John 13:21-30 Satan and betrayal

John 13:21-30 Jesus became troubled in spirit, because at this point, the time had come for Judas' betrayal of Jesus to be consummated. Perhaps Jesus was troubled because Judas' heart was so full of evil that He could not stomach thinking about it. Or perhaps He was troubled because He knew the moment was at hand for Him to be arrested and face that moment for which He had come - His death. The disciples were still mystified. John speaks of himself in the third person in the mini-drama in which Simon Peter asks John to ask Jesus to reveal who the traitor is. This third-person treatment is perhaps a literary device to communicate modesty because John does not want to say outright, "Simon Peter asked me to ask Jesus who it was because Jesus loved me." In any event, John asked the question and Jesus answered. The morsel that He dipped and gave to Judas was symbolic in some sense, but apparently communicated a real spiritual event. Perhaps Jesus was removing the last protection of the Holy Spirit from Judas, opening him up to receive what he had perhaps only been working towards, which was the full anointing of Satan on his life. These circumstances are a bit puzzling, but the amazing thing is that despite what seems in the text an unambiguous statement by Jesus that Judas was the traitor, the betrayer, the rest of the disciples did not understand what had just happened. They did not understand at that time even though Jesus had just quoted Psalm 41:9 (John 13:18) which identified the one who betrayed as the one who ate His bread, and He had just given Judas the morsel.

          At this point, Judas went out, fully empowered by Satan to betray Jesus. We have no account of his actions until he returns with the crowd of soldiers and Pharisees to arrest Jesus (John 18:1-3). What does it mean to be entered by Satan? There are apparently different levels of participation in the devil's activity. Ephesians 6:11 commands that we put on the full armor of God so that we can stand firm against the devil's schemes. Matthew 6:13 suggests that there is a strong connection between temptation and the devil, which is certainly consistent with the events in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-19). James 4:7 commands us to resist the devil. I Peter 5:8 warns us that the devil is on the prowl, seeking to devour. But the affliction of the devil described in these passages seems to be external to the believer. There are fewer passages dealing with those whom the devil has entered. I John 3:8&10 speak of the children of the devil, who practice sin. There may be even differing degrees of this, as some who sin do so as an exception (as Adam did, at least initially) and those who sin by choice and by nature. To commit the heinous act of treachery that Judas did would seem to indicate that he fully partook of the devil's nature and character.