Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money. So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.
Reflection
‘Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve.’
Why did Judas do it? Why does anyone do wrong?
Judas was ‘one of the twelve.’ You might have expected better, except their special status reflected Jesus’s choice, not their outstanding character. As far as we know Judas was an ordinary person with a name so common that Luke lists two of them among the twelve. (6:16)
Money played its part when Judas and religious leaders agreed their deal, one hidden from the general population for fear of their reaction. Earlier, Jesus declared‘ you cannot serve God and wealth’ (16:13).Judas should have known (and done) better.
Luke, however, wants to look beyond questions of personality, upbringing or life experience. Satan (seen either as a personal entity or an impersonal force) is at work within one individual. Good and evil contend within Judas, an “everyman” as representative of we church folk today as he was of those closest to Jesus in the early days.
Can we claim, “Satan possessed me” and be let off the hook for wrongdoing? Hardly. Later (22:31-32), Jesus suggests that Satan is trying it on with others among the twelve but will be rebuffed. They follow Jesus’s example. When approached by Satan, he sent the tempter on his unsuccessful way. Judas and his fellow human beings have some capacity to resist evil, and bear some responsibility when we fail to do so.
For Judas, what’s done is done, and he is now in God’s hands, not Satan’s. It’s fine to keep one eye on his example, but better to focus more upon our own actions. As the writer and preacher, Fred Craddock put it, ‘the church is at its best when it stops asking, “Why did Judas do it?” and instead examines its own record of discipleship.”
So let’s be truthful about our failings, humble about our successes, and hopeful, for we depend not upon Judas but upon Jesus to make things right.
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
when Satan comes calling,
help me to look to your example,
and so send evil on its way.
And if and when I fail to do so,
have mercy, and strengthen me
to do that which is good and right. Amen.