“And when He had dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And
after the ‘bread’ Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What you are doing, do
quickly.’ No one at the table knew why He said that to him” (John 13:26)
The Lord meets us in a group, but again as an individual. As in the sacred services we are all one in Christ, and yet He comes to us as though we were the only person He ever created. It’s so clear in the relationship between our Lord Jesus and Judas Iscariot. We notice several significant moments:
1. Judas is treated with deference. He cannot say that he was relegated to the back of the room. If he had been close enough for Jesus to reach out a special portion of the food to him, he must have been lounging [they did not sit at a table, but were stretched around the table, resting on one elbow] near to our Lord.
2. One would express special affection in that culture when the host chose a succulent bit of meat or fish, lifted it in a piece of bread and handed it to the one chosen for such a treat. Jesus was extending friendliness and warmth to Judas.
3. He read the thoughts of Judas. He understood that His apostle had made a conscious decision to betray the Lord and was about to expose His location to the high priests and temple authorities.
4. “Satan entered him.” Judas surrendered his will to the devil. The fatal decision happened. There was to be no turning back.5. Jesus has the last word of pity for the man—“What you are doing, do quickly.” Get it over with. You have sold yourself to the enemy. Spare yourself added agony.
Each of us lives with three possible options: God, self, or Satan. Three wills cry out for allegiance. You may obey God, and that takes a great spiritual effort; you may obey your own ever-changing will, or you may obey the devil. It’s never a simple matter to make a choice. God will never violate your integrity and personal choice. You were made to be free, and regardless of what you decide in your lifetime, He will abide by your decision. Satan, on the other hand, is the champion of all liars and deceivers. Satan will not openly encourage you to choose a demonic way of life; rather, he will always suggest to you that it’s for your own good to follow his advice. You owe it to yourself, the demons whisper, you must rise above the dictates of the Lord, your parents, teachers, priest or any others who love you, because they only want to humble you and thwart what “you know” is best for you. Judas couldn’t figure Jesus out. His way of the cross didn’t make sense, so why not turn Him in and make some little profit from having followed Him for three years? And Jesus, like the God He is, would not argue with the devil in Judas’ soul. It’s a frightful example of how precious is our freedom, even to the Lord, and the evidence that He will stand aside while Judas chooses betrayal, suicide and hell, rather than to violate the integrity of his free will.
When you say several times each day “Thy will be done,” you should realize that it’s not enough to wish it to happen. Only by surrendering your own will to the will of God, or better stated, aligning your will with His, will such a blessing happen to you. And until you rise to such a peak of spiritual surrender, you will keep making arbitrary decisions that may or may not be for your eternal salvation. That’s not the worst that can happen to you in this short time on earth you call a lifetime. The worst is obvious: That you offer yourself to the devil and never suspect that it is happening, but that you go on with the illusion that it’s just what you really want.