new church life: march/april 2017
What we find in The
Word Explained 3158
forces us to reconsider
everything we know
about Judas. If there
is hope for Judas, then
there is also hope for us.
In passage 3158 of The Word
Explained,
Swedenborg
writes
concerning admission into heaven,
and how none is admitted without first
being prepared spiritually. The passage
speaks frankly of temptations and how
“God Messiah” (the Lord) permits
people to struggle, as it is in these times
that He can work most closely with
people and bring about the greatest
changes. Swedenborg concludes the
passage with a note on extraordinary
cases of reformation and preparation
for heaven:
To this it must be added that some are indeed reformed more quickly, and even
at the moment of death; but then they are of such a nature that they had been
prepared previously in a marvelous manner of which they themselves are ignorant;
otherwise, if saved by the mere mercy of God Messiah, they would undergo infernal
torments, as was told me concerning Judas the betrayer, of whom however, there
is said to be hope because he was one of the elect who were given to God Messiah
by Jehovah the Father, as declared by God Messiah himself. [John 17:6] (The Word
Explained 3158, emphasis mine)
With this brief note, we find hope for Judas. There is an assurance that
even though he was not present for the resurrection, the Lord did not forget
him. We see that perhaps Judas was being prepared for heaven “in a marvelous
manner of which [he himself] was ignorant.” And most significantly, that Judas
would not suffer in eternal damnation for being chosen to play the villain in a
narrative so huge that he could not understand his place in it.
What we find in The Word Explained 3158 forces us to reconsider everything
we know about Judas. This is only a brief selection in a posthumously published
“pre-theological” work, but what it has to offer the legacy of Judas cannot be
overstated, especially because of what it has to offer us.
If there is hope for Judas, then there is also hope for us.
Conclusion
Many disciples have small details stated explicitly regarding their families,
occupations, even their thoughts and feelings. Judas, however, does not get
similar treatment, despite being one of the most significant disciples on
account of his role in the ultimate prophesy-fulfilling “lifting up” of Jesus.
Because of their age and brevity, it might be tempting to believe that the
Gospels are closer to mere registers of events with no frills than they are to
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