CHAPTER 58 - How Did Satan Enter Judas?
Can Satan Enter Into A Person And Drive Him To Do Evil? Did Satan, the supposed cosmic being who is the embodiment of evil really enter Judas? How can a God who claims to be the only God allow the existence of another being that has transcendent power. If God does allow one like Him to exist in the form of Satan, how can He allow this entity to enter the spirit and mind of a human being? If another deistic entity can enter a human being then there is another being “like God.” Is God a liar? Is there another being like God who has this miraculous ability to fill a person with his spirit and then bring about his own destructive will? Some scholars today claim the recently rediscovered gospel of Judas is accurate and they claim it sheds new light on Judas. Judas is said to have had a unique relationship with Yeshua and was the vehicle Yeshua needed to fulfill His spiritual plans. It is difficult to see Judas as the New Testament portrays him in light of the allegedly authoritative Gospel of Judas. Seeing Judas as the bitter, money-hungry betrayer has been brought into question in recent years. Is it possible that Yeshua was used as an agent of the Creator to bring the Messianic plan to a point where fulfillment of the plan for Messiah’s death was realized? I believe it is possible in some sense. Perhaps not so much so that Yeshua had held special consults with Judas to prepare him as the Gnostic Gospel of Judas purports. I doubt the accuracy of the claim Jesus was planning His own capture by giving Judas secret instruction to orchestrate the event. I do however see Judas being used by the Creator in a very critical manner that did lead Messiah into the hands of his torturers, judges, and killers. This came about however, not because Yeshua assigned the task to Judas as a spiritually enlightened Gnostic, rather it was because of the desires Judas had. It may be Judas was not lusting after money or power when He decided to bring Jesus to the religious leaders and their entourage. Perhaps Judas so intensely desired the Messiah to move in power that he took actions to propel Yeshua to a confrontation. A confrontation that would force Him to act in His authority and liberate the Hebrews from their oppressors in Rome. Seeing an opportunity to have the Messiah captured and then, as Judas perhaps hoped, rise up and destroy the enemy, was a desire of man and not of God. It is possible Judas was trying to help accelerate or enact the plan of God by taking steps to get Jesus to make His move against the oppressor. This desire to bring a hasty beginning to the Messianic Kingdom, was against God’s will and therefore would be seen as a “satan.” The idea and decision to betray the Messiah had entered Judas and that is what is meant by Satan entered Judas. Similar to how Peter was called Satan when he was acting as an adversary to God’s plan, so too was the plan that Judas set in motion seen as adversarial to the plan. Yeshua was not preparing to defeat the Roman oppressors at this time and Judas was seemingly motivated by the belief Yeshua would rise up and reveal God’s Kingdom if the religious leaders and Romans came against Him. The more we consider the strong desire Jewish men had for the Messiah to come and restore the kingdom to Israel, the more we can envision how Judas had the idea to force Yeshua’s hand. By getting the ball rolling Judas would see the Kingdom restored to Israel at that time. There was no “spirit of Satan” that found a way to inhabit Judas and impart thoughts of wicked and evil into Judas’ mind. Satan entering Judas was that point in Judas’ journey with Yeshua that he decided to take matters into his own hands and deliver the Messiah to the enemies of the Kingdom of God. Even if the traditional view of Judas’ betrayal is accurate; and even if Judas had not devised a plan for the advancement of Yeshua; and even if he had simply decided the Messiah would be better off dead and he would be better off with a little extra cash; we still do not have a literal “satan” entering into the spirit of Judas. “Satan” entering Judas refers to that wicked desire Judas succumbed to that led him to act on his confused intentions and sell out Yeshua for a few pieces of silver. The devising of a plan that went against God’s plan is what is meant by satanas entered Judas. If you and I come up with a scheme to rob a local bank it could be said satan entered us. But again we can see this to be no more than a crazy scheme came to conception in our minds and we intended to act on it. Keep in mind, if the demonic spirit called Satan, entered Judas’ body then Satan is doing what God does and is equated to a god. The God of the Scriptures seems to claim there is no other being “like Him”. The ability to enter into a person’s spirit would make Satan like God and therefore make God out to be a liar.
Now for a sneak peek at . . . CHAPTER 59 - Get Behind Me Peter, You Satan!
If there exists no “satan”, how could Yeshua refer to “Satan” as a personal male gender entity that desires to sift Peter? “Satan hath desired you that he may sift as wheat. Is this statement by Yeshua meant to tell Peter that Satan the horned devil was going to hunt him down? What kind of Master is Yeshua to know that Peter was going to get “attacked” by “satan” and not do anything on Peter’s behalf to avert it? Didn’t Yeshua love Peter? It would seem that Yeshua is deferring to the power of another supernatural being and therefore condoning if not advocating another God.This mustn’t be the case. Is there another answer to the sifting of Peter by Satan? What we have here is another profound statement delivered by a Rabbi who understood the concept of the evil inclination. Rabbi Yeshua knew the evil inclination that is often active inside . . . (To read more of this chapter, request your copy of Who's the Devil Jesus Knew?)
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James R. Brayshaw