Will Judas Iscariot be made a judge? Is it wrong to reward/punish a man for eternity for the decisions in this life? Will there be families given in the heaven? 

Those sentences which are colored in orange are from Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati book Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth) and those which are colored in black are Jerry Thomas’s response.

"And Jesus said unto them: Verily, I say unto you, That ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake shall receive and hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." (19:28. 29.)

C. Now, behold! The cat is out of the bag. The real motive of Jesus is saying this to his followers was that they should not get out of his net even after he was dead. Even that rascal who betrayed his Master and helped him to be crucified for a paltry sum 30 Rupees would sit on a throne by him. It is said that they (his 12 disciples) will sit on judgment on the twelve tribes of Israel, but it seems they will judge people of tribes other than those of Israel, since all the sins of the children of Israel will be forgiven. It seems that this is the reason that the Christians are so very partial to their co-religionists. It is very often seen that if a white-man kills a dark man the judge and the jurors being white-men sometimes give the verdict of not guilty against the accuse and let him go unpunished. Very likely the same kind of justice is done in the heaven of Christ. Besides, there is one great objection against all being judged on one special day, called the Day of Judgment, one man for instance died in the beginning of the world while another on the eve of the judgment day.

One is kept waiting all this time from the beginning to the end of Creation for the hour when he is judged, while the other is judged at once,, he has not had to wait at all. How very unjust it is! Again, he who goes to hell or heaven will have to stay there forever. Now this is very unjust, since the powers and actions (of the soul) are finite.

Besides, the good and bad deeds of two souls can never be equal, consequently the result, i.e., the pleasure or pain being unequal there ought to be millions of heavens or hells, so that each soul may enjoy or suffer the just amount of pleasure or pain. But there is no mention of such an arrangement in the (holy) book of the Christians, hence it can never be the Word of God, nor can Jesus be the Son of God.

 It is most absurd to say that anyone can have a hundred fathers and mothers. One can have only one father and one mother. Yet the Bible says, "Everyone that hath forsaken…an hundredfold." It seems what the Qoran says about everyone of the faithful getting houri in heaven must have been borrowed from this verse in the Bible.

Answer: One fails to understand why the promise of heaven and rewards are wrong.

Second, Maharishi failed to carefully read the passage to see if LORD Jesus Christ indeed promised any reward to Judas Iscariot. Let us read the passages carefully.

Matthew 19: 27- 30 “Then Peter answered and said to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?" So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you WHO HAVE FOLLOWED ME will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.  But many [who are] first will be last, and the last first. 

In other words, only those who have followed Christ will sit on those thrones.

Further, this qualification was not unintended as He Himself knew that Judas Iscariot would betray Him.

John 6:70-71 Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, [the son] of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

Let us now turn to the second aspect of the question. Is it unjust to reward/punish eternity for the decision made in this life?

One of the best illustrative answers for this question would be marriage itself. The decision for marriage might have been taken in hours or at best in a few days. However, the marriage itself is for life-long. Is it wrong to bind a decision of a few days for life-long? No, it is not. For the simple reason that what we chosen is not an object of pleasure but a person.

Honor, dignity and importance of choosing a person can only be there if it is considered as a life-long decision. Otherwise it will be reduced to choosing an object of pleasure.

Similarly, in the Christian faith, what we choose as salvation in this life is not an object of “bliss” or “pleasure” but the eternal God Himself.

As the Psalmist beautifully express:

Psalms 118:21 I will praise You, for You have answered me, and have become my salvation.

Vedic salvation is nothing but an object of bliss but the Biblical salvation is being with God Himself. That explains why Maharishi did not understand the importance of taking the right decisions in this life.

Now, we come to the third aspect of the question.

What did LORD Jesus Christ exactly promise? The easiest answer would to check the parallel passage and then to read the overall teaching of LORD Jesus Christ on life after death.

The scope for interpretation comes only if the Holy Scripture leaves it without clarification. Let us read the parallel passage.

Mark 10:28-31 “Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's who shall not receive a hundredfold NOW IN THIS TIME–houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions–and IN THE AGE TO COME, eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

It is so clear that LORD Jesus Christ was referring to the Church- which is the family of God in this t

ime and eternal life in the age to come.

Let us now turn to the fourth aspect of the question- probable origin of houri in Quran.

It certainly cannot be the Holy Bible as the Holy Bible clearly teaches there are no marriages for men and women in heaven.

Matthew 22:23-32 “The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.”  Jesus answered and said to them, "YOU ARE MISTAKEN, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying,  'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." 

Maharishi was certainly mistaken.