John 13:26-30. After telling his disciples that one of them will betray him, and them asking who it is, Jesus says "It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it." He then gives the morsel to Judas Iscariot. "Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him." Jesus then tells Judas to do what he is going to do quickly. No one else understands what is going on, they think maybe Jesus is telling Judas to go find food for the Passover, or go give to the poor, but Judas, after receiving the morsel, "immediately went out, and it was night."

As always, there is so much to ponder even in these few lines. Jesus knows that Judas is had planned to betray him, that he had gone to the high priest and made arrangements allowing them to arrest Jesus quietly that night. Earlier in this chapter, John describes this as "the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot ... to betray him." (John 13:2) So the devil at this point has been whispering to Judas, tempting and cajoling him into action, but Judas still has free will - he can still change his mind. The plans may be made, but he does not have to go through with them, he can turn his heart away from the devil and back towards his Lord. This is true right up to the time that Judas takes the morsel from Jesus, thus acknowledging to Jesus himself that Judas is the one who will betray him. He could have looked Jesus in the eye right then and said "No - I won't take it, I've changed my mind, I'm sorry, and I love you." Jesus is giving Judas that one last chance, but Judas doesn't see it. In his deceit, or in his misery (who knows really what he was feeling then?), Judas takes the morsel, resigned to carrying out the plans which he had already set in motion. It is then and only then that Satan is able to enter into him.

Judas has had his face to face encounter with Christ, and has chosen Satan's way instead. Now he is finally and fully available to Satan, and Satan enters into him. From this point on, we can think of Judas as Satan, so when Jesus tells him "What you are going to do, do quickly" he is speaking to Satan, and he knows it. Satan has control of Judas, and takes him immediately outside, where it is night. For Judas, it will always now be night.

This is how people choose hell. We know that hell is a choice, and God doesn't send anyone there. We often think (or at least I do) that no one would actually choose hell, that at the final judgment when faced with Jesus himself, they would realize the error of their ways and choose salvation. But people would and do choose hell, just like Judas did. We can let evil into our hearts, in a small way at first, but as the devil leads us further and further astray, turning back looks virtually impossible. Jesus will always give us that one final chance, though. Knowing what we've done and what we plan, he will still offer us the morsel. Will we say "No, I'm sorry, I did not mean to go so far away from you. I renounce my plans, I renounce my sin?" It only takes a moment to choose salvation, but our actions and choices leading up to that moment may make us feel like we are giving up everything that we thought was right. It may mean killing our pride right then and there. It is pretty amazing how difficult that can be! Judas is a lesson to all of us that it is that difficult, and people do choose hell.

Also, it is worth mentioning that John does not describe the Eucharist being instituted at the last supper (instead, he has the Bread of Life discourse earlier in his Gospel). Thus, this morsel dipped in wine is the only "Eucharist-like" thing in John's Last Supper narrative. I find that very interesting. Does this correlate to receiving the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin? When we look Jesus in the eye, and receive the Eucharist, presenting ourselves as worthy of it, even when we are not, are we doing the same thing that Judas did? Are we staring down Jesus and taking the morsel that he has told us to decline in the state that we are in? Are we saying "Yes, I am your betrayer," and letting Satan in? I think this might be a good metaphor for that.