Q: Was Judas “predestined” to betray Jesus?

A: There is NO predestination to damnation; there is predestination to salvation only. The reason is precisely above: God is the first cause of all GOOD, but NOT the first responsible for evil: the sinner himself is first responsible for his sins! So Judas was the first responsible for his damnation; and God knew it from all eternity. God DRAWS GOOD OUT OF EVIL, yet He does not want the evil in itself; God merely “permits” the evil, not in the sense of a moral permission at all, but only in the sense of a “let it be”, not preventing it, and the reason why He lets it be, is because of the good He draws out of it. The example of Judas is quite to the point: God did not prevent Judas’ betrayal, because of the good He drew out of it.

Objection but if Judas had not betrayed, would there not have been the redeeming Sacrifice of the Cross?

Answer God has other means at His disposal: remember the Sacrifice of Abraham, where there was evidently no fault on the part of Abraham, nay great merit both for him and for Isaac…