I Choose My Own Destiny

What is fate? Are we in control of our own destiny, or are we just simple pawns
that God uses for his will to be done? Does free will eist? What role does prophecy play
in the midst of this? !here are se"eral ar#uments that could be made on either side of the
fence in re#ards to this issue$ !he truth of the matter is we are all destined to do
somethin#, and we freely choose to do so$ !his is seen e"en in wor%s as di"erse as the
Oedipus Cycles and the &ew !estament$ In some instances God re"eals his will for your
life to a prophet$ 'et(s ta%e a closer loo% at this topic$
When we tal% about the subject of fate "s$ free will there are some thin#s that we
need to loo% at first$ 'i%e what eactly is fate and free will$ )*ate, or destiny, is
somethin# conse+uential that ine"itably happens to somebody or somethin#$ *ree will is
the ability to act or ma%e choices as a free and autonomous bein# and not solely as a
result of compulsion or predestination,$ -.ncarta/ After readin# the definition of each
word it seems pretty cut and dry$ .ither we ha"e free will or we don(t, but it(s not that
simple$ !his is e"ident in many cases such as Oedipus 0e and in the 1ible$ In Oedipus
0e there is a prophecy made concernin# Oedipus$ 2e tries to run from his destiny but
instead runs ri#ht into$ In the 1ible there are se"eral eamples of prophecies bein#
fulfilled$ !wo eamples of this are 3udas Iscariot and 3esus( disciple 4eter$ 4rophecy was
fulfilled throu#h all three of these men$ At first #lance it seems li%e there is no free will
and our fate determines what we will do$ 1ut this is not so$ In each instance these men
did somethin# that was in God(s will to be done but it was of their own free will that they
committed each indi"idual act$ Do not just ta%e my word for it analy5e at each indi"idual
case and see how we choose to obey fate$
Oedipus( father 'aios is told in an oracle that his son will %ill him$ 'aios then
#i"es the baby to a sla"e for him to #et rid of it$ !he sla"e ta%es pity on the baby and
instead of lea"in# it to die, #i"es the boy to a fellow6shepherd from Corinth$ !he baby
ends up in the hands of the childless 7in# 4olybos of Corinth, who brin#s him up as his
own$ !hen one day at a feast a man tells Oedipus that he is not his father(s son$ Oedipus
tells Iocaste, )I contained myself that ni#ht, thou#h I felt an#er and a sin%in# heart$ !he
net day I "isited my father and mother, and +uestioned the$ !hey stormed, callin# it all
the slanderous rant of a fool$, -p#$ 89/ :till feelin# uneasy about the situation, Oedipus
#oes to the shrine at Delphi to as% Apollo about his parents$ 2e says, )!he #od dismissed
my +uestion without reply; 2e spo%e of other thin#s$ :ome were clear, full of
wretchedness, dreadful, unbearable< as, that I should lie with my own mother, breed
children from whom all men would turn their eyes< and that I should be my father(s
murderer$, -p#$ 89/ &ot wantin# this oracle to come true, Oedipus decides to lea"e home$
While on his journey he meets an old man dri"in# a chariot with some other men at a
place where three roads meet;
!here were three hi#hways comin# to#ether at a place I passed; and there
a herald came towards me, and a chariot drawn by horses, with a amn such
as you describe seated in it$ !he #room leadin# the horses forced me off
the road at his lord(s command; but as this charioteer lurched o"er towards
me I struc% him in my ra#e$ !he old man saw me and brou#ht his double
#oad down upon my head as I came abreast$ 2e was paid bac%, and more=
:win#in# my club in this ri#ht hand I %noc%ed him out of his car, and he
rolled n the #round$ I %illed him$ -p#$ 8>/
!hen Oedipus sol"es the riddle of the sphin, becomes the ruler of !hebes, and is
awarded the hand of the +ueen, his mother$ :o, after tryin# to dod#e his fate, e"erythin#
that was prophesied does e"entually come to pass$ It seems unfair because you can tell by
readin# the tet that Oedipus did not want to %ill his father and sleep with his mother$
!hat was his whole point in lea"in# his home, to a"oid a catastrophe li%e that$ !his whole
scenario shows us that we cannot #et away from fate, but we are also not forced into
doin# anythin#$ :ometimes situations will occur that cause to do what we were
