Judas

The disciples do not know that Jesus's death is fast approaching, but He certainly does, and makes meaningful use of the short time remaining. The washing of the disciples feet, the institution of communion, and the last discourse to His disciples all demonstrate that He was redeeming the time. Judas missed both the first communion and Jesus' last sermon, because he left the Passover meal early to betray Jesus. There isn't much said in Scripture as to why Judas would do such a thing, but it can be assumed that he was disgruntled with the direction Jesus ministry was taking. The Jews were looking for a political and military conqueror, not a servant who washed the feet of his disciples. It was also hinted previously that Judas was greedy (John 12:6) so material gain coupled with his discontent could have pushed him to the brink of betrayal. The thirty pieces of silver he was paid for leading the Pharisees to Jesus was the equivalent of about $12,000-$15,000. According to John, he also had a little help from Satan himself. Lest we succumb to the popular excuse "the devil made him do it", we need to address an important doctrinal truth. Can Satan take possession of a believer?

Believers are influenced by the power of Satan (temptations of the world, the flesh, and evil in general) on a daily basis, but certainly have the power to resist those influences. They sometimes choose not to, which is not to say that they are "possessed". They are simply yielding to temptation. The idea of demon possession is something different and implies that the possessed person would be incapable of resisting the influence. This cannot happen to a believer, and is actually pretty rare in Scripture. So if Satan entered Judas, he cannot have been a true believer. This is no surprise. But if he was "possessed" by Satan, is he responsible for his actions? Yes. A person that is under the influence or control of a demon has opened themselves to the "possession" by having a heart that is rebellious toward God and one that is characterized by yielding to sin. Judas made choices prior to this event that set up the circumstances for Satan's influence. We read earlier in John 13:2 that satan had put the idea of the betrayal into Judas' mind before the Passover meal. Satan "entering into" Judas in chapter 14 was not something new. Over the course of time, Judas had given Satan permission to take control by repeatedly yielding to sin and closing his heart to Jesus.

Tomorrow's reading: John 13:31-15:17; Mark 14:27-31; Matt. 26:31-35; Luke 22:31-38