Saint John of Damascus writes: "Although then, the Lord said, "Good were it for that man that he had never been born," Mark 14:21, He said it in condemnation not of His own creation but of the evil which His own creation had acquired by his own choice and through his own heedlessness."
Jesus does not mean that He wishes that Judas had never been born - had never been. He delights in Judas as He delights in all that He has made. "The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works." (Psalm 145:9). The Lord is good then to Judas, and His tender mercy is as much over Judas as over St. Peter or over you and me. But much as Jesus delights in Judas' being, He is dismayed when He thinks about where Judas' choice will land him. He will finally despair of the mercy of God, and there is no deadlier place to be than imagining your sin is too big for His love and forgiveness.
That's why we pray in our churches' Divine Service to be preserved, not just things like false and fallacious doctrine and evils like war and bloodshed, but specifically from the anguish of heart in despair of thy mercy. That is to ask, Lord, please protect us from the sin of Judas from despair!
Pr. Will Weedon
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