In these passages, Jenkins points out that “[Jesus] is talking about praying for your enemies. Praying for those who curse you. Praying for those who do evil. Jesus did not say, ‘But I won’t, because I happen to be a member of the Trinity and don’t need to pray.’”
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Jenkins added, “There are many ways to pray for someone, many reasons to do so. Compassion is a big one. Jesus could have had, absolutely, must have had, compassion for Judas.” With the possibility of Jesus feeling sorrow for Judas, Jenkins pointed out that Jesus “had compassion for those who rejected him. He had compassion and sorrow for Jerusalem.”
“Jesus did not say in this scene, ‘I’ll pray for you, Judas, that you will change your mind.’ He said, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ which can mean any number of things, and there are many reasons to pray for someone,” Jenkins clarified.
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Jenkins said he believes that Jesus’ will and the Father’s will are “inextricably linked.” But he reminded listeners of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
“In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus actually said, ‘Not my will, but yours be done,” Jenkins noted. “Not mine, but yours, because in that moment, he was actually, in fact, saying, ‘Could you take this cup from me?’”
“Now, scholars have debated what exactly that means, and eventually you’ll see that scene portrayed, but it’s absolutely unarguable that he said, ‘I want your will to be done, not mine,’” Jenkins said. “Which, of course, says that in that moment, he was asking for a potential change from the plan.”
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Jenkins said, “That seems to be the most likely scenario for a comment like that. Of course, there’s people who disagree, and that’s fine…I don’t claim that I have the monopoly on every single theological debate.”
Therefore, Jenkins explained, “It’s not impossible for Jesus to pray for Judas’ heart while still saying to the Father, ‘Not my will, but yours be done.’”
Dr. Huffman suggested a parallel: “Could Jesus pray to God the Father asking for Judas Iscariot to not betray him? Why not? In a sense, Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane might be said to have entailed [such a] situation.”
