April 9, 2022

Matthew 26: 69-75 (NIV)

Then Peter remembered the words Jesus had spoken . . . And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Matthew 27: 1-5   (NIV)

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

(Read the complete passage in your Bible)

No failure is beyond the reach of God’s grace.*

Matthew has made it easy for us to compare/contrast the stories of Peter and Judas, two men who betrayed their Lord, by placing the accounts one after the other in his gospel.

Compare: 

· Jesus had predicted their treachery - Matthew 26: 21 (Judas) and 26: 34 (Peter). 

· Both men regretted their actions (see featured passages above). 

Contrast: 

· Peter spent the rest of his life as a loyal follower of his Lord. 

· Judas ended any chance to make amends.

I wonder: Was Judas’ act of betrayal worse than Peter’s? Did he feel worse about it than Peter did? What made one of Jesus’ followers choose to repent from the awful thing he did while the other refused to face the consequences? With equal exposure to Jesus’ life and teaching, both men should have known that Jesus would forgive them.

For whatever reason, God allows us to choose him or to reject him. We could blame Satan for preying on our weaknesses but his power is limited to deceit and whatever we allow. When we deny Christ – and we are all guilty – we should follow Peter’s example of godly sorrow. His repentance testifies to his faith in the Father’s willingness and power to forgive while also denying Satan another victory.

As someone has observed, Peter “had to face himself as he had never been willing to see himself before.”* Take a good look at yourself. Will you weep bitterly for your betrayal or will you try to run from it? Which choice leads to life?

The nature of your eternity will be decided at the Cross. It is not the number or the heinousness of your sins that will condemn to hell, nor the beauty or strictness of your morality that will bring to heaven. Eternity will be decided by your relation to a crucified Jesus.*