“My Betrayer is at Hand.”

Have you ever wondered why Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him? Jesus was used to his raw faith, outspoken personality and sometimes foolish outbursts. We don’t see Jesus warn Peter he will fall into the water after he asks to walk on it. Nor do we see Him tell Peter that at the Transfiguration, he will foolishly ask for three tents and have to be corrected by the voice of God in the cloud. There were many opportunities to warn Peter as he was always the loudest of the twelve. However, in Matthew 26:34 we read that Jesus says to Peter…”Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times”, as if preparing Peter for the fall that was to come. 

I have thought about Peter and Judas over the years as they were both guilty of the same crime against Jesus- betrayal. The same Peter who said in Matthew 26:33, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away”, goes on to deny Jesus just as he was told that he would. At that moment, Peter essentially said of his Lord and friend, “I do not know Him…I reject Him”, and we are told that at the point of his last renouncement that Jesus’ eyes met his gaze. There is only one more mention of Peter before he drops out of the story until after the resurrection. In Luke 22:62, we read that he “…went out and wept bitterly.”

Conversely, Scripture has a completely different story of Judas. We read in Matt 27:3-4, “Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,  saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”  When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned, he was repentant. I have read commentaries that discuss the genuine nature of Judas’s remorse. It contains all the necessary elements for repentance- change of heart and mind, confession, turning the other way and a desire to restore the harm he caused. The fact that he went to the chief priests, gave a full confession, and returned the money is clear proof of this. Yet Judas died guilty before the Lord, but Peter, who denied Jesus publicly, was forgiven. 

At first glance, it would seem as if Judas was more remorseful than Peter. Yet Judas alone is called his betrayer…why is that? First, we recognize that while Judas was repentant, it was from the chief priests that he sought absolution for his rebellion…and therein lies the problem. No one will argue that Judas felt true regret for his actions. He realized that he betrayed innocent blood and that Jesus was condemned on account of his lie. He knew there was no guilt to be found upon Jesus. He felt despair and understood that he was the guilty one. So Judas confessed his crime to the chief priests and tried in an earthly sense to right his wrong. Judas was religious and the focus of his sorrow was self, not God. His type of repentance is described in 2 Cor 7:10, “the sorrow of the world produces death.”

What Judas missed was the One he thought of only as Rabbi was really Lord. The one he saw only as a teacher was the prophesied Messiah. The very one he betrayed and rejected was also the only Savior who could free him. And so like any religious person, he confessed to earthly men and tried to fix by works what faith in Jesus alone can remove-  the debt of his sin. His lack of belief in Jesus kept him from the cross. While grace was ever before him, Judas found no hope or forgiveness from his despair and sin. He didn’t turn to the only One with the power to free him. While he knew Jesus was innocent, he didn’t trust in Him for his freedom or believe in Him as his Savior. And so we read that Judas went out and killed himself…dying with the guilt of betraying the Righteous One. 

On the other hand, Peter who also betrayed Jesus was forgiven and restored. First, we must consider that Peter betrayed Jesus in part because he fell into direct sight of the enemy. Unlike Judas who “went to the chief priests in order to betray” Jesus for money and “sought an opportunity to betray him”, Jesus tells Peter “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat”(Luke 22:31). Peter is about to enter Jobs’ world and Jesus mercifully tells him what Job didn’t know- The enemy was upon him. 

Unlike Judas, Peter was a genuine believer in Jesus, but he was going to fail. And he was going to look at Jesus in His eyes when he did. It is after this moment where Peter disappears. His betrayal was so much for him that we don’t read about him at the cross. I can’t say for certain that he wasn’t there but if he was, there is no written record of it. Only after the resurrection do we hear his name spoken again. While Judas sought a way to betray Jesus, Peter’s betrayal was a result of his sifting. And unlike Judas, his sorrow and despair were godly. It is reminiscent of the story of the pharisee and tax collector in Luke 18:13: “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” If Peter truly wasn’t at the cross, I imagine it was for the exact reason that the tax collector couldn’t look up to heaven. The weight of sin was too paralyzing and his guilt and shame were too consuming. Peter needed Jesus to intercede and Jesus died to set him free. 

In Luke 22:32 we read that when Jesus warned Peter that he would deny Him, He also declared to him, “but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus told Peter an affirmative statement “and when you have turned again…” Peter’s repentance and faith rested in Jesus as he believed in Him not merely as teacher but truly as his Lord and Savior. There was no possibility that Peter would fall into the same fate as Judas because Jesus would overcome the grave and rise to intercede on his behalf. 

As believers, we are not strong enough in our own power to withstand the enemy when his focus is on us. We may indeed have moments where fear grips us or we fall into temptation, but be sure that as with Peter, Jesus our Savior stands to intercede for us. Romans 8:34 says, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” What an incredible promise every believer has been given, one that is as true today as it was when it was first written. We can be certain of it because our Lord is forever faithful.

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Romans 8:31