Wednesday, April 1st | Daily Devotion
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“Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.”–Luke 22:1-6
TRANSCRIPTION:
Good morning. Grace and peace be unto all of you, my Father’s children.
It is Wednesday of Holy Week — the middle of the road to the cross. This week we have been dwelling in the themes of repentance and atonement, and today the calendar of Holy Week brings us to a day with a name most people have never heard: Spy Wednesday.
Spy Wednesday is the day church tradition marks as the moment Judas Iscariot made his decision. He went to the chief priests, negotiated a price, and agreed to hand Jesus over to His enemies. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this moment — but Luke adds a detail the other two do not. Matthew and Mark tell us what happened. Luke tells us why.
In Luke’s account, three words stop everything: Satan entered Judas.
Not a temptation resisted poorly. Not a moment of weakness or greed. Luke specifically tells us that in this moment, Judas was entered, influenced, overtaken. And what is striking is that in all the time Judas walked with Jesus — among the twelve, present for every miracle, every teaching, every intimate moment of ministry — we never read those words about any of the other disciples. It happened here, in this moment, to this man.
That detail gives us something important to sit with as we reflect on repentance and atonement. Before we seek forgiveness for what we have done, we have to be honest about what drove us to do it. Paul captures the tension perfectly when he says: the things I don’t want to do, I do — and the things I want to do, I don’t do. There is a war. And sometimes, if we are truly honest, the decisions we make do not even feel like us. Have you ever looked back on a choice and thought — that was not who I am? That did not come from the person I am called to be?
That is the beginning of genuine repentance. Not just naming the action, but acknowledging the influence behind it.
We know how Judas’ story ends. Overtaken by guilt, unable to find his way back to reconciliation, he could not receive what was still available to him. And that is the tragedy — not just the betrayal, but the inability to believe that restoration was still possible. The enemy had taken hold not only of his actions but of his hope.
But here is what we have that Judas did not fully lay hold of: the power of the Holy Spirit. Not only to resist the enemy’s influence, but when we have been overtaken — when we have fallen, when we have acted in ways that grieve God and ourselves — we always have a way back. God always provides a place of return, a path to get right, an invitation to get back on track. The door to reconciliation is not closed.
So on this Spy Wednesday, let us be watchful. Let us be mindful of what is influencing our decisions and our dispositions. And let us never allow guilt to convince us that what Judas tragically believed — that there is no way back — is true for us. There always is.
God bless you. Have an incredible morning.
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