Satan Entered Him, but Jesus Said, “Do Quickly”

(John 13:25–26 DKJV) Then, leaning back on Jesus’s chest, he said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” (26) Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

Jesus revealed his intention to the one who reclined close enough to tune in to his heartbeat, feel his breathing, and hear his whispers. The Lord then did, as he said he would; he gave the dipped bread to Judas Iscariot.

Earlier in this chapter, we read: “the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him.” Satan’s relentless attempts to get the seed ideas of his kingdom into the soil of Judas’s heart had paid off; For the devil, it was now harvest time:

(John 13:27 NKJV) Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

Here we have scriptural evidence that like any demon, Satan can “enter” a person. When dealing with the enemy’s work in people, Jesus often gave the command, “Come out!” implying that an evil spirit was in the person. For example:

(Mark 1:25 NKJV) But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”

Also, when Ananias and his wife Sapphira tried to deceive the church about their offering, the Holy Spirit—speaking through the apostle Peter—said that Ananias had allowed Satan to fill his heart, and that he had “conceived” this plan in his heart:

(Acts 5:3–5 NKJV) But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? (4) While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” (5) Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.

The outcome for Ananias and his wife was immediate death. But they certainly couldn’t accuse God of killing them, or say that what happened to them was unfair. They flirted with the devil by entertaining his ideas. They allowed Satan to fill their hearts. In other words, they yielded to his seed ideas; they conceived them, and brought them to harvest. No wonder Ananias and Sapphira fell down and died; they welcomed a ruthless killer into their own hearts, lives, finances, and circumstances. They even tried to bring him into the church by having the leaders believe Satan’s lies. For bait, they used a very large offering. Thankfully, Peter was full of the Holy Spirit who quickly exposed the evil intent behind their deceptive donation.

Judas did the same thing as Ananias. Except that in Judas’s case, Satan himself entered him. Satan’s objective was to kill Jesus, and to stop the spread of God’s kingdom. His very presence brings death, as there is no life in him; he is a cruel murderer, a merciless thief, and a malicious destroyer. There is no truth in him either. No wonder Judas ended up dead a short time later (See: Mat. 27:5).

The following is what Jesus had previously said to those who partnered with Satan and Judas in their plot to kill him:

(John 8:44 NKJV) “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Any time we yield to Satan and his deceptive seed-ideas, we are flirting with the most evil, destructive, ruthless killer in existence. If you wouldn’t welcome a serial killer into your home, why would you receive one’s suggestions into your heart? It is a road to sure destruction and death.

Interestingly in today’s reading, we see that Satan planted the idea, and then took over the driver’s seat of Judas’s life to ensure his plan succeeded. However, Jesus is still Lord. He was well aware of this plot; and as God’s prophetic voice, he confirmed that God had already taken this into account in his supreme plan. So, Jesus himself spoke the ultimate authoritative command from heaven to do it:

(John 13:27 NKJV) … Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

God is a genius; his intelligence and wisdom absolutely eclipses any scheme, reasoning, or foreseeing that the devil and his whole cohort are capable of. Our God really can work all things for good:

(Romans 8:28 NLT) And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

The Holy Spirit shines dazzling light on the whole scenario of Jesus’s crucifixion, by stating very plainly that the “princes of this world” neither knew nor comprehended in the least little bit what God was up to in Jesus’s death. If they had even an inkling of God’s plan, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory:

(1 Corinthians 2:8 KJV) Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Today, we have two powerful outcomes from this story to consider and to appropriate:

One: Do not receive or even entertain any of Satan’s seed ideas. Don’t allow them into your heart by thinking on them, contemplating their outcomes, or planning how you would enact them. This is the “broad” path that leads to destruction (See: Mat. 7:13–14).

Like the outcomes reaped by Judas Iscariot and Ananias, if you do this, you can only reap death from welcoming and yielding to a malicious, destructive, deceptive, committed killer. He cannot give life, light, or joy; he will not provide for you; and he certainly cannot guarantee you eternal life in heavenly freedom.

Two: Thank God that it was in his plan for Satan to kill Jesus on the cross. This is because our omnipotent and all-wise Father was able to turn this murderous act around and use it to be the very price that purchased the forgiveness and freedom for those entrapped in Satan’s web of deceit, death, and destruction.

Satan played his hand; he killed Jesus. In doing so, he gambled his one opportunity and lost. In assassinating Jesus, he also killed our old nature in him. What’s even more exciting is that it opened the way for Jesus’s resurrection—along with our new nature in him. This couldn’t have happened without Jesus’s death. God couldn’t kill him; Jesus was innocent, and God is not a murderer. Satan did it, and opened the way for our freedom and the ultimate dismantling of his counterfeit kingdom.

Now, our sin is gone; Jesus is alive, and Satan lost. He had one opportunity to get rid of Jesus and his kingdom, but it backfired so disastrously for Satan that he is absolutely defeated and legally stripped of all his power, privilege, prestige, property, and his so-called right to rule on earth. Jesus has the legal right to all of this now, and when “in him,” so do we; we are joint-heirs with Jesus (Rom. 8:17).

Now, if Satan has already put his evil plans into your heart, in Jesus’s name, you can reverse them. Ironically and amazingly, you can receive forgiveness based on what Satan already did to Jesus through his murderous scheme:

You can be healed of the devil’s destructive work in your life;

You can extract all of the enemy’s deception through God’s resurrected living word; and

You can allow God’s kingdom seeds into your heart. Thus, you can be flooded with light, life, health, faith, mind-renewal, and love. What’s more, in your hands God’s living word now becomes the shield of faith with which you can “quench all the fiery darts of the enemy”; and it is the “sword of the spirit”—an invincible weapon for which the enemy has no defense:

(Ephesians 6:16–17 NKJV) Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

Today, receive immediate forgiveness where you need to, and then watch God turn Satan’s plans on their head by working all things together for good. Uproot all the wrong seeds from your heart through repentance, and witness them being annihilated by Jesus’s blood. Then open your heart to God’s love, his Spirit, and his word. Allow him to fill your heart and enter your life.

Confess Jesus as Lord. Then watch the true genius go to work; rest and recline on his chest, so to speak; and through his amazing grace watch him expose the enemy’s deadly plans, pull down enemy strongholds, and build is church—all through his name, his word, and his Spirit … but by your hand:

“God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water.” (1 Chronicles 14:11 NKJV)

Wow! What a privilege we have in Jesus.

P.S. “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15 nkjv)