Betrayer Part 2

Luke 22

“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.” (Luke 22)

This is my second message to you about Judas, the betrayer. Actually, it would be more correct to say that it’s about God and Satan, more so than Judas. I will explain that but first, let me ask this: don’t most of us just lay all of the blame for the betrayal of Jesus on Judas?

Judas making a bargain with the priests, depicted by Duccio, early 14th century.

Don’t we indeed? Aren’t we inclined to just look at Judas as a man gone wrong? Don’t we just chalk him up as a mistake, a person of weak character, a deceiver, even a criminal? Don’t we just declare Judas guilty and move on?

Perhaps you can move on, but I cannot. Since my first message to you about Judas, I have continued to ponder, asking myself the same questions, over and over. After three years with Jesus, why did Judas do it? What snapped? But as you no doubt know, we really have no answers. Only God knows.

And I don’t know about you, but for me, there is an almost unspoken question: if Judas could betray Jesus, what about me? Could I have done what he did? Was there something in me that might have been capable of betraying my friend and Lord?

So, as you can see, it remains that Judas’ despicable act of betrayal still haunts me. And even though this message offers no concrete explanation to you, I hope that it will help you to consider what it meant at the time and what it might mean to you in your time.

Read the passage from the Gospel writer Luke again. What stands out to you? If you read the corresponding account from John (John 13), you might conclude as I have, that one thing seems to dominate the narrative.

And for me, that one thing is the very first words that Luke writes: “Then Satan entered into Judas …”

Do you believe in Satan? Do you believe Satan exists? I am aware that some do not, though it’s very difficult to argue that evil does not exist in our world. It confronts us every day, in sometimes horrific ways.

But is there an agent of evil? A mastermind of sorts? A figure so hate-filled as to be responsible for all of the evil in the world? An evil figure who can literally enter a human being and overcome any resistance?

I go back to the story of Judas. You remember. He was chosen by Jesus and was one of us, the twelve apostles, the men ordained to take the Good News of the Gospel to the world. You also remember that all of us, without exception, were greatly flawed in one way or another. And I have to tell you that to me, Judas did not stand out as exceptionally flawed in any way that would lead him to do what he did.

So, what changed? What happened to Judas that did not happen to the rest of us?

What led him to go to the chief priests and officers of the temple police, offering to betray to them where they could find Jesus away from the crowds? Did something, some sinister force of evil, somehow enter Judas? Is that what really happened?

There are so many unanswered questions. And I am sorry that all I can do is to raise them, and that I fail to have answers.

But in reflection, I have become convinced of one thing: the role of Satan in this story. And as I have pondered these events, what becomes clear to me is the depth of evil that Satan has brought into our world. It’s an evil so terrible, so dark, and so sinister that it would seek to wipe out all of the good, and that it would go to the extreme of seeking to kill the Son of God, the Prince of Peace.

For me, it’s hard to comprehend the depth of such hate and evil, and it leaves me with the thought that Judas didn’t stand a chance to resist it. He just wasn’t strong enough. And also, that the only force capable of defeating it chose not to do so.

So, when “Satan entered into Judas,” it was nothing less than the most powerful force of evil that exists. Who among us could resist? Was Judas especially weak in his capacity to resist? I can’t answer that, but I wonder.

And I have to add that, as a witness to the week that you call Holy Week, and especially to the events of what you call Good Friday, I can honestly say that I have never seen such a level of hate. Truly, the hatred that was directed at Jesus that week was not of this world and I shudder to remember it. And don’t forget: he bore such hatred out of his love for us.

So, if you have decided that Satan doesn’t exist, I won’t argue with you. But let me remind you that Jesus did believe. Don’t you remember his words to Peter on the very night of his betrayal?

“Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail, and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22)

And indeed, all were “sifted” that night. Most of us simply ran away when Jesus was arrested. It was only Peter who followed the arresting party, albeit at a distance, to the house of the chief priest. And as you no doubt remember, it was Peter who, just as Jesus had predicted, denied that he knew Jesus, not once but three times. Yes, we were all “sifted” that night. So, as I said, you may choose not to believe in Satan, but just remember: Jesus believed, and so did the rest of us.

But let me end this message with an encouraging thought. Now this may sound strange, but despite all of these questions about Judas, and despite my belief that Satan, the author of evil in this world, led him into his betrayal of Jesus, there is some good news to share.

The good news is this: just as our minds struggle to comprehend the depth of evil and the hatred of Satan, neither can we comprehend the amazing goodness of God. Read what the Apostle Paul wrote:

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him”— (I Corinthians 2)

Truly, we cannot conceive of the extent of God’s goodness and love for us, his children. And in a way, the path that Jesus followed, submitting to the evil and hatred of Satan, shows us not only the depth of Satan’s depravity, but it also witnesses to the triumph of the Good, just as we were witnesses to his resurrection. As we proclaim each Easter morning, “He lives!”

“I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3)

Yes, the love of Christ does indeed surpass knowledge. And as we celebrate each Lord’s day, the love of Christ surpasses and defeats evil.

So, leave all of the questions about Judas unanswered, if you will. And just know this simple truth: despite all of the evil and hatred that Satan could muster, the Good triumphed. And it always will!