
Think about all the things he would have experienced.
For roughly three years, Judas walked with Jesus, heard Jesus teach, watched Jesus heal the sick, witnessed blind people receive sight and saw the deaf begin to hear again. He watched Jesus feed thousands of people. He sat at the table with Him. He traveled with Him. He watched the way Jesus treated people when nobody else was watching.
And Judas didn't merely see all these things...he participated in them!
Matthew tells us that Jesus called His twelve disciples together and “gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness” (Matthew 10:1). A few verses later, Matthew names the Twelve. And Judas is one of them.
And yet John tells us that Judas did not believe (John 6:64).
How is that possible? How could someone spend that much time with Jesus, experience all that he experienced, even participate in all of those things—and still not actually know Jesus as his Savior?
First, we should be careful with the question.
I've often heard the question asked this way: "Was Judas saved?" It's a legitimate question, but it can be complicated because Judas lived at a unique moment in salvation history.
He lived before the cross. Before the resurrection. Before Pentecost.
That doesn't mean people couldn't be saved before those events. Of course they could. Abraham is perhaps the clearest example. Genesis says Abraham “believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6) and also “...the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham..." (Galatians 3:8). Paul later uses Abraham to explain justification by faith in Romans 4.
People have always been saved by God's grace through faith on the basis of shed blood- “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22).
But Abraham didn't know everything we know. Neither did David. Neither did Isaiah. God progressively revealed His plan throughout history, and people were responsible to believe what God had revealed.
The disciples themselves are a fascinating example of this. Peter could look at Jesus and say, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). That's real faith. And yet, just a few verses later, when Jesus explained that He was going to Jerusalem to suffer, be killed, and be raised, Peter rebuked Him.
Peter believed in Jesus while still having a great deal to learn about what Jesus had come to do. So Judas' problem wasn't simply that he couldn't have explained the death and resurrection of Jesus the way you or I can today.
Neither could Peter. That tells us that something deeper in Judas was wrong.
John tells us exactly what that was.
In John 6, some who had been following Jesus began to walk away because of His teaching. John explains: “For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.” (John 6:64).
Notice how John describes Judas. It's not just that Jesus knew he would betray Him. Judas' betrayal is placed within the context of "unbelief".
In that same passage, Peter makes one of his great confessions: “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68–69). And immediately Jesus responds with those words...“Didn't I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” (John 6:70). John then tells us (v.71) that he was referring to Judas.
That contrast seems intentional. Peter certainly didn't understand everything. He was going to stumble in a bad way. Shortly, Peter would deny three times that he even knew Jesus.
But Peter believed unto salvation and Judas didn't. Whatever privileges Judas possessed as one of the Twelve, John presents him as a man who did not believe in Jesus which is the primary condition of possessing eternal life (John 3:16-17).
Judas really was a disciple though! He actually followed Jesus.
This is where I think Judas forces us to make an important distinction. Judas wasn't pretending to be one of the Twelve in the sense that he had somehow snuck into the group.
He didn't manipulate his way in. Jesus chose him (See John 6:70 again)!
Judas really traveled with the Twelve. He really heard Jesus teach. He really participated in their ministry. He really held responsibility among them. John tells us that Judas kept the money bag (John 12:6).
So in a very real and historical sense, Judas was a disciple of Jesus. What he apparently was not was a believer in Jesus.
That's an important distinction because sometimes we use "disciple" and "believer" as though the words always mean exactly the same thing. To be sure, there's often overlap. But in the Gospels, “disciple” can simply describe someone who follows or learns from a teacher. John 6:66 even says, “From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
It's clear. There were disciples who followed Jesus...until they didn't. Judas followed longer than almost all of them. But following alongside Jesus was not the same thing as trusting in Jesus for forgiveness and eternal life.
And apparently nobody knew that Judas wasn't a believer.
To me, this is one of the most astounding realities about Judas. He seemed to be totally normal to everybody else...everybody except Jesus, that is.
