Matthew
26:14-16; Mark 14:10-11; Luke 22:1-6 In one of the most chilling passages in
scripture, Luke notes that Satan entered into Judas, possibly meaning that
Satan, who has a spirit body, had entered into the physical body of Judas. Were
this the only reference to such a matter, we might be tempted to ascribe it to
symbolism or rhetorical device (Satan entering Judas in the same way he
influences all of us). But John, as a second witness, also refers to this
situation as a literal occurrence (see John 13:27).
Could Satan have literally entered into Judas’s
mortal body? Elder McConkie wrote: “Perhaps for Satan is a spirit man, a being
who was born the offspring of God in preexistence, and who was cast out of
rebellion. He and his followers have power in some cases to enter the
[physical] bodies of men” (Doctrinal New
Testament Commentary, 1:701-2). Judas had so totally submitted himself to
the will of his new master, Satan, that he was completely controlled by the archenemy
of all righteousness . . . Judas thus sold Jesus to the leaders of the Jews and
himself to the devil. And he watched for the right moment when he might “conveniently
betray him” (Mark 14:11). He sought opportunity to betray him “in the absence of
the multitude” (Luke 22:6) . . . [on John 13:18-22] What was Judas’s motive for
perpetrating such an unspeakable injustice against such a pure soul? The
Prophet Joseph Smith offered these poignant observations:
“From apostates the faithful have received
the severest persecutions. Judas was rebuked and immediately betrayed his Lord
into the hands of His enemies, because Satan entered into him. There is a
superior intelligence bestowed upon such as obey the Gospel with full purpose
of heart, which, if sinned against, the apostate is left naked and destitute of
the Spirit of God, and he is, in truth, nigh unto cursing. . . . When once that
light which was in them is taken from them, they become as much darkened as
they were previously enlightened, and then . . . Judas like, seek the
destruction of those who were their greatest benefactors. What nearer friend on
earth, or in heaven, had Judas than the Savior? And his first object was to
destroy Him. Who, among all the Saints in these last days can consider himself
as good as our Lord? Who is as perfect? Who is as pure? Who is as holy as He
was? Are they to be found? He never transgressed or broke a commandment or law
of heaven—no deceit was in His mouth, neither was guile found in His heart. And
yet one that ate with Him, who had often drunk of the same cup, was the first
to lift up his heel against Him” (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 67) . . . Joseph Smith translation Mark
14:30-31 explains a motive for Judas’s betraying Jesus:
“And he said unto Judas Iscariot, What thou
doest, do quickly; but beware of innocent blood.
“Nevertheless,
Judas Iscariot, even one of the
twelve, went unto the chief priests to betray Jesus unto them; for he
turned away from him, and was offended because of his words” . . . C.
Wilfred Griggs cautioned: “The reference in John 17:12 to the fulfillment of
scripture in Judas’s betrayal (Psalm 41:9, quoted in John 13:18) shows that
even the act was within the divine plan of the Father. One should not, however,
assume that Judas acted without volition. God’s knowledge was not a causative
agent depriving Judas of the responsibility to choose freely, act accordingly,
and suffer the consequences of his actions” (in Holzapfel and Wayment, From the Last Supper through the
Resurrection, 136). (D. Kelly Ogden and Andrew C. Skinner, Verse by Verse Volume 1: The Four Gospels [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006], 545, 546, 551-52, 553-54, 584)