There are two ways of translating Matt. 26:24.
One is:
The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. (King James Version, and most other translations.)
The other is:
It would have been better for Him (our Lord in His humanity) if that man had not been born." (Wyclif, Tyndale, Luther.)
But whichever translation is correct, this verse is no proof of eternal torment if life begins at conception (as most Christians believe.)
When the virgin Mary visited the mother of John the Baptist, he lept in his mother's womb (Luke 1:41.) This was three months before his birth, and not all souls are born. Some die in the womb, and some are aborted, but those who are born have opportunities and responibilities the others do not.
As our Lord said:
For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more (Luke 12:48.)
It may have been better for Judas if he had not been born--he would certainly have had less to answer for when the books are opened if he had not been born at that time and place--but it does not follow that it would have been better for him if he had never existed.
That's not what Jesus said.
(And what He did say need imply no more than that Judas gained nothing from the time he spent outside his mother's womb.)
Is there hope for all the aborted babies, the still born, and for the likes of Judas?
Maybe.
Jesus also said:
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32.)
Willaim Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942-1944 (during England's "finest hour"), was thinking of this passage when he wrote:
Decade by decade, century by century, this prophecy finds fulfilment. From the cross and to the cross he draws people of every nation. And the prophecy goes on to even more fulfilment in this world and the next. He will draw to himself all people - even Caiaphas and Pilate; even Judas; even me, at last, not only to a genuine, though intermittent, devotion but to that fulness of adoring companionship which is foreshadowed in the promise: where I am, in the intimate fellowship of the Father's love, there also shall my servant be….
God Bless.
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