Judas Iscariot
“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him” (Mt 26:14-16). That opportunity came for Judas in the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus had gone to pray: “And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.’ Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed Him” (Mt 26:47-49).
And then Judas took his own life, committing suicide. “Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ And they said, ‘What is that to us? You see to it!’ Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself” (Mt 27:3-5).
Simon Peter
“And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.’ But he said to Him, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.’ Then He said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me’” (Lk 22:31-34).
Peter did deny the Lord Jesus three times that night: “Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Lk 22:60-62).
While both Judas and Peter were warned before they sinned, and both turned against the Lord, and both had sorrow, there is a great contrast between their futures. “Godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Cor 7:10). Judas had worldly sorry and even remorse (NKJV, Mt 27:23), but it was not a sorrow leading to a change of mind and a change of life that would restore his relationship with God. Judas went “to his own place” (Ax 1:25), that place which is reserved for the disobedient. Jesus said regarding him, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born” (Mt 26:24). This statement is a death-nail to the false doctrines of non-eternity of hell or annihilation in hell.
Peter had a godly sorrow that led him to repentance. Peter returned to the resurrected Lord Jesus and affirmed his love for Him three times (Jn 21:15-17). The Bible tells us of him being a faithful apostle of Christ and an elder in the Lord’s church (1 Pet 5:1).
Here are two men, both disciples of Jesus, who by free will chose to betray (Judas) and to deny (Peter) Jesus. But what matters for eternity is what they did about their sin.
And so it is today. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). The difference between the saved and the lost is not whether they have sinned, but what they have done and are doing about their sin. If you haven’t obeyed the gospel, then you are still in your sins and separated from God; you need to obey the gospel to receive the grace of God. If you have obeyed the gospel and have sinned, you need to repent and confess your sin to God. What kind of sorrow do you have for your sin? You need a godly sorrow that leads you to repentance, not a sorrow of this world that ends in self-harm, self-justification, or blaming others.
Like these two men, it matters for eternity what you do about your sin.
-Larry Jones