At the beginning of Luke 22 we find Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples planning to betray him. I find it interesting and surprising that the phrase is used, 3 Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples…
The phrase is only used one other time in the entire Bible and that’s in John’s gospel which reads, John 13:27, 27 When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Historically in the church we don’t give much attention to these phrases as they are so mysterious. The fact that Satan could enter into a person in today’s society seems fake to me. I don’t doubt that it could happen, it just hasn’t been my experience. In Jesus’ time it seems demon possession was the norm and it didn’t surprise anyone that a demon could possess someone. Again in today’s society and in our culture we don’t typically put much thought into it.
The possession of Judas does point to the duality in all of us. After all Judas was one of the 12 people closest to Jesus why he was on earth. Jesus knew what Judas was going to do and yet he still accepted him. We each have the ability to do right and wrong. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 7:18-20, 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
It seems that Paul is contradicting himself, but what most scholars believe is that what Paul is pointing to here is that when we make a wrong choice, even if we know it is wrong, it’s not who we are. Paul calls it, sin that lives in us, that’s not a part of who we are. This points to each of us being created in God’s image…we are image bearers of God in the world. The wrong we do doesn’t bear the image of God therefore it’s not who we are, it’s not a part of us. For many of us we think we do wrong things because that’s just who we are…we’re bad. Friends, that is the message of shame, shame tells us we are bad people, that’s why we do bad things. But God tells us that we are created in God’s image. Luke tells us that Judas planned to betray Jesus, then Luke immediately goes into the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, the table of the Lord, communion, whatever you want to call it, it’s one of the most important sacred acts of symbolism the church engages in. At the center the message of communion is forgiveness. The wrong each of us does is forgiven, we don’t deserve it but Jesus forgives us…this means Jesus doesn’t even remember it, it’s gone forever. This is the good news of Jesus but for many of us we hang onto the wrong things we do and live a life of shame. If that’s you I would encourage you to address it. Talk to someone about what you’re hanging onto and trust that Jesus forgives therefore we can forgive ourselves.
Chapter 22 of Luke walks us through the last supper, Peter’s denial, Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then Jesus before the council. Luke makes it very clear that any legal proceedings where Jesus is being questioned, the authorities find him innocent. Luke wants his readers to know that Jesus had no sin in him and was an innocent person who would then be murdered.
As we have discussed in this study, the theme that runs through Luke’s gospel is a theme of full inclusion of all people including the outsider, the marginalized, the forgotten. This is why Luke includes the story of the two criminals who were hanging next to Jesus on the cross. One criminal recognizes Jesus as the messiah, the savior of the world and asks Jesus to remember him in his Kingdom. To which Jesus replies, in verse 43, “I assure you today, you will be with me in paradise.” Luke is making a point in the story of the criminal hanging next to Jesus that it doesn’t matter what we have done and how we have lived our life that we can do nothing to earn our way into God’s Kingdom, it’s a free gift that’s open to all people. I think if we’re honest we struggle with this idea that someone can live their life any way they want and Jesus will still forgive them. Some of us take that and say, great I can do whatever I want then it doesn’t matter. But what we know from Jesus teaching is that’s not the abundant life that Jesus taught. We live in the way of Jesus not to earn our way into God’s Kingdom but to work towards building God’s Kingdom here and now…on earth as it is in heaven. We do this by showing others the love of Jesus in our actions and behavior to point people towards God’s Kingdom. And guess what we don’t always get it right and Jesus knows this, that’s why he forgives us. There is a popular phrase that has recently made its way back into mainstream media by the character Ted Lasso who says that soccer players need to have a “memory like a goldfish.” The phrase comes from the idea that a goldfish only has a 3 second memory, after that it disappears. In the tv show it’s used when a soccer player makes a mistake and Ted says forget it and move on. I think Jesus through his forgiveness says the same thing to us. And that my friends is good news.
My prayer for you is that you would work each day through your actions and behavior to build God’s Kingdom here on earth, to point people to Jesus.
Reflection Questions
How do you understand the phrase, Satan entered into Judas? Do you think Satan can enter into people today?
What is your understanding of the Lord’s table? When you receive communion what goes through your mind?
Luke tells us about two criminals on each side of Jesus, one of them clearly didn’t understand who Jesus was, and the other did. As you sit here today, which criminal are you? And depending on how you answer that, how does it affect the choices and decisions you make each day?
As you reflect on today’s scripture, how do you work each day to build God’s Kingdom?
