The same Spirit, Who directed the writers of both the Old and New Testaments (or Covenants), also instructs those who desire to understand the Scriptures. As such, here is an insight that I believe He has allowed me to glean concerning the above topic while reading Mark 10:17+, where Mark describes Jesus’s encounter with the rich, young ruler[1]. Here is an example of an external call, but the young ruler rejects Jesus’s call because he was unable to love God above his wealth. This served as a real-life illustration of Jesus’s parable of the sower and the seed[2]. The young ruler recognized who Jesus was, yet could not part with his wealth.

Judas Iscariot, on the other hand, is an example of a prima facia case presented by the writer of the Book to the Hebrews, in which the external call is responded to and through which all the benefits of that call are enjoyed, but, as it were, as a ‘fellow traveler,’ meaning that Judas Iscariot did not inculcate Jesus’s teachings to which he, along with the other Eleven, was privy. From what can be insinuated by the texts concerning him in Scripture, Judas Iscariot appeared to be a greedy man, whose motivation was to use wealth to gain power. Jesus called Judas Iscariot, despite knowing the latter’s proclivities toward greed and (possibly) a thirst for power[3]. Jesus’s teaching on the topic of who among the disciples would be the greatest in His Kingdom[4] may have been one of the catalysts propelling Judas toward his decision to betray Jesus. Granted, the Holy Spirit had not yet been given, but He was at work through the Second Person of the Trinity; therefore, Judas Iscariot had “become [a] partaker of the Holy Spirit,’ etc. (Heb. 6:4+[5]).

In both these instances, the rich, young ruler and Judas Iscariot personally saw, interacted with, and heard the call of, Jesus. Today, men hear the call through the created order of nature, through conscience and through the Scriptures as the call is presented in the proclamation (κηρυγμα) by the proclaimer/preacher (κηρυξ). Both chose, it would seem, to reject that call, when, in fact, the word that had been sown did not take root, and therefore, they turned away from the invitation. For some inscrutable reason, known only to the Father, the irrevocable, irresistible effectual call of the Holy Spirit had not been rendered.

[1] 17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

[2] Mark 4:3-8 Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

[3] Let’s hear how David, as he described his counselor, Ahithophel, was actually prophesying concerning Judas Iscariot in Psalm 41:9 גם-איש שלומי | אשר-בטחתי בו אוכל לחמי הגדיל עלי עקב Even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted/felt secure, who ate my bread, has raised a heel against me [my note: the sense I get from the Hebrew הגדיל עלי עקב is of arrogance with a desire to supplant]

[4] Mark 10:43+ …but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

[5] ⁴For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.