When Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, the Bible tells us that He was crucified next to two thieves. These men, guilty of the crimes they had committed, had earned their place on the hill. Jesus had not. And yet, on Calvary, the whole of humanity was represented by these two criminals. One would hurl insults at the Son of God; the other, recognizing his sin and the just punishment for his crimes, acknowledged the righteousness and innocence of Jesus, begging the Son of Man to remember him when He entered His kingdom. To the second thief, Jesus famously affirmed, “today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
Unlike Jesus, these men were deserving of death. In exchange, one received eternal salvation; the other entered eternity separated from the love and mercy of the God he scorned. And yet, these were not the only two men to encounter the love and mercy of Christ yet end their lives in completely different places. In fact, for Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot, two of Jesus’ closest friends and followers, the outcome would be remarkably similar.
Both were common men, chosen to be disciples of Jesus Christ. They had walked with Jesus, talked with Jesus, witnessed His miracles, and heard His teachings. And yet, both would fail in their devotion to their professed lord and savior. One would betray Jesus to His enemies for a mere thirty pieces of silver; the other would deny even knowing Jesus after promising to never fall away or abandon Him. On the surface, we might say that Peter and Judas were as big of failures as the two thieves on the cross. And yet, like the two thieves on the cross, one would eventually acknowledge and repent of his sin, accepting the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ; the other would reject Christ’s saving grace and enter hell with empty hands and clean feet.
There is much we can learn from the failure of Judas Iscariot and the redemption of Simon Peter. Here are five lessons from their stories.
1. Jesus Knowingly Calls Sinners to Be His Disciples
The fact that Jesus called two men He knew would deny and betray Him has been a theological stumbling block for many over the years. It would be one thing to argue that Jesus was surprised by their sin. We know, however, that this was not the case. Not only did Jesus prophesy that Peter would deny Him three times (Matthew 26:31-35; Luke 22:31-34; John 13:36-38), but He also knew what Judas had determined in his heart to do (Matthew 26:20-25; Mark 14:17-21; John 13:21-30). There were many things Jesus foretold that His disciples did not understand. One thing is certain, however. Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas would be the one to betray Him. He called him anyway.
This begs the question: did Judas’ role in Christ’s death violate his free will? While we must affirm that Christ identified the treachery in Judas’ heart early on, knowing that Judas would fulfill biblical prophesy as the one to betray the Son of Man (Psalms 41:9; John 13:18; Psalms 55:12-14; Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 27:9-10; Luke 22:22), nothing about Christ’s foreknowledge forced Judas or Peter to do what they did. Both men were called to be His disciples; both men chose to follow Jesus of their own volition. Neither was forced to sin against their master either. Jesus had allowed them to do what was in their heart to do. Both men had a pre-ordained role in Jesus’ ministry (Ephesians 1:11). In Judas’ case, that role involved his betrayal. To the observer, it may seem foolish for Jesus to bring someone with such hostile and impure motives into His inner circle. In Judas, however, we find yet another example of how God often uses “the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.” (1 Corinthians 1:27). Furthermore, what Judas meant for evil against Jesus, the Father would eventually turn around for good for the salvation of many (Genesis 50:20).
Peter had many things in common with his fellow disciples. At times, they were all unloving, contentious, and prideful. However, one quality that Peter possessed that set him apart from the others was his obstinance and willingness to actually rebuke Jesus, something none of the Twelve are ever recorded doing. Peter was a man of bold declarations. Not only did he vow he would never deny Jesus, promise he would never fall away, and insist that Jesus would never wash his feet, he also told Jesus that the chief priests, elders, and scribes would never kill Him. “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You,” he said (Matthew 16:22). To this, Jesus replied, “get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (Matthew 16:23)
This may seem like a harsh rebuke. In many ways it was. However, what Jesus was essentially telling Peter was, “get out of my way! You want to defend me, but in standing between me and the cross, you are acting as an instrument of Satan trying to thwart my plan for creation.” For most of Jesus’ ministry, Peter and the disciples struggled to understand the nature of His plan and purpose of His mission. In many ways, both Judas and Peter had their own ideas and expectations for the Messiah. Peter, in his love for Jesus, wanted to prevent Him from ever suffering; Judas, however, had become so disenfranchised and disappointed with Jesus, he eventually grew to hate Him. His hate led to bitterness and bitterness treachery. Jesus, however, had already affirmed that, “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” (Luke 9:22; see also Isaiah 53:3-5) Despite their efforts, neither Peter’s obstinance nor Judas’ betrayal could ever thwart or overcome God’s sovereign plan (Isaiah 45:7-9; John 42:2; Acts 4:27-28).
3. Proximity to Jesus Is Not a Mark of Genuine Faith
Few men in history were blessed with as great an opportunity as the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. These chosen few were direct eyewitnesses to His many miracles and had been granted a front row seat to all of His sermons and teachings. They had broken bread with Him, questioned Him in private, and witnessed the servant’s heart of the Son of God. To the Twelve, Jesus had imparted knowledge of the kingdom of God and entrusted these men to continue His ministry, steward the gospel, and build His church. At the onset, the disciples were untamed and unbridled in their passion and devotion. Over time, however, eleven of the twelve, Peter among them, would grow to become more like Jesus, applying His lessons and following in His footsteps. One, however, would remain in unbelief and enter a hopeless eternity separated from the Father and His Son.
