At this point in my study of N.T. Wright’s book, Simply Jesus, I find myself needing to prove there is no such thing as an evil spirit being called Satan. Ironically, I must prove the negative despite the fact that there is no evidence in scripture that there ever was an angelic rebellion in heaven. If there was never an angelic rebellion in heaven, where did Satan come from? Moreover, Jesus never explains what we must do to fight such a spiritual enemy, whose army is said to include one-third of the angels God created in heaven (cp. Revelation 12:4), which some might say includes the 200,000,000 horsemen of Revelation 9:16.
The scriptures tell us that Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness in a battle with Satan, called the devil in Matthew and Luke (Mark 1:12-13; cp. Matthew 4:1-2; Luke 4:1-2). The scriptures also speak a great deal about demons, which many claim are part of an evil angelic force, led by Satan. Nevertheless, the Bible never defines demons and evil angels, but it does seem to define a demon (Mark 7:25) as an unclean spirit, which, when it is rebuked and comes out of a person, the person is said to be healed (Mark 7:29; Luke 9:42). In some cases, a man, whose demon had been rebuked, is said to be in his right mind (Mark 5:15; Luke 8:35).
We need to ask: are folks healed of demonic possession or are controlling, sentient evil spirits cast out of a person, like a doctor might remove a tumor from a human body? One thing is certain; in whatever manner we define demon, it, of and by itself, cannot be detected by any of one’s five senses. Rather, it’s existence or behavior is interpreted to possess a human being in one way or another. What we are able to see is a human being, behaving in a manner that is either morally inappropriate or one or more of the person’s senses have been possessed and altered or their functions have been compromised and muzzled by the unclean spirit. So, is a demon something that lives on its own and enters a human body, as a separate entity, or is it something psychosomatic, whose behavior is empowered by the human body, it is said to possess? I am inclined to believe, it is the latter.
What are we able to conclude about those scriptures that seem to show Satan is a separate spirit that exists on its own and troubles people, vis-à-vis the woman having the spirit of infirmity (Luke 13:11), who was said to be bound by Satan for eighteen years (verse-16)? Luke, who is a physician, uses a medical term for a bent spine. So, was the woman literally bound by an evil spirit or was she bound eighteen years by a severe medical condition?
Jesus told Peter, “Satan has desired you, that he may sift you as wheat…” (Luke 22:31). The term, desired (G1809; demanded, obtain by asking), is found only here in the Bible. Whatever we may think Satan is, the context of Jesus’ remark concerns Peter’s denials of him, while present at Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin (Luke 22:31-34). So, is “the Satan” a spirit being who wanted to make a trial of Peter, or is “the Satan” a personification of Jesus’ enemies who wanted a chance to make a trial of Peter apart from Jesus’ influence, and was carried out that night in Peter’s three denials?
Finally, the text says that “the Satan” put it into Judas’ heart to betray Jesus (John 13:2), but betray may not be a good translation. Betray gives the sense that Judas wanted to do an evil thing to Jesus. The word deliver is better, in my opinion, because Judas was a zealot and it seems he had a certain perception of how the Messiah should act, but Jesus didn’t fit the mold. He wanted Jesus to do what the Messiah was prophesied to do, namely to lead his people out of oppression and bondage. Judas delivered Jesus over to the elders in an effort to force Jesus to do those things predicted about him in the prophets.[1]
So, what does it mean that Satan put it into Judas’ heart to deliver Jesus into the hands of his enemies (John 13:2), and later that Satan actually entered Judas (John 13:27)? The word Satan is the operative principle that determines the meaning of the text. Whoever or whatever one believes Satan is will determine how he understands the meaning of the text. According to my understanding, Satan is a personification of whoever Judas was discussing Jesus with, prior to John 13:2. In Luke 22:3 we see that he went to discuss delivering Jesus into the hands of the Jewish authorities. So, Judas may have discussed doing so with other zealots prior to going to the Jewish authorities, or some of those Jewish authorities may have been zealots, known to Judas, and they wanted to get Jesus to do what they believed the Messiah should do, vis-à-vis being arrested may have been understood to be the impetus that would convince Jesus to cooperate with them.
As for Satan entering (G1525) Judas (John 13:27), this may be understood in a figurative sense. Used in another sense, Jesus sent out his disciples to reap what they didn’t sow. Instead, others sowed and they entered (G1525) into their labors, as Jesus’ disciples reap what others sowed (John 4:38). It can be like entering (G1525) a state of mind as ‘temptation’ is (Matthew 26:41). Therefore, what had been a ‘thought’ in John 13:2 became an actuality that governed Judas’ behavior in John 13:27. So, battling the Satan, according to my own understanding,[2] doesn’t have to be fighting a spirit being, but a spiritual condition or mindset of folks that oppose the Gospel.
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[1] The term betray or deliver (G3860) is also used of God delivering Jesus to be crucified for our salvation (Romans 8:32). So, I don’t believe betray gives a proper sense of what was being done. God didn’t betray Jesus, he delivered him over to the Jewish authorities to do to him what they desired, but it was God’s intention that Jesus save mankind.
[2] N.T. Wright takes a different approach. He does believe in evil spirits and an evil spirit called Satan.
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