A Tale of Two Men
In the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, we find the story of two men who betrayed Jesus. One of these men betrayed Him for money, and the other out of fear. One of these men betrayed Jesus with a kiss, and the other denied Him with an oath. The first one had maliciously schemed to sell Jesus. The second one had boldly proclaimed that he would never deny Jesus. But he did. They were both guilty.
Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, and Peter denied him because he was afraid. Both men felt shame and regret for their actions. Judas’s name will always be synonymous with treachery and deceit, but Peter’s will always be remembered as a saint. What was the difference?
When Judas saw that Jesus was to be crucified and he was sorry for what he had done. So, he tried to fix it. He tried to take it back. But a sin that has been sinned can’t be unsinned. It can’t be taken back. Judas could not live with the devastation of his sin, so he took his own life. Thus, he will always be remembered as the man who betrayed the Savior for thirty pieces of silver.
Peter was also devastated by his sin. But he did not try to fix it himself. He knew that His sin could not be unsinned and it could never be taken back. But unlike Judas, Peter received forgiveness for his sin. It was not because he was sorry for his actions. Instead, it was because he repented of his sin. Later, as they shared a breakfast of fresh fish, Jesus forgave Peter. He cast Peter’s sin as far away as the East is from the West.
At some point in time, we have all betrayed Jesus. Don’t say you haven’t, that would just be a lie. We are all sinners, and the sins that we commit can’t be unsinned. But Jesus has promised that if we repent of our sins, He will have compassion on us. He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Our sins can’t be taken back, and you and I can’t fix them. But when Jesus forgives us, He also forgets about our sin. It is just as if we had never sinned. In Psalms 32:1-2, we read, “Happy is the person whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned. Happy is the person whom the LORD does not consider guilty.”
“And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely.” As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, “Rabbi, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed.”
Mark 14:43-45, 66-68 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/mrk.14.43-68.NKJV
Douglas & Deborah Huff
From Down Where the Pavement Ends
Email – douglas@pavementendsministry.com
