During the Last Supper, Jesus identifies His betrayer. John 13:26 says that Jesus gave a token of honour (a piece of bread soaked in the herb juices) to Judas, but He may well have done similarly to the others too.  Clearly, they did not see the action as special to Judas.  "Because Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor" (John 13:29).  But as Jesus gave Judas the soaked bread, Satan entered into the betrayer (John 13:27).  As in Job chapters 1-2, God gave Satan permission to manipulate Judas and his circumstances; this time into the greatest wickedness the world has known.    

Three scenarios were about to be acted out, and Jesus explained what was about to happen.  Firstly: the death of Jesus was a Divine plan, formulated before the beginning of time prophesied in Scripture (Isaiah 53:1-6), which Jesus relentlessly pursued (Isaiah 50:6-7) to the point at which He could say, "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father." (John 10:17-18).  Secondly: it was a human conspiracy with the religious leaders - of envy, hatred and greed expressed through Judas' betrayal (Mark 14:10-11).  Thirdly it was the culmination of Satan’s power struggle with God, or rather God’s plan to defeat Satan (1 John 3:8).

These scenarios were not in conflict with each other.  God was working in all the circumstances to ensure that His salvation plan (Romans 8:3) would be achieved on time (Romans 8:28).  God did so to glorify His own Name (John 13:31), and to bring blessing to countless millions (2Thessalonians 2:14).  But the Divine plan in no way excused the betrayer, whose personal eternal fate would be the consequence of his own actions (Romans 14:12).  Like Assyria and Babylon and other oppressors of ancient Israel – God used them as His servants to chastise His people (Jeremiah 27:6), but they were all destroyed subsequently (Jeremiah 51:54-56), bearing their own responsibility for defaming God's chosen people.

Here, the covenant grace of God and the choices of human free will find a remarkable alliance. In no way do human decisions or actions cut across God's will, and in no way does God force Judas into actions that he had not chosen.  However nice it might be to try to bring together the concepts of grace and free will, it is God's privilege to do so and not ours.  We can neither excuse our behaviour on the grounds that 'God left me no choice' nor reduce the impact of His sovereign will by claiming any credit for our initiatives.  The fact is that God always does what He chooses, and we are left with the responsibility to choose what is right and in line with His revealed will.  Those who do that, like Mary (Mark 14:6-9) are commended: those who do not, like Judas, are condemned. The choice is yours!