Was Judas Predestined to Betray Jesus?
Was Judas Predestined to Betray Jesus?
THE BETRAYER’S KISS IN THE EMPIRE STATE: A THEOLOGICAL FIREWHIRL IN MODERN AMERICA
BY JACKSON STERLING | NATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT
NEW YORK CITY, NY
The neon lights of Times Square hum with a relentless, indifferent energy, but just a few blocks away, inside the hushed, velvet-lined halls of a private theological forum, a debate is unfolding that has sent shockwaves from Manhattan to the small-town steeples of Ohio.
At the center of this firestorm is the figure of Judas Iscariot—not merely as a historical footnote, but as a mirror reflecting the deepest tensions in the American soul. The question being asked in seminars from Yale to Liberty University is simple yet devastating: Was the ultimate traitor ever truly loved by the country’s most celebrated figure of grace?
Sam Shamoun, a prominent voice in the American apologetics circuit, recently sat down in a high-rise studio overlooking the East River to dissect the tragedy of Judas through a uniquely American lens of betrayal, justice, and the “High-Stakes Heart” of the Divine.
I. THE SON OF PERDITION IN THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS
“Was Judas saved?” Shamoun’s voice echoed through the studio, sharp as a New York winter. “The answer, according to the records we hold sacred in this country’s foundational faith, is a resounding no.”
Shamoun pointed to the “High Priestly Prayer,” a document he compared to a Presidential farewell address, where the phrase “Son of Perdition” is used. “In American law, we talk about the ‘Man of Lawlessness.’ In the New Testament, that phrase—Son of Perdition—is used only twice: once for Judas and once for the Antichrist. This isn’t just a mistake; it’s an identity. Judas belonged to the darkness, even while walking the streets of Jerusalem—or in our terms, the avenues of Manhattan.”
The report suggests that Judas was “filled with the enemy,” a concept that resonates deeply with an American public obsessed with psychological profiles of high-level traitors.
II. THE SEATS OF POWER: FROM D.C. TO THE TWELVE THRONES
However, the narrative took a shocking turn that challenged the rigid “Five-Point Calvinism” often found in the Rust Belt and Southern seminaries. Shamoun presented a “shocking” piece of evidence from the Gospel of Matthew that reads like a broken political promise—except this one was true.
“Jesus told the Twelve—including Judas—that they would sit on twelve thrones judging the tribes of Israel,” Shamoun noted. “Think about that. In the regeneration of the world, the plan was for Judas to have a seat of power. Jesus wasn’t lying. His heart’s desire for that man from Kerioth was glory, not destruction.”
Shamoun argues that even while Judas was “working for the other side,” the offer of a “Cabinet position” in the Kingdom was genuine. “It shows the heart of a leader who loves even his own assassin.”
III. THE MIDWEST MIRACLES: POWER IN THE HANDS OF A TRAITOR
One of the most controversial points discussed in the New York forum was the “delegated authority” given to Judas. In a tour that Shamoun likened to a “national campaign through the heartland,” Jesus sent the Twelve to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana (metaphorically) to heal the sick and raise the dead.
“Judas did miracles,” Shamoun stated emphatically. “He saw the dead rise at his own command. He saw lepers cleansed. He felt the power of the Name move through his own hands. Imagine the audacity—to see the power of God working through you and then to go and sell that same God for the price of a used car in Detroit.”
The report highlights the “travesty” of Judas’s career: he was a “charismatic healer” by day and a “thief” by night.
IV. THE MONEY BAG AND THE EMBEZZLEMENT SCANDAL
In a detail that feels ripped from a Wall Street ticker tape, Shamoun reminded the audience that Judas was the treasurer of the group.
“Jesus was not ashamed to accept donations,” Shamoun explained. “He lived off the financial support of people like Joanna, the wife of a high-ranking government official—think of her as the wife of a State Department steward in D.C. They put their hard-earned money into a bag to fund the ministry, and Judas was helping himself to the till.”
The “mind-blowing” part for the American audience was the silence of the Leader. “Jesus knew Judas was stealing. He knew every cent that was missing. And yet, he never called a press conference. He never shamed him. He let him keep the bag until the very end. That is a level of patience that is alien to our ‘cancel culture’ in America today.”
V. THE LAST SUPPER IN A CHICAGO GARAGE
The narrative shifted from the abstract to the deeply personal as Shamoun recalled his own experiences with betrayal in Chicago. He connected the “Holy Kiss” to the “Unholy Kiss” of a man he had brought into his own home to fix a bathroom.
“I had a guy fixing my plumbing,” Shamoun recounted, his voice thick with emotion. “I brought him into my house, I mentored him, I cared for his family. And behind my back, he started an affair with my wife. When I talk about Judas, I’m not talking about a storybook. I’m talking about the man who kisses you while he’s destroying your life.”
Shamoun used this personal agony to illustrate the “Beauty of Christ.” “When you stand before the Lord and say, ‘You don’t know what it’s like to have a best friend betray you,’ He will just smile. He’ll look at you and say, ‘Do you remember the night in the garden? Do you remember the kiss?'”
VI. THE BREAKING POINT: REJECTING “LIMITED ATONEMENT”
The report concludes with a major theological shift that is currently dividing American denominations. Because of the story of Judas, Shamoun announced his formal rejection of “Limited Atonement”—the idea that Christ only died for a select few.
“I had to let go of the construct,” Shamoun declared to the Manhattan crowd. “No five-point Calvinist in America will tell you that Jesus died for Judas. But the Bible says He broke His body and shed His blood for ‘you’—and Judas’s hand was on that table. If Jesus died for the man who would hand Him over to be whipped to a bloody pulp, then He died for everyone.”
VII. THE FINAL VERDICT: A BROKEN HEART IN THE GARDEN
As the sun set over the Hudson River, the forum ended on a somber note. The story of Judas is presented not as a victory of predestination, but as the tragedy of a “Broken God.”
“Jesus didn’t yell at him,” Shamoun concluded. “He didn’t scream. He looked at him in the garden and said, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’ He killed him with kindness. He loved him to the end, even though He knew that love would be spat upon.”
In an era of political backstabbing and social media vitriol, the story of the “Unholy Kiss” serves as a haunting reminder to the American public: the greatest pain isn’t found in the hatred of an enemy, but in the betrayal of a friend who was loved “to the point of dying.”
REPORTING FOR THE AMERICAN CHRONICLE, I’M JACKSON STERLING.
