Are You Judas or Peter?

You are one or the other. We all are either Judas or Peter. Judas betrayed his Savior. Peter denied Him. They both fell from grace. They both sinned. We are not either Judas or Peter in how we sin. Lord knows, I have both betrayed and denied our Savior. We are either Judas or Peter in how we react after our betrayal or denial.

Let's take a look at Judas first:

Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned in betraying innocent blood."...Flinging the money into the temple, he departed and went off and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3-5)

 Judas handed over his Savior to be crucified. How many times have we done that ourselves? Each time we sin, each time we willfully hurt another, we crucify Christ. As soon as Judas handed Jesus over, he realized the error of his ways. I know that oftentimes when I sin, I immediately recognize the error of my ways. But, how did Judas react to the recognition of sin? Judas' life had become so depraved that he could not see that Jesus still loved him, despite what he had done. You see, God's love is perfect and unchanging. God continues to love us no matter how far we stray from Him, no matter what we do. Judas did not see this. He felt that his sins were so bad that God couldn't love him anymore. His despair was so deep that the only option he saw was death. Judas completely rejected Christ and His love by hanging himself.

Now we move on to Peter:

He began to curse and to swear, "I do not know this man about whom you are talking." And immediately a cock crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times." He broke down and wept. (Mark 14:71-72)

Peter denied Christ. How often do we deny Christ? Each time we do not stand up for our faith or our beliefs, we are denying Christ.  Each time we fail to defend our Christian values, we deny Christ. Peter's reaction to his own sin is vastly different from Judas'. Peter, unlike Judas, knew that Jesus still loved him despite his sin. Peter was deeply saddened by his own sinfulness, but he did not despair. He knew that God's grace was present. He knew the love of the Father.

Who are you? Are you deep into sin and despairing, like Judas? Have you lost sight of the fact that God loves you, that He will continue to love you? Is your sin causing you to fall deeper into sin, like Judas?

Or, are you like Peter? Do you pick yourself back up after you fall, knowing that God loves you? Do you allow the forgiving grace and love of the Father wash over you?

The bottom line is this: We all betray Christ. We all deny Him. But we all must realize that God's love for us is unchanging. God loves us no matter how much we sin. God loves us no matter how far we wander from Him. We need to be sorry for falling. We need to pick ourselves back up after we fall and ask God for forgiveness. We need to be Peter.