Jesus chose His disciples to serve Him.  Yet He knew that one of the Twelve, Judas Iscariot, would betray Him.  Far from choosing a good man, Jesus knew that Judas was so impregnated with evil that he would easily be manipulated by Satan (John 13:21-30).  Even so, Jesus appointed Judas as the treasurer to the group, and soon the other disciples found out that he was a thief (John 12:6).  But why?  Why did Jesus choose a wicked person who would never repent?

Jesus was never afraid of evil, because He was its Master.  He had come from heaven to confront Satan – starting with a deliberate encounter in the wilderness after His baptism (Luke 4:1-13).  Jesus avoided being stoned to death (John 8:59) but chose the timing of the cross (Matthew 26:18).  Jesus confronted Satan and demons, rebuking them with His Word (Luke 4:41).

And when the devil thought he had destroyed the Son of God, Jesus demonstrated His authority over death by rising again (Acts 2:23-24).  We know that Jesus had to die for the sins of the world, but was Judas personally essential to bringing about His death?  No, but Jesus chose one man who would fulfil the Scriptures (Psalm 41:9; Acts 1:15-22), representing millions who are outwardly religious but put their own selfish interests first, having no real love of God.  They want to use Jesus but have no desire to be used by Him.  Like Judas, they have the opportunity of salvation, but like Judas they are fully responsible for their choices and the consequences of allowing Satan to control them (Luke 22:22).

Jesus still has the power to bring all things under His control (Philippians 3:21).  He will even use evil, transforming its darkness to glorify Himself, although those who do evil will be brought to account.  Because those seeds of wickedness are in every one of us, we need to hear the words of Peter to Simon the Sorcerer (who wanted to use God's power for his own glory): "Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." (Acts 8:22-23).  Other people may think that you are very close to Jesus, but He knows your heart: so repent, before your actions betray your Lord.