I’ll bet at the very mention of the names ‘Peter’ and ‘Judas’ most people immediately think of Peter the saint and Judas the sinner. In reality, I don’t believe that either was as good or as bad as the other, and that we can, in our own lives, probably relate to both. But, as far as history is concerned, there would seem to be a vast gap between these two men.
It was whilst Jesus was eating his final meal with his friends that Judas – one of those friends – slipped away from the gathering and out into the night in order to fulfil a promise he had made earlier to the Romans to lead them to Jesus. Later that night, whilst Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, the soldiers, led by Judas, came and arrested Jesus who was then taken away for questioning. Meanwhile, all Jesus’ friends had scattered and were no-where to be seen except for Peter, who was loitering around, warming himself by a fire. As Jesus had predicted, Peter denied not just once, but three times that he was a friend of Jesus or that he even knew him.
Jesus’ anguish at the prospect of the next 24 hours was compounded by the fact that two of his previously faithful friends had completely betrayed him. These two terrible betrayals lay as much guilt on Peter as on Judas: they are guilty to the same degree. Despite this, history has made a saint of Peter whilst pouring condemnation on Judas.
At this point in the story what, exactly, are they guilty of?
Whilst both are guilty of betrayal, Judas is guilty of greed and Peter of fear. There is not one of us who is not guilty of these things. We are guilty of greed by having or wanting more than we actually need; we are guilty of fear when we do not believe that God is looking after us; we are guilty of betrayal when we claim to be a Christian but fail to live like one. So far then, we too are on a level footing with both Judas and Peter.
Even after their betrayals, Judas and Peter remain on a level footing in that they are both overwhelmed by shame and guilt at the consequences of their actions. Peter weeps, openly, with remorse. I have no doubt that Judas also weeps. Therefore, what is it that makes the crucial difference between Peter and Judas, because so far they are entirely equal?
Judas, as we know, went off in his shame and hung himself. Peter, on the other hand, had a faith that somehow his guilt and shame could be healed. At that point, though, he can have had no real grasp of even the idea of Jesus coming back from the dead: he must have been staring into a huge abyss of uncertainty made worse by his remorse.
Some days later, the risen Jesus appears to Peter and asks him, “Do you love me?” and Peter says, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you”. Jesus doesn’t stop there, for he asks him twice more, “Do you love me?” and twice more Peter replies, “Yes, you know that I love you” (John 21:15-17). It seems to me that in this third declaration of his love for Jesus, all the hurt and damage which his three earlier denials had caused both to himself and Jesus, were healed over: all was put right.
As in any of the Gospel stories, we are in there somehow and all the people in the stories have something to tell us. What are these two characters saying to us about the way we live and our own journey towards a closer union with God?
We can relate to both Peter and Judas as people who were weak in their own particular way. Peter was a hot-tempered, impetuous and, as it turned out, at times cowardly man. But, it was on this very flawed person that Jesus chose to build his Church, “Peter, you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my Church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven” (Matt 16:16). These are astounding words from the Creator of the universe to someone as flawed as Peter and what it should say to us is this: God chooses unexpected people, even very weak and flawed people, to carry out his work. All we have to do is to recognise Jesus for who he is, come to him bringing all our faults and weaknesses and co-operate with him.
Judas was as flawed, in his way, as Peter was in his. One of the roles Judas had amongst the disciples was keeper of the communal purse. Everyone knew that he occasionally betrayed their trust by helping himself to the cash. However, it was not his weakness for money or his betrayal of Jesus which led to his ultimate downfall. It was his lack of hope, his lack of belief that he would find forgiveness. He felt that the better option was to hang himself rather than to apologise and seek forgiveness.
One of the wonderful messages of Easter is forgiveness. If Eastertide tells us anything at all about God it is of his overwhelming love for us all, no matter who we are or what we have done. God loves us all so much that he had his only Son nailed to a cross, where he left him for three hours to die in agony. Is it likely that he would give us this overwhelming witness of his love for us and then hold our sins and failings against us, particularly if we have come to him in sorrow and remorse? The goodness of God knows no bounds….if only Judas had understood and believed that.
Lord, we pray for all people who are burdened by sorrow or regret, that this Easter season will reveal to them just how much you love them and desire to heal them. Help us to sincerely believe in your forgiving love for us and heal us of all that has damaged our relationship with you so that like Peter, we can, in your name, work the wonders you have created us to work.
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