Judas or Peter?

Is anybody here today one of a set of twins? Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to have a twin?

For reasons that’ll become clear in a couple of minutes, I did a deep dive this week into the phenomenon of twins, and I learned some interesting stuff that I’ll share with you this morning:

In the United States, twins account for a little more than 3 percent of all births. For some reason, New Jersey is the twin capital of the U.S., with a a one-third higher rate of twin births. New Mexico, on the other hand, has the lowest rate of twin births, with a rate of just 2.4 percent.

Women who are tall and women who eat a lot of milk, cheese, and yogurt are more likely to have twins. Do with that information whatever seems appropriate.

Also, women who give birth to twins tend to live longer than mothers of non-twins.

Twins are about twice as likely to be left-handed as the non-twin population.

You’ve probably heard this before: Twins often have their own language they use between one another. About 40 percent of twin pairs develop their own language. But did you know this has a name? Idioglossia.

Identical twins are the result of one egg splitting after fertilization, which means they share the same DNA. Fraternal twins are the result of two eggs being fertilized separately, but at the same time.

There’s also something called mirror-image twins, where one is left-handed and the other right-handed. Birthmarks on mirror-image twins appear on opposite sides of their bodies.

And one last fun fact: Twins share the same DNA, but their fingerprints are different, because fingerprints are the result of environmental factors in the womb. That sounds like the basis for a good murder mystery. (https://lomalindafertility.com/twins-facts/)

Now, with all this discussion of twins, you might expect that we’re going to talk about Jacob and Esau, the famous Old Testament twins, this morning.

But we’re not. If you want to hear about Jacob and Esau, you should join our Zoom Bible study in the Book of Genesis on Wednesdays. In fact, we’ll be looking at their story starting this week.

But today, as we continue our series, “Sin, According to the Experts,” I want to look at a set of New Testament twins, Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “Pastor Res, they weren’t even brothers, much less twins!” And strictly speaking, you’re absolutely right. They weren’t brothers, and they weren’t twins. They didn’t share a shred of DNA, much less all of it.

But I’m calling them twins this morning, because I want to emphasize the fact that, on the night when Jesus was arrested, Peter and Judas had quite a lot in common.

They’d both followed Jesus for more than three years. They’d both seen His miracles, and they’d both been personally discipled by Him.

They’d both experienced His love toward them, and they’d both served Him and been served BY Him. That very night, they’d both had their feet washed by Jesus.

And then, on that same night of physical and spiritual darkness, they’d both fail Him. They’d both sin against Him. And the sins of both men hurt Jesus deeply, just as our own sins do.

But in the end, we’ll see that there was one thing that set these two disciples apart from one another, one thing that would make a difference for all eternity.

We’re going to start with Matthew’s account of that night’s events this morning, but we’ll spend some time in John’s Gospel and Luke’s, too, before we’re done.

If you have your Bible with you today, please turn to Matthew, chapter 26. We’re going to pick up in verse 14, which probably puts us on Wednesday of the week of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion.

Matthew 26:14–16 NASB95

14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. 16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.

Now, I want you to understand that Judas was an insider. He was a member of the 12 disciples, they whom Jesus had specifically chosen to follow Him.

He may have been part of the group of 70 or 72 disciples who’d been sent out to preach and heal and perform miracles in the name of Jesus. He’d been present for many — if not all — of Jesus’ own miracles.

He’d heard Jesus’ teaching, both to the crowds and to the 12. And as the one who’d been placed in charge of the disciples’ ministry funds, he was clearly trusted by them.

Judas had heard Jesus proclaim that the kingdom of God was at hand. He’d heard Jesus call Himself the Son of Man, which was a clear reference to the prophecy in Daniel 7:13-14 that God would ordain a king whose dominion would be over all peoples and whose kingdom would be eternal.

He probably was there — or at least heard about it from the other disciples — when Jesus told the paralyzed man that his sins had been forgiven and then healed him of his paralysis.

The point is that Judas knew what Jesus had done, knew whom Jesus said He was, and knew that Jesus offers His followers eternal life through faith in Him.

