Did Judas Partake of Holy Communion

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“What You do, Do Quickly”:

The Lord, pitied Judas, and tried to prevent him from carrying out the betrayal. He also awaited his repentance. Christ warned Judas several times, and even went to the extent of declaring His knowledge of His betrayal by Judas to him. However, when Judas took the piece of bread and did not deviate from his evil intentions, Satan entered him and he refused the Lord's advice and warning. Subsequently, the Lord told him, “What you do, do quickly.” (Jn 13:27). In other words, Christ implied, ‘If you are insisting on betrayal, do not remain on the table from which only the pure who are washed by repentance will partake. If you intend to repent, this should be carried out quickly and before the institution of the Lord's Supper which is now ready to commence.’ Instead, Judas went out quickly guided by the the devil who had possessed his heart.

The Relationship between Judas and Satan:

This was not the first time that the devil had worked inside the heart of Judas. Saint John the Evangelist at the beginning of his account of the Last Supper and of the washing of the disciples' feet said, "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself." (Jn 13:1-4).

In this passage, it is apparent that Satan worked with great power in the heart of Judas; even to such a point that he was not affected when the Lord washed his feet in inexpressible humility.

Moreover, Saint Luke mentions in his gospel that Satan entered Judas Iscariot prior to this. He stated, “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.” (Lk 22:3-6).

Therefore, Satan commenced his work in the heart of Judas in different stages. Firstly, we read, “…the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him…” Secondly, it is written, “Then Satan entered Judas, so he went his way and conferred with the chief priests…” And then we read, “Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him…” Each time the degree of Satan's influence on Judas became stronger. It started with a thought, then with a plan of betrayal, followed by the start of carrying out the conspiracy, then executing the plan, and finally reaching full betrayal. Satan led Judas to the stage of complete loss in the hope of God's mercy, and so he killed himself and will perish eternally with no opportunity for salvation. This is why the gopsel of Matthew states, “It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” (Mt 26: 24).

Fourth – The Gospel According to Saint Luke:

In Saint Luke’s gospel, several incidents are recounted according to subject matter rather than being presented in the sequential order in which they occurred. This is clear in the narrative of the baptism of Christ. Saint Luke mentions the story of John the Baptist, his sermons, his preaching for repentance by baptism, and his baptizing of the multitude in the Jordan River. He then mentions that King Herod arrested John the Baptist and shut him up in prison, because John had rebuked by him for his marriage to Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. Saint Luke wrote, “But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.” (Lk 3:19-20).

It is well known, as mentioned in the gospels, that Christ was baptized by John in the Jordan before he was shut up in prison, and before John’s martyrdom which followed his imprisonment. However, Saint Luke after mentioning the imprisonment of John, continued saying, “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him.” (Lk 3:21-22).

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It is evident that Saint Luke wanted it to be understood that Jesus was baptized in the presence of the multitude, who were baptized by John before John’s imprisonment. However, he mentions this incident when he started speaking about the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ministry of Christ followed His baptism and His going out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Before this, Saint Luke retold the story of John the Baptist, including what Herod had done to him. So, he adhered to the subject matter rather than the sequential order of the events. In other words, Saint Luke narrates a whole subject before shifting to another. According to sequential order, the incidents of two subjects combine. This is not unusual, and does not contradict the accounts of biblical events presented by the other evangelists.

The Lord's Supper:

The same notion applies to Saint Luke’s narrative of the Last Supper. He mentioned the betrayal of Judas after he had written of the events relating to both the Jewish Passover and the Lord's Supper. As a consequence, some believe that Judas was present during the institution of the Eucharist; but the gospel of Saint Luke does not mention that Judas participated in the Lord's Supper, or that he was present.

Saint Luke started his account of the Supper and the Passover by stating what the Lord said when he sat with His twelve disciples, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Lk 22: 15). He began by talking about the Passover of the Old Testament. Thus it was not convenient for Saint Luke to abandon the narration of the Passover event in order to discuss the betrayal of one of the twelve, only to return to the topic of the Passover of the new covenant once more. This may have led the reader to believe that Christ, by His words, was referring only to the Old Testament Passover. So Saint Luke, after completing his recount of all aspects of the Lord's Supper, transferred the focus to Judas Iscariot's plan of betrayal.

As mentioned, Saint Luke, for various events in the gospel, narrates according to subject matter rather than order of occurrence. In all gospels, if we study the sequential order of events concerning the going out of Judas from the upper room where the Passover supper took place, it is obvious that the Holy Bible denies that Judas Iscariot partook of the divine sacrament of the Eucharist because of his unworthiness. The Lord attempted to lead him to repentance, but he refused. Therefore, Christ the Lord prevented him from sharing in the communion of the Holy Sacrament. This wisdom of the Lord is marvelous, and we hope to learn from it.

Glory be to God forever, Amen.