John 6:70-71 70Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And among you, one is a devil.” 71And he was speaking of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot; for this one was going to betray him, one of the twelve
Not all of the twelve were one hundred percent with Simon Peter in his statement of faith. John records another sad comment from Jesus, like in verse 66. These verses pose a challenge mixed with hope. The challenge is that, in his divine aspect, Jesus knew Judas would one day betray him. The hope is that Jesus gives an example of the optimism of grace by offering the word of eternal life to all people. Once again, we see the tension between divine grace and human free will. Jesus knew Judas was a devil clothed as a disciple, yet he chose him as an apostle and gave him the same opportunity as all the other eleven disciples. Judas heard the same words and saw the same miracles as the others. Yet, Judas was like the crowds who could not overcome his worldview.
Judas poses a challenge for Christian theology and thinking. Here was a person who had all the opportunity in the world to experience the power of the gospel, but he let fears, doubts, and selfishness breed and grow in his heart. He is the type of person who likes Jesus but has not fully committed to his lordship. Churches have people like this who maybe like the activities, music, or preaching, but they have not made the commitment of faith and have not died to their old life.
John is obviously writing many decades after these events. We do not know what was going on in Judas’ thinking at this point, but that Jesus would label him a devil or adversary and deceiver indicates that Judas already had spiritual problems. These problems would only increase over time because Judas did not deal with them at this point. He put on a good show because the other eleven did not see through his hypocrisy. He was like a social Christian who looks good on the outside but is spiritually dead on the inside.
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