² During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him …

Characters in the story come to the fore. Christ, of course, is front and center, and “His own” are there as well, that is, the disciples. The timing is “the hour,” the culmination of His mission on earth. The final scene is on stage and the act is opening. We also find the antagonist lurking in the background. Comparisons with Satan working against God through Adam and Eve are hard to miss. So also is the similarity of that sinister arch-enemy of God working to de-throne the Sovereign of the universe by attempting to coerce that righteous man Job to curse God. Here we see the ugly visage of the devil working in the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Christ.

Jesus knew He would be betrayed, having previously told the disciples, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). That betrayal is not set in motion until verse 21, but clearly the seeds have been planted. In fact, the seed had been planted in the Garden of Eden, when the serpent (2 Cor 11:13, Rev 12:9, 20:2) tempted Adam through his wife Eve to reject God’s sovereignty in their lives. Yet, at an even deeper level, the betrayal of the Creator God of the universe began in the heart of Satan himself. In clear allusion to Satan, Isaiah wrote: “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, … you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God … I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:12–14).

Satan has committed his entire existence to attempting to dethrone God, to rise above Him. Since there is no possibility of anything or anyone being greater than the Creator of all things, the most he could possibly imagine is only a likeness, because it is eternally obvious that he is not the Creator. But the history of the universe is the history of a cosmic struggle on the part of Satan to usurp God’s place of honor and glory, His throne. Yet the universe is not dualistic, in the philosophical sense of two equal and opposite forces vying back and forth, like the yin and yang of Chinese mysticism. While God and Satan are opposites, they are certainly not equal! Like a spiritual chess game, Satan tries to check the Master, only to be checkmated in the end.

Christ, fully aware of Satan’s move and knowing the ultimate outcome, sat with His disciples in the Upper Room preparing them for the final act.

Lord, I bow before You as a created being, made in Your image. You are God and I am not. And for that I am so thankful.