predestined to do$ When these situations arise it is up to us to decide what we will do$
When 'aios attac%ed Oedipus he did not ha"e to %ill him$ 2e could ha"e ran away but
with honor bein# such a major issue in their society he chose to %ill him instead$ 2e also
could ha"e turned down the hand of the ?ueen of !hebes$ 2e could ha"e said no than%
you and went on about his business$ Actually, if he had turned down the +ueen she
probably would ha"e been embarrassed and had someone to %ill him$ !he bottom line is
he chose to commit these acts$ 2e may not ha"e %nown all the facts, but he still did them$
3udas Iscariot is another person who we could say was done unjustly by fate$ 2e
is the arch6traitor who betrayed 3esus Christ$ @nli%e Oedipus, there was no prophecy
when 3udas was born that he would betray 3esus$ As a matter of fact there is "ery little
%nown about his early life$ 3udas became a disciple of 3esus Christ and was also
appointed as treasurer -3ohn A9<B, A><9C/$ ."en thou#h 3udas was pretendin# to be a
de"out follower of Christ, 3esus %new that he was #oin# to be disloyal to 2im$ 3ohn B<DE6
DA says, )FDid I Myself not choose you, the twel"e, and yet one of you is a de"il? &ow
2e meant 3udas, the son of :imon Iscariot, for he, one of the twel"e, was #oin# to betray
2im$, !his seems li%e 3udas really did not ha"e a choice because 3esus already %new that
he would be the one to hand 2im o"er to the priests$ 1ut this is not so$ 3udas( character
caused him to betray 3esus$ Granted, this was his purpose but it was definitely of his own
free will that he chose to betray Christ$ It does not ta%e lon# to find out that 3udas was not
a #ood #uy$ 2e was both a hypocrite and dishonest$ 3ohn A9<G6B says, )Why was this
perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and #i"en to poor people? &ow he said this,
not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief and as he had
the money bo, he used to pilfer what was put into it$, 2is pretended 5eal for the poor
was actually co"etousness$ 2e was also #reedy and treacherous$ It was his #reed that
ultimately led to the betrayal of Christ$ Matthew 9B<A86AB says, )!hen one of the twel"e,
named 3udas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, )What are you willin# to #i"e me
to betray 2im to you?, And they wei#hed out thirty pieces of sil"er to him$ *rom then on
he be#an loo%in# for a #ood opportunity to betray 3esus$, While it is clear that 3udas was
a self6ser"in# thief who followed 3esus not because his inner man had con"erted to 2im,
but because he also hoped for personal #ain by the relationship$ It was after bein#
rebu%ed by 3esus when he was anointed in 1ethany and bein# con"inced that 3esus was
#oin# to die and not rei#n as 7in# that 3udas( hopes for political power and influence
were dashed$ It was after this incidence that he met with the priests -Mar% A8<>6AA/$ 3udas
also had a little help in betrayin# 3esus$ 2e was possessed by :atan twice in the final
wee% of 3esus( life$ )And :atan entered into 3udas who was called Iscariot, belon#in# to
the number of the twel"e$ And he went away and discussed with the chief priests how he
mi#ht betray 2im to them$, -'u%e 99<>, 8/ !he second time was after the 'ord(s :upper;
)3esus then answered, )!hat is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and #i"e it to
him$, :o when 2e had dipped the morsel, 2e too% and #a"e it to 3udas, the son of :imon
Iscariot$ After the morsel, :atan then entered into him$ !herefore 3esus said to him,
)What you do, do +uic%ly$, -3ohn A><9B69D/ ."en thou#h he was used by :atan to
commit these acts doesn(t ecuse his beha"ior$ It was his character that allowed the de"il
to use him in such a way$ 1ecause of this 3udas will fore"er be remembered as the son of
perdition; )While I was with them, I was %eepin# them in your name which Hou ha"e
#i"en Me; and I #uarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so
that the :cripture would be fulfilled$, -3ohn AD<A9/
&et on the list is 4eter -:imon or :imon 4eter/$ 2e was the most prominent of
the A9 apostles in the Gospels and an outstandin# leader in the early days of the Christian
Church$ Accordin# to the Gospel of Mar%, 4eter was the first disciple called to 3esus(
side -A<AB69E/ and the first who confessed that 3esus was the Messiah -I<9C/$ After
