John Calvin Commentary John 13:27

"And after the sop, then entered Satan into him. Jesus therefore saith unto him, What thou doest, do quickly." — John 13:27 (ASV)

Satan entered into him. Since it is certain that Judas formed the plan to commit such a heinous crime only at Satan's instigation, why is it now said for the first time that Satan entered into him, when Satan had already held the throne in his heart?

But just as those who are more fully confirmed in the faith they previously possessed are often said to believe, and thus an increase of their faith is called faith, so now that Judas is utterly given up to Satan, to be hurried on by vehement impetuosity to every extremity of evil, Satan is said to have entered into him.

For just as the saints make gradual progress, and in proportion to the new gifts by which they are continually enriched, they are said to be filled with the Holy Spirit; so, in proportion as wicked men provoke God's anger against themselves by their ingratitude, the Lord deprives them of His Spirit, of all light of reason, and indeed, of all human feeling, and delivers them unreservedly to Satan.

This is a dreadful vengeance of God, when men are given up to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:28), so that they scarcely differ at all from brutes, and—what is worse—fall into horrid crimes from which brutes themselves would shrink. We ought, therefore, to walk diligently in the fear of the Lord, lest, if we overpower His goodness by our wickedness, He at length gives us up to the rage of Satan.

By giving the sop, Christ did not give an opportunity to Satan; rather, Judas, having received the sop, gave himself up entirely to Satan. It was indeed the occasion, but not the cause. His heart, which was harder than iron, ought to have been softened by such great kindness shown to him by Christ; and now his desperate and incurable obstinacy deserves that God, by His just judgment, should harden his heart still more by Satan. Thus, when by acts of kindness to enemies, we heap coals of fire on their heads (Romans 12:20), if they are utterly incurable, they become all the more enraged and inflamed to their destruction. And yet, on this account, no blame is due to our kindness, by which their hearts ought to have been inflamed to love us.

Augustine was wrong in thinking that this sop was an emblem of the body of Christ, since it was not during the Lord’s Supper that it was given to Judas. It is also a very foolish dream to imagine that the devil entered essentially—as the phrase is—into Judas; for the Evangelist speaks only of Satan's power and efficacy. This example reminds us what a dreadful punishment awaits all those who profane the Lord's gifts by abusing them.

What thou doest, do quickly. The exhortation Christ addressed to Judas is not of such a nature that He can be regarded as inciting him to do the action; it is rather the language of one who views the crime with horror and detestation. Until now, He had endeavored by various methods to bring him back, but to no avail. Now He addresses him as a desperate man: “Go to destruction, since you have resolved to go to destruction”; and in doing so, He performs the office of a judge, who condemns to death not those whom He, of His own accord, desires to ruin, but those who have already ruined themselves by their own fault. In short, Christ does not place Judas under the necessity of perishing but declares him to be what he had previously been.