In Matthew 10 Jesus confirmed his calling of the twelve disciples including Judas Iscariot. He gave them instructions to go in his behalf to the people of Israel. They were to cast out demons and to bring healing to the sick. This brings up an interesting question. How is it possible that Judas Iscariot worked miracles even though he was not a true follower of Christ? We will explore several potential answers to this question.
- Judas may have gone with the disciples but himself did not work miracles. He may have been with them but not perform as they did. Even though this is possible, this explanation is not likely because he made no decision at that point to betray Christ. He was sent out as all the others were sent out.
- Judas did not go with the other disciples. Perhaps the answer is that he detoured himself away from the assignment that Jesus gave the disciples. If this were so, surely the Bible would have noted it in the same way that the Scriptures record how that Mark abandoned Paul on their missionary journey.
- Judas may have been a believer at that time but when he decided to betray Christ, he lost his salvation. This is contrary to what the Scriptures teach. He regretted betraying Christ but was unlike Peter and his regret. He gave the money back to those who bribed him and then committed suicide. Peter wept in repentance and remained a disciple.
- There is a logical and biblical answer to this conundrum. Judas did go out with the disciples. He worked miracles at the instruction of Christ given by the power from Christ. He performed in the same way that the other disciples did. This is not to say that Judas became what we would today call a Christian.
- So, if Judas was not spiritually converted and yet worked miracles, how is that possible? We must remember that Judas did not have the power to perform miracles.
- Jesus gave the power to all the disciples to do as he instructed. It was not the person. It was the Lord who use the person to work miracles.
- In Luke 19 Jesus was challenged by his opponents. He replied in verse 40 that as he was making his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, if God so wished he could make the stones cry out.
- There was nothing special about the disciples. They were merely being obedient to Christ. In their obedience, miracles happened.
- When Peter made the mistake of obligating himself and Jesus to pay temple tax, Jesus told Peter who was in the wrong to be the means of solving the problem he created. He instructed Peter to catch a fish. In the fish’s mouth would be the coin to pay the tax. Peter did not work a miracle! Of course, the fish was not a miracle in itself. What Jesus said was the fulfillment of a miracle.
- John 1: 11, 12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The very Word of Jesus is the source of miracles. It is the means by which we are able to become his children. It is the means by which God does his work through human beings.
- Today we have charlatans in the pulpit who very likely have no concept of what it is to become a Christian but yet are preaching. They may even be working what some would call miracles. We must remember that God honors his own Word. If an individual under the preaching of a charlatan has faith that God will heal him, the false preacher has nothing to do with the healing. It is always about God.
When questions arise about how things happen in the Christian world, we must always go back to God. He can use people. He can even use things. In Numbers 22: 28-33 God gave a donkey the ability to speak to a false prophet named Balaam. The means by which God speaks or performs his workings is his own choice. In the case of Judas Iscariot, Jesus used his soon betrayer in the same way use all the other disciples
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