Matthew 19:28

[Fish and Bread]

Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Matthew 19:28 (NRSV)

Does this include Judas (The more infamous one)?

John

[Wigglesworth]

From one perspective, the twelve thrones are symbols of the authority to judge the twelve tribes. This would not mean that each of the original twelve disciples would have a respective throne. The promise of authority to judge the twelve tribes of Israel was not made to the original twelve disciples alone, but to all Christians.

So, the answer to the question in the original post depends on whether Judas Iscariot was a Christian who inherited the authority all Christians do. Some say he was not. I say he was, because it is written that he repented.

If you look at it that way, Judas Iscariot would not have authority to judge the twelve tribes because of his status as one of the original twelve disciples, but because of his status as a follower of Christ (which is obviously debatable).

I found Matthew Henry's Commentary (http://bible1.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/MatthewHenryComplete/mhc-com.cgi?book=mt&chapter=19#Mt19_28)helpful in looking at this verse.

[Fish and Bread]

Thanks Wigglesworth. How does this relate to Jesus' role as the judge of all of mankind? Taken at face value, it almost seems as though he is delegating the authority to judge non-Christians to Christians at the end of the age. Yet, we know from elsewhere in the scripture that Jesus is to be the judge of all. Is he essentially saying that his disciples and he will be one to the point where they all pass judgement as one? Or are the disciples not judging the eternal fate of others, but rather something else? If so, what?

John

[Wigglesworth]

As His followers, we share in His authority, just as we share in the redemption of His atoning sacrifice. It is like the way we share in His ministry when we minister to one another in His name.

What that judgment of the twelve tribes will be comprised of, specifically, I do not know. I do know it will be the way Jesus will eventually deal with the descendants of Jacob, and I know that Christians will share in His approach to them.

:crossrc:

[ethereal hope]

Another possibly relevant passage: 1 Cor 6:1-3, where Paul's essentially telling the Corinthians to stop suing each other:

(2) do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?
(3) do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?

(Interestingly enough, after that Paul goes into the passage about who will and won't inherit the Kingdom. He says he'd rather be wronged than sue his brethren, then he gives a litany of sinners who won't inherit the Kingdom. Sounds like he was warning them that they wouldn't be judging a thing if they didn't get right.)

I think the idea is that Christians are persecuted so that the world can be judged. After the parable of the talents in Matt 25, Jesus separates the sheep and the goats by how they treated members of Christ's Body, and the goats go to eternal punishment immediately afterwards (that is, that was the Judgement meted out, and it was "by" the way people treated Christ's Church.)

Doesn't answer the thrones question, I know. (But I'd assume that since Judas was replaced by Matthais, that Matthias occupies the 12th throne now in Judas' place.)