At the Last Supper, Jesus said “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” And NOT ONE of the disciples turned and stared at Judas! Instead, Matthew says they were “deeply distressed” and started asking Jesus, “Surely not I, Lord?” (Matthew 26:21–22). John tells us specifically, "The disciples started looking at one another--uncertain which one He was speaking about." (John 13:22).
Think about that! They had lived with Judas. Traveled with Judas. Eaten with Judas. Ministered along side Judas. Prayed with Judas. And evidently Judas' life didn't look so dramatically different that everybody immediately knew Jesus was talking about him.
That's a pretty sobering reality and there's a real spiritual truth to grasp here.
Spiritual activity isn't the same thing as saving faith.
Judas had even been sent out in ministry! Matthew 10 says Jesus gave the Twelve authority over unclean spirits and diseases and sent them out to proclaim that “the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 10:7). We shouldn't speculate beyond what Scripture tells us about exactly what Judas personally did during that mission. But he was undoubtedly among those Jesus commissioned and sent.
That should make us think about something Jesus says elsewhere:
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you.’” (Matthew 7:22–23).
That's an astonishing warning. Evidently there is an enormous (and eternally significant) difference between doing things associated with Jesus and actually knowing Jesus.
That's not just a Judas problem. It's a human problem. Humans are remarkably good at substituting external things for faith.
The contrast between Peter and Judas is especially helpful because Peter prevents us from drawing the wrong conclusion.
The lesson for us isn't that a real believer never struggles. Peter definitely struggled. It isn't that a real believer understands everything correctly. Peter certainly didn't. It isn't even that a real believer will never fail Jesus terribly. Peter did!
So what separated them? Listen again to Peter: “Lord, to whom will we go?” I love that. Peter didn't have everything figured out. But he knew where life was found! He said, “You alone have the words of eternal life.” That's saving faith!
Imperfect faith. Growing faith. Faith that still had plenty of misunderstandings mixed into it. But real faith nonetheless.
Judas on the other hand, had extraordinary proximity to Jesus without that kind of faith in Jesus.
That's what makes the record of Judas so uncomfortable.
Most of us will never stand where Judas stood. We won't physically walk the roads of Galilee with Jesus. We won't sit in the upper room and watch Jesus wash our feet.
But we can become very familiar with Jesus. Especially those of us who have been around church for a long time. We can know the Bible stories. Sing the songs. Understand the language. Know when to stand. Know when to pray. Serve in ministry. Teach. Lead. Give.
And after enough years, all of that can begin to feel like evidence that we must know Jesus.
But Judas' story reminds us that being around Jesus is not the same thing as belonging to Jesus. And perhaps that's why his story is preserved for us in the Biblical record.
Not so that every Christian lives terrified that they might secretly be Judas. But so none of us substitutes familiarity with Jesus for faith in Jesus.
The most important question isn't how long you've been around Him. It's not how much you know about Him. It's not even how much you've done for Him.
The question is much simpler: Do you believe in Him? And by “believe,” the Bible means more than simply acknowledging that Jesus existed or agreeing with certain facts about Him. Saving faith means believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:31), that He died for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3–4), and entrusting ourselves to Him as our only hope of salvation. Jesus called people to “repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15), and Paul said simply, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). It isn’t perfect understanding, perfect obedience, or perfect faith. It is turning from sin and self-reliance and resting the weight of our eternal hope on who Jesus is and what He has done. That’s the difference between merely knowing things about Jesus and actually believing in Him.
Peter didn't understand everything. But he did know enough to say: “Lord, to whom will we go?”
And I believe that's still one of the simplest descriptions of faith we have. I don't have to have everything figured out. I don't need to understand everything God is doing. I certainly haven't followed Him perfectly. "But where else would I go?"
Only Jesus has the words of eternal life!
Posted in Bible & Theology, Christian Living, Faith, Following Jesus, Sermon Follow Up
Posted in Judas, Following Jesus, faith, Saving Faith, Salvation, Belief, Disciples, Disciple, Discipleship
Posted in Judas, Following Jesus, faith, Saving Faith, Salvation, Belief, Disciples, Disciple, Discipleship
No Comments