TWO DESERTERS

Luke 22:47-62
47 While He was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss Him, 48 but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" . . . 56 A servant girl saw [Peter] seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with Him." 57 But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know Him," he said. 58 A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied. 59 About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with Him, for he is a Galilean." 60 Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown Me three times." 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

The name Judas doesn't appear on any list of popular baby names. Apparently parents don't want to name their newborns after the man whose name is synonymous with betrayal. But the truth is, none of us can avoid the association, because all of us have betrayed Jesus in some way, at some time--even those we think of as being the most devout.

The biblical passage that tells about Judas also tells about another infamous act. But the guilty person in the parallel storyis remembered not as a deserter but as a dedicated disciple. His name is Peter, and today we remember him as the one Jesus warmly welcomed back into His fold and to whom He said, "Feed My sheep" (John 21:17).

What made the difference? Why did the life of one disciple end in hopeless suicide and the other continue in hopeful service?

Some might suggest that it was because Judas didn't repent, but he did admit his guilt. "I have sinned," Judas said to those who paid him for handing over his Friend, "for I have betrayed innocent blood" (Matthew 27:4). Why then did he go out and kill himself?

Like Peter, Judas had remorse. But sorrow for sin doesn't necessarily lead to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). I think he knew he was guilty but didn't believe he could be forgiven. Therefore Judas concluded that death was the only way to get rid of his guilt, and he took it on himself to be his own judge
and executioner.

Worldly sorrow led Judas to admit his sin but then try to eradicate it by destroying himself. Godly sorrow led Peter to admit his sin and then to let Jesus remove it.

The sin that ended in death for Judas was not his betrayal of Jesus, but his failure to ask Jesus to forgive him. --Julie Ackerman Link

DESTINATION POINTS

* What self-destructive habit do I have? Does it involve eating (or not eating)? Drinking? Spending? Reckless driving? Self-sabotage? (for example: failure to show up at work or to keep promises).
* For what sins am I trying to punish myself?

bottom line: Only Jesus' death can cover sin's stain.

soul journey