A tale of two who failed.

Matthew 26:69-27:10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” ⁷¹ When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁷² And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” ⁷³ A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” ⁷⁴ Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

27 Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; ² and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor.

³ Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” ⁵ And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. ⁶ The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” ⁷ And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. ⁸ For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel; ¹⁰ and they gave them for the Potter’s Field, as the Lord directed me.”

As we read the account of Peter’s denial of Jesus it is easy to be disappointed in and even to judge him. After all Jesus had warned Peter that this would happen and still, Peter failed. The truth is that Jesus did warn Peter, Jesus spoke about something that would happen. The warning Jesus gave was in the garden, when He said, "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41) For Peter it was not a question of his heart. Peter’s intentions were good and pure. What happened to Peter was not unlike what happened when he walked on the water, to Jesus, in the midst of the storm.

the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. ²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” ²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”(Matthew 14:22-30)

When Peter denied Jesus it was much like that night Peter walked on water when he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, but as he saw instead the wind and the waves he became fearful and began to sink, his spirit was willing but his flesh was weak. Peter once again saw the storm that was around Jesus, he took his eyes off of Jesus and focused instead on the circumstances, he became afraid. That night on the sea, after rescuing Peter, Jesus said: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.       When they got in the boat, the wind stopped. There is safety and security in the presence of Jesus. Like Peter, for us it is really not a question of the size or amount of our faith. Jesus says:     “ if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you”        It is not the size of our faith, but the object of our faith that matters. Philippians 4:13 says:    I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Hebrews 12:2 says:   fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.       There is safety, security and peace in the presence of Jesus. That’s why we are to "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation”. As we watch and pray we continue to focus on Jesus. He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 4:16 says:     Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.    When we watch and pray we take ourselves above the storms and the circumstances which affect our weak flesh. We are raised up into the security of the presence of Christ. As we pray, there at the throne of grace, we are united with Christ. Romans 8:34 says: Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

In Judas, we see the results of remaining and relying on the flesh. The text says:   Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” ⁵ And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.  The religious leaders told Judas that they answer to his guilt was to “See to that yourself” There advice was to pay for his sin with his own actions and that is what he did. Many today still get caught up in the religious trap of trying to pay for their sin with their own acts of service or pentenance. We can never do enough in our own flesh, with our own actions, to pay for our sin. Jesus does not seek pentenance, He seeks repentance. Had Judas gone to Jesus, at the cross, where Jesus paid the price for the sins of all mankind, he too would have heard the words:  “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”      We have that same choice in our own lives, we can trust in religion and works of the flesh, trying to make up for our shortcomings, our failures and our sin, or we can fall on our knees at the cross of Christ, the one who already did all that can be done about our sin and we can pray, as Jesus taught us to pray: forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

May our prayer be like the prayer of the psalmist who says in Psalm 51:    Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. ⁴ Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge... ⁹ Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. ¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. ¹⁶ For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.     Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit of God; You have done it all.     Amen.