For Christians, last month was not only the time we remembered Christ’s resurrection but His trial, His torture, and His death as well. Looming in the shadows of these momentous events were two characters that since that day have been somewhat misunderstood. At the very least these two are easily cast aside from those we seek to learn from as Easter rolls around each year. In truth, these two may only ever find themselves as easy targets on our spiritual dartboards.
Both characters were filled with regret. Both were moved in their emotions. Both were moved to action. And both were followers of Jesus…at least in name. But despite all that was similar between them they differed in the way they responded to their past.
Their regret on what we now refer to as Good Friday was not because of Christ’s death although that was certainly part of it. The shame they shared was over their own sin and their failure to live up to the standards of a holy God. And the characters I am speaking of are no less than Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot.
As hard as it might be to believe, everyone reading this is identifying right now as one of these two. From their failures they took two different paths, and in a world filled with people who struggle daily dealing with their own failures and shame we can learn a lot from them both.
Peter, a faithful disciple of Jesus for over three years, failed when His teacher and friend needed Him most. Peter lied when He told Jesus He would die with Him. Peter went on lying to three different people about even knowing Christ as His trial was underway. One can only picture Peter being comforted by a fire while His once-claimed friend is simultaneously being falsely accused and sentenced to death. The visual in-and-of-itself is grieving enough but the anguish only magnifies with this:
“And the
Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord,
how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And
Peter went out, and wept bitterly.”
Luke
22:61-62
Then there’s Judas Iscariot—also
a follower of Jesus for over three years. Same calling, same mission. Yet,
unlike Peter, Judas was already guilty of some private, unrepented sins that
only become public when he infamously betrays Christ for thirty pieces of
silver. The price of a slave for the One who claimed to be the Messiah was a
price the religious leaders of that day were anxious to pay. It was also a
price Judas in his greed was anxious to accept.
For whatever reason, Judas regrets his decision and seeks to return the money. But like with so many of our own mistakes—what’s done, what’s spoken, what’s acted upon cannot be easily taken back or undone.
“Then
Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented
himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and
elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And
they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of
silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”
Matthew
27:3-5
The failures of both at this
point are clear. So too is their shame, their emotion, and their regret. It is
here where the two paths once intertwined now diverge. Their grief is shared
yet their response to such grief is not. The Apostle Paul would summarize the
difference later on like this:
“For
godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the
sorrow of the world worketh death.”
2
Corinthians 7:10
Peter’s regret brought about a
repentance that eventually found him prostrate at the mercy of Jesus. The regret
of Judas brought about a guilt and shame that, like Peter, was too great for
him to bear alone. But instead of seeking a God who was greater, Judas sought an
escape brought about by his own hands.
As we look back at the stories of both of these men two things become evident. The greatest failure of Judas’ life was not in betraying Christ; it was failing to believe that three days later Christ would prove even betrayal capable of being overcome. In contrast, the greatest decision in Peter’s story was his continual hope that forgiveness could still be found in spite of the magnitude of his sinful past.
When it comes to our grief over the shame and guilt that our sin can and will bring, we have the same choice as these two men. Their initial failure was equal. Their emotion was equal. Their regret was equal. The only difference when it came to how they dealt with the sinful choices of their past was in the place they sought refuge.
The good news for you and I today is that even though the shame and guilt of sin still exists from what we’ve done, God still stands ready to be the refuge we need to save us from it all. Our past can be redefined but only when placed into the hands of God.
“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
Psalm
34:18
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