Unfortunately for Judas, proximity to Jesus did little to soften his hardened heart. Judas had seen, heard, and experienced everything. Signs and wonders did not grow his faith. The teachings of Jesus did not change his heart. Like the Pharisees and rebellious people of Israel, he had eyes to see but could not see and ears to ear but could not hear (Psalms 115:5; Ezekiel 12:2; Matthew 13:15). From beginning to end, Judas remained hardened and full of sin, squandering his calling and divine opportunity to be more like Jesus. The lesson here, therefore, is poignant. Proximity to God is not a mark of genuine faith. Many who are superficially close to Jesus will choose to remain in their sin, never entering the kingdom of heaven. As Jesus proclaimed, “many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:22-23) Few words describe the heart and eternal fate of Judas Iscariot better than these.
At the Last Supper, Jesus had announced that one of the Twelve would eventually betray Him. We know He was speaking of Judas. However, Judas had hidden his bitterness and treachery so well that no one in the room seemed to suspect him. As we see throughout the gospels, Judas was a master of deception, feigned friendship, and hypocrisy. His heart was never fully with Jesus or his brothers, and somewhere along the way, he had become so disenfranchised and disgruntled, he allowed his disappointment to give way to bitterness, hatred, and eventually treachery. We also know from John’s gospel that Judas, serving as the treasurer of the group, had been pilfering funds from the group’s purse for quite some time (John 12:26). This reveals something of Judas’ character. This was a man who was always in it for himself. He had followed Jesus, no doubt because he recognized Jesus’ power and influence. However, when it became clear that he would not profit from Jesus or be able to enrich himself in the way he had envisioned, he began to loathe Jesus for wasting three years of his life.
Furthermore, when Jesus and the disciples came to the town of Bethany, Mary, the sister of Lazarus would anoint Jesus’ feet with a costly bottle of perfume (John 12:2-5). Seeing potential profit being poured out on the ground, Judas became indignant. Why? Because the funds that would have gone into the group’s treasury were no longer there for him to pilfer. In his eyes, money was now being wasted on Jesus. This tells us everything we need to know about the depravity of Judas’ heart. However, rather than confess to his thievery and selfish ambitions, Judas feigned concern for the poor (John 12:6). Knowing his heart, Jesus gently rebuked His disciple. This, however, was the final straw for Judas Iscariot. The Bible tells us that he soon left Bethany and walked to Jerusalem, looking for a way to betray Jesus and make a little money in the process (Matthew 26:14-16). There was nothing, therefore, sudden or spontaneous about Judas’ betrayal. He did not stumble in a moment of weakness. Bitterness had festered in his heart for months if not years. What he did was premeditated. And though he may have hidden his true hypocrisy from the world, his sin could not be hidden from Jesus, who knew his heart’s desire and true motives from the very beginning.
Peter and Judas were both guilty of remarkable betrayal in the hours leading up to Christ’s death. Judas would sell Jesus out to His enemies for a mere thirty pieces of silver; Peter would deny even knowing Jesus in a shocking reversal of his previous profession and prior commitment to never fall away or deny Him (Matthew 26:31-35; Luke 22:33). And yet, Peter and Judas were not the only ones who abandoned their lord and master when it mattered most. With the exception of John (John 19:25-27), all of the disciples had fled and deserted Jesus when He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:50), just as Jesus had predicted. The embarrassment and shame of abandoning Jesus certainly weighed on the hearts of the disciples for many days. However, no one probably felt more conviction and remorse than Judas and Peter. And yet, remorse is not the same as repentance.
After Jesus had been condemned by the high priests and Pharisees, we read that Judas felt immediate remorse and even tried to return the blood money given for his betrayal. When he realized he could not absolve himself of the guilt of his treachery, Judas killed himself (Matthew 27:3-10; Acts 1:15-20). Judas, however, was not sorry for betraying Jesus; he felt bad because his sin no longer satisfied him. As a result, Judas spent the remaining hours of his miserable life in a hell of his own making. But rather than repent of his sin, run to the throne of mercy, and seek forgiveness, Judas sought to silence his conscience in death.
In contrast, when Peter, who had publicly and repeatedly denied even knowing Jesus, learned that Jesus was alive, he ran to the tomb to see for himself (Luke 24:12; John 20). Later, when Jesus appeared to several of His disciples on the Sea of Galilee, Peter again jumped out of the boat and into the sea to be with Jesus (John 21:7-17). In Peter and Judas, therefore, we encounter two radically different responses to sin and shame. In despair, Judas ran away from Jesus, choosing death over repentance; in repentance, Peter sought forgiveness and mercy by running to Jesus. In doing so, Peter’s story became one of redemption and life; Judas’ story became one of death, tragedy, and failure. The question we must now ask ourselves is: which path will we follow? How will our story end? The choice is ours.
Joel Ryan is an author, writing professor, and contributing writer for Salem Web Network and Lifeway. When he’s not writing stories and defending biblical truth, Joel is committed to helping young men find purpose in Christ and become fearless disciples and bold leaders in their homes, in the church, and in the world.
This article is part of our larger Holy Week and Easter resource library centered around the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hope these articles help you understand the meaning and story behind important Christian holidays and dates and encourage you as you take time to reflect on all that God has done for us through his son Jesus Christ!
