In this week’s gospel doctrine class, we read of numerous people who were responsible for the Savior’s death. Today, I would like to focus on Judas, the disciple who knowingly betrayed the Son of God.
Imagine with me that Judas had remained a righteous disciple. Had he remained true to the Savior, the Lord would not have been crucified. Had He not died, He would not have been resurrected, thwarting the plan of salvation. Thus it is obvious that the deceitfulness of the disciple had been known and planned for from the beginning.
Does this sort of knowledge excuse Judas? Of course not. He knew the divine nature of the Savior, and he allied himself against Him. He chose to work, not on the side of righteousness but on the side of evil. Although things ultimately worked out the way Heavenly Father had intended, that does not make it right.
The scriptures abound with similar instances. For instance, had Satan not fought against Heavenly Father, he would not have been cast out, and would not have sought to tempt mankind (though I think I would be okay just grappling with the natural man, thank you very much). Satan had to live with the consequences of his actions. Similarly, when Satan sought to defeat God’s plan by tempting Adam and Eve, the resulting Fall actually followed the plan. And what of the sons of Jacob, who sold their brother, Joseph, into Egypt? Again the Lord used man’s wickedness to further His divine plans.
In our lives, wicked things happen. Sometimes we make mistakes, and sometimes we suffer from the mistakes of others. And sometimes these mistakes are huge, resulting in something emotional, like death or physical harm. Yet, if we in our trials put our trust in the Lord, we can allow Him to use these things to further His plans. We may never see how this is done, but we can trust in Him always.
For instance, say there is a car wreck, and a drunk driver kills someone you love and cherish greatly. You can let this trial work one of two ways in your life. You can allow yourself to fill up with anger and hatred towards the drive and even towards God. Or you can work hard to forgive the one who caused such harm, and trust in the Lord to know what He is doing. One of these ways makes such a horrible thing follow the plan of Satan, who seeks to drive us away from our Heavenly Father. The other way follows God, and says that we trust in Him always. I am not saying that forgiveness in this situation would be easy, but it is certainly better than the alternative of a hard and angry heart.
Related Articles:
Gospel Doctrine: Sorrow Turned to Joy
Do Your Trials Seem to Great to Bear?