I know, dearly beloved, that some may be moved, as
the godly to inquire into the meaning of, and the ungodly to find fault with,
the statement, that it was after the Lord had given the bread, that had been
dipped, to His betrayer that Satan entered into him. For so it is written: And
when He had dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the Son of Simon.
And after the bread, then entered Satan into him. For they say, was this the
worth of Christ's bread, given from Christ's own table, that after it Satan
should enter into His disciple? And the answer we give them is, that thereby we
are taught rather how much we need to beware of receiving what is good in a
sinful spirit. For the point of special importance is, not the thing that is
received, but the person that receives it; and not the character of the thing
that is given, but of him to whom it is given. For even good things are
hurtful, and evil things are beneficial, according to the character of the
recipients. Evil is brought about by the good, so long as that which is good is
wrongly received. It is he also that says:
The Apostle says, Lest I should be exalted unduly
through the greatness of my revelations, there was given to me a thorn in my
flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. For which thing I besought the Lord
thrice, that He would take it away from me; and He said to me, my grace is
sufficient for you: for strength is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians
12:7-9 And here, you see, good was brought about by that which was evil, when
the evil was received in a good spirit. Why, then, do we wonder if Christ's
bread was given to Judas, that thereby he should be made over to the devil;
when we see, on the other hand, that Paul was visited by a messenger of the
devil, that by such an instrumentality he might be perfected in Christ? In this
way, both the good was injurious to the evil man, and the evil was beneficial
to the good. Bear in mind the meaning of the Scripture, whosoever shall eat the
bread or drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and
blood of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 11:27 And when the apostle said this, he was
dealing with those who were taking the body of the Lord, like any other food,
in an undiscerning and careless spirit. If, then, he is thus taken to task who
does not discern, that is, does not distinguish from the other kinds of food,
the body of the Lord, what condemnation must be his, who in the guise of a
friend comes as an enemy to His table! If negligence in this is thus visited
with blame, what must be the punishment that will fall on the man that sells
the very person who has invited him to his table! And why was the bread given
to the traitor, but as an evidence of the grace he had treated with
ingratitude?
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