This question was e-mailed to me and I would appreciate your input.

Dear friend, I have a serious inquiry. In John 6:70-71, Jesus called Judas a devil. In no other passage in the Bible is the word devil applied to anyone but of Satan himself. The word here in the Greek is diabolus and THE DEFINITE ARTICLE is employed meaning one of you is THE DEVIL in the verse. Now in John 17:12 Jesus called him the Son of Perdition. So, my question is simply, who was Judas or was he the devil incarnate. Consider II. Thess. 2:3-10.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2000

Answers

Problem #1 -- In my Greek text, the definite article is NOT in the text. kai ex humon eis diabolos estin -- "and out of you one a devil is".

problem #2 -- "perdition" is a bad word to use for this generation, because nobody knows what it means. It was fine in King James' day, but the meaning and common usage is lost on today's reader. Quick quiz -- what does "perdition" mean? In the New Testament, it is used to speak of someone or something whose value is lost or wasted through misuse or destruction. For instance, the ointment used on Jesus was spoken of by Judas as having been "wasted", so that it had no value. Simon the magician was told that his money should "be destroyed", along with him. There are a number of passages which use this word to talk of the "destruction" of people in eternity or otherwise spiritually -- "broad is the way that leads to destruction" (Mat.7:13), "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction" (Rom. 9:22), "a sign to them that they will be destroyed" (Phil. 1:28), "enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction" (Phil. 3:18-19), etc. Note that "perdition" is not a character trait, so much as it is a destiny, or an end to come, and applies thoughout the NT to things or people that in the end will be destroyed or lost.

In fact, "lost" is another good way to translate the word. The form used in the phrase "son of perdition" in Jesus' prayer in 17:12 is the NOUN form of the word used in VERB form earlier in the sentence -- "none has been LOST except the son of perdition ["child of hell" in NIV]." It may be just as proper to translate this, "none has been lost except the one destined to be lost". The verb form of the word is used a lot in the NT as well. Among others, it is used in these sayings: old wineskins DESTROYED by new wine; the LOST sheep of Israel; "the one who saves his life shall LOSE it, while the one LOSING his life shall save it"; the three "lost" parables -- the LOST sheep, the LOST coin, the LOST son; the flood DESTROYED the inhabitants of earth; "whoever believes in Him should not PERISH"; DESTROYING the wisdom of the wise; etc.

Clearly ANYONE who rejects the truth of God can be called "a son of perdition". The fact that on the surface it appears that Judas the the Thesalonnian "man of lawlessness" are the only ones so labeled is not the fault of the writers, but of the fact that so many different English words can be used to convey the idea that we have little opportunity to see the linguistic connections.

-- Anonymous, February 06, 2000

Here are two simple replies to this thought, without even having to quote Scripture - just simple logic:

First - It was Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection that defeated Satan - would it have been logical for Satan to take such an active role in his own defeat?

Second - I am unaware of any place else in Scripture where God (Jesus) allowed Satan to exercise power or authority over Him such as Judas exhibited when he turned Jesus over to the authorities.(This includes the Job account because Satan had to get permission before he distressed Job.)

No, I do not believe Judas was Satan incarnate. I would think that the peculiar wording just shows John's disgust with the one who would turn their back so blatantly against the Savior of the world.

-- Anonymous, February 07, 2000