parta%in# of the 'ord(s :upper 3esus ta%es the disciples to the Mount of Oli"es and 2e
prophecies 4eter(s denial;
)And 3esus said to them, )Hou will all fall away, because it is written, JI
will stri%e down the shepherd, and the sheep shall all be scattered$( 1ut
after I ha"e been raised, I will #o ahead of you to Galilee$, 1ut 4eter said
to 2im, J."en thou#h all may fall away, yet I will not$( And 3esus said to
him, J!ruly I say to you, that this "ery ni#ht, before a rooster crows twice,
you yourself will deny Me three times$( 1ut 4eter %ept sayin# insistently,
J."en if I ha"e to die with Hou, I will not deny Hou=( And they all were
sayin# the same thin# also$, Mar% A8<9D6>A
:o, we can see that 4eter was pretty confident in his loyalty to 3esus$ Hou can(t really
blame him because wal%ed with 3esus and partoo% of the 'ord(s :upper$ 2e couldn(t
ima#ine e"er denyin# 2im$ !his eample shows us how situations will cause us to fulfill
prophecy$ We can find oursel"es doin# thin#s that we would ne"er ha"e ima#ined doin#
when the ri#ht circumstance$ If 4eter was just wal%in# around and somebody as%ed him
if he was a follower of 3esus he would ha"e told them yes because he had already
confessed that 3esus was the :on of God in Matthew AB<AG6AB< )2e said to them, J1ut
who do you say that I am?( :imon 4eter answered, JHou are the Christ, the :on of the
'i"in# God$(, After this 3esus tells him that he blessed because it was God the *ather
who re"ealed this to him$ It wasn(t until 4eter was put in a life or death situation that he
denied Christ$
2a"in# arrested 2im, they led 2im away and brou#ht 2im to the house of
the hi#h priest; but 4eter was followin# at a distance$ After they had
%indled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down to#ether,
4eter was sittin# amon# them$ And a ser"ant6#irl, seein# him as he sat in
the fireli#ht and loo%in# intently at him, said, )!his man was with 2im
too$, 1ut he denied it, sayin#, )Woman, I do not %now 2im$, A littler
later, another saw him and said, )Hou are one of them too=, 1ut 4eter
said, )Man, I am not=, After about an hour had passed, another man be#an
to insist, sayin#, )Certainly this man also was with 2im, for he is a
Galilean too$, 1ut 4eter said, )Man, I do not %now what you are tal%in#
about$, Immediately, while he was spea%in#, a rooster crowed$ !he 'ord
turned and loo%ed at 4eter$ And 4eter remembered the word of the 'ord,
how 2e had told him, )1efore the rooster crows today, you will deny Me
three times$, And he went out and wept bitterly$ -'u%e 99<G86BG/
It is unclear whether 4eter(s weepin# is a si#n of repentance, contrition, or prayer$ All we
%now is that 4eter, li%e 3udas and Oedipus, reco#ni5es that he has done wron#$ Once
3udas reali5ed what he had done he tried to #i"e the money bac% to the priests; )When
then 3udas, who had betrayed 2im, saw that 2e had been condemned, he felt remorse and
returned the thirty pieces of sil"er to the chief priests and elders, sayin#, JI ha"e sinned by
betrayin# innocent blood$( 1ut they said, JWhat is that to us? :ee to that yourself=,
-Matthew 9D<>68/ When the priests would not ta%e the money bac% 3udas throws it at
them and the han#s himself$ When Oedipus saw that he had %illed his father and slept
with his mother he blames Apollo for his misfortunes and blinds himself out of
embarrassment; )Apollo$ Apollo$ Dear children, the #od was Apollo$ 2e brou#ht my
sic%, sic% fate upon me$ 1ut the blindin# hand was my own= 2ow could I bear to see
when all my si#ht was horror e"erywhere?, -p$ D9/
After studyin# about these three men we see how certain situations and our
personalities will cause us to do what fate says we will do$ Oedipus( an#er caused him to
%ill 'aios$ !he fact 3udas was deceitful and a croo% caused him to betray 3esus$ And
4eter(s life bein# put on the line caused him to deny Christ$ :ome people may loo% at this
and still feel that there is no free will and that 3udas, 4eter, and Oedipus had to do what
they were predestined to do$ Well I ha"e news for those who say that we do not ha"e free
will$ Will is defined as the part of the mind with which somebody consciously decides
thin#s -.ncarta/$ !his means we do ha"e a choice$ It(s really a case of God(s will
becomin# our will$