Many
events in history have an air of inevitability about them. This is because we
have the luxury of ex post facto (from after the action) thinking. Step A led
to Step B which led to Step C, etc. The most famous case of this kind of
thinking is the historical event of the crucifixion of Jesus. As the story
goes, it was foreordained that Judas would betray Jesus and that Pilate would
not rule in favor of releasing Jesus and consequently Jesus would die on the
cross.
But
events do not always seem so inevitable when we’re in the midst of living them.
Yes, Jesus did predict that Judas would betray him. But did you ever consider
that Jesus, probably the most perceptive human being who ever lived, knew what
was in Judas’ heart, and by calling him out, was giving him the chance to
change his mind? Wasn’t Jesus all about forgiveness and second chances? Did
Jesus see human beings as mere pawns in God’s master plan? Doesn’t it make more
sense that Jesus seeing Judas on the verge of an act that would eventually lead
him to commit suicide, would reach out to Judas and attempt to steer him away
from the disastrous course he was on? After all, Judas had been hand-picked by
Jesus to be a disciple, so he must have possessed some desirable human
qualities.
As
we know, Jesus was a mortal human being and was therefore subject to death. In
that sense his death was inevitable. But to say that everything that happened
to Jesus, or to us for matter, was or is inevitable, is to reduce intelligent
life to a mere computer program.
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