Just so you know, I believe that demon possession is a real thing. I have seen too much to dismiss it. But I also believe that demon possession is merely one tool in the arsenal of Satan. If someone gravitates toward selfishly evil behavior it does not necessarily point to possession. I read a book (well, I started to read a book – the relationship between myself and this book was very short lived) that claimed that every sniffle was demon related; every illness was a result of demon possession. Well, those demons are active little guys aren’t they? This borders on the paranoid. Okay, it doesn’t border there, it camps there. Okay, so I don’t believe every unpleasant thing is caused by a demon or by Satan. But I do believe that Satan can and will use every unpleasant thing to tempt; to push; to pull; to plant seeds of doubt. And I believe that there is this flow of movement. When Satan enters and is entertained within, souls begin a journey of departing from the Presence of Jesus.
The Jewish elite were actively seeking a way to kill Jesus. Ah, but there was, for them, this troubling reality: the people; the rabble; they like him. They actually think Jesus might be the Messiah. So, the tension is suspended between desire and opportunity. And then there was Judas. In Luke 22:3-6 we are given a glimpse at the process of Judas departing Jesus. It begins with Satan, the adversary, entering into him. For what it is worth, I don’t think this is about possession. There is some talk in the Qumran community of dual spiritual forces at work within a person. Kind of like the little angel and the little devil hanging out on a person’s shoulder giving it their all to influence toward good or bad. One source mentions Beliar hanging out in a person’s heart. This is about influence. This is about pulling and tugging. This is Satan being given space to operate within the soul of Judas. Judas most likely thinks that it is all him. People have made all manner of guesses at motive. Other than the influence of Satan, Luke doesn’t give us a motive. John tells us that Judas was greedy and pilfering from the group funds. Any other motive assigned to Judas here is pure guessing.
So, Satan enters in, and then Judas departs. This is how it works folks. If we allow Satan to influence our heart, we are journeying away from Jesus’ influence. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot serve God and greed. And in the heart of Judas, greed had won. Satan took advantage and influence his heart toward betrayal. He departs from Jesus and the disciples so that he can have a sit down, speaking together, moment with the chief priests and officers. Chief priests is in the plural because even though their can technically be only one high priest, and at this time Caiaphas was the high priest, his father-in-law Annas was still considered to be high priest and still wielded influence. Kind of like our former Presidents. So, most likely both Caiaphas and Annas were present as they plotted on how Judas could deliver Jesus over to them. Also present were some kind of temple officers. Some have suggested accountants who would have been in charge of the financial transaction being discussed. But the same word is used in verse 52 at the arrest of Jesus. It seems likely, therefore, that these officials were temple guards of some kind. The word “betray” in the NASB does not mean “betray.” It means hand over, deliver up. It is a legal technical term for handing over a person to the authorities. But in this context, there is definitely the idea of betrayal involved.
Picture these religious leaders. They want Jesus dead but they can’t risk angering the crowd and they can’t find a good time to arrest him. And then along comes one of Jesus’ own disciples offering them up his services. Imagine the joy. It was probably just bubbling out of the lot of them. So, of course, they agreed to pay Judas. According to Matthew thirty pieces of silver. Luke doesn’t give an amount. All that we need to know here, is that Judas consented to the arrangement and set about trying to find a good opportunity to deliver Jesus over to the authorities. You know, without the crowd, the multitude of people all full of anticipatory expectations, aware of his shenanigans.
Although Satan is definitely behind the scenes here, pulling strings and enticing a greedy heart, Judas set himself on this departing journey. It is the same for us. The more influence we give Satan, the more we listen to the whispering doubts; the incredulous accusations; the pulling toward greed; the more we will depart from the influence of Jesus. There is a cure. Listen to Jesus. Squash all doubts. Follow.