Judas knew the facts about Jesus. He’d taken part in the ministry of Jesus. He’d witnessed the miracles of Jesus. He may even have taken part in them when the group of 70 or 72 was sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the cities He’d visit for His arrival.

What I want you to recognize is that Judas was deeply connected to the ministry of Jesus. In the modern church, we might expect such a man to hold the position of deacon or elder or teacher.

But Judas clearly had a problem with Jesus. Perhaps it was a disagreement over how the ministry’s money was being spent. That would make sense, since Matthew points here to Judas’ greed as one of the motivating factors for his betrayal.

Indeed, this passage immediately follows the one where the woman bathed Jesus’ feet with costly nard at the home of Simon the leper in Bethany.

And in his Gospel account, John says that Judas led the disciples’ objection to this act of extravagance, because he was a thief and used to steal money from the ministry funds.

But I think there’s also something deeper than simply greed going on with Judas here. Who Jesus IS was not whom Judas thought He should be.

Clearly, Judas was looking for something else from religion than what Jesus was offering.

And that’s the case with some people in churches all around the world today. Some people want the church, the Body of Christ, to be like a little club that takes care of its own while ignoring the world that’s burning around them.

Some folks want the church to provide cover for and justify whatever political views they hold — and that happens on both the left and the right, I should note.

And some church members want the church to like a moated castle with the bridge drawn up to keep out the riffraff.

And sadly, just like Judas, sometimes those people are in trusted positions of authority in the church. They’re well-versed in biblical facts and knowledge, and they might look and sound righteous, but like Judas, their religion is often only skin-deep.

And we can see evidence of Judas’ problem with Jesus beginning in verse 20 of this chapter.

Matthew 26:20–25 NASB95

20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. 21 As they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” 22 Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” 23 And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24 “The Son of Man is to go, 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.” 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”

Now, this is the Last Supper, though the disciples didn’t understand that yet. They were celebrating Passover with Jesus, though He’d soon transform the Passover seder into what we now know as the Lord’s Supper, which we’ll observe later this morning.

I want you to look at the disciple’s response to Jesus’ announcement that one of them would betray Him.

“Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me,” He says in verse 21. And then, in verse 22, we read, “each one began to say to Him, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’”

Now, the Greek word that’s translated as “Lord” here is kurios, which means “he to whom a person or thing belongs and over which he has power of deciding.” You could also translate it as “master.”

So, setting aside for now the disciples’ uncertainty about themselves, what I want you to see is that they all call Jesus “master.” They all acknowledge that they belong to Him.

Well, not all of them. Look at what Judas says in verse 25. Perhaps to give himself some cover after Jesus had quietly identified him as the betrayer, he says, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”

He calls Jesus his teacher, not his master. Whereas the other 11 had submitted themselves to Jesus, Judas clearly has not.

He’s seen everything Jesus has done. He’s heard everything Jesus has taught. He’s experienced the very love of God through Christ, His Son. And yet, Judas has hardened his heart against Jesus.

Sadly, this is true of many who have spent a lifetime in the church. They’ve learned the Bible stories. They’ve sung the hymns and the praise songs. They’ve even served on the committees and even in leadership positions.

But they’ve never given themselves to Christ. They’ve never given Him control of their lives. They’ve never trusted in Him for salvation.

And, sadly, for them, it will be the same as it was for Judas: better if they’d never been born, because eternity in hell will be so much worse than all the good they ever experienced in life.

But remember, this isn’t a sermon only about Judas. It’s also about Peter, who had a lot in common with Judas on this night.

In his Gospel account, the Apostle John records that Judas left the house after Jesus had dipped the bread with him.

Then, Jesus told the remaining 11 that they’d have Him with them for only a little while longer. “Where I am going, you cannot come,” He said. Now, let’s pick up that account in verse 36 of John, chapter 13.

John 13:36–38 NASB95

36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.

Now, Peter was one of the 11 who’d called Jesus “Lord,” and it would be hard to question his love for Jesus. We see it spread throughout the Gospels.

Indeed, I think he spoke form his heart in verse 37, when he said, “I will lay down my life for you.” Of course, we know what the Bible says about the heart.

So, what happened to Peter? What happened to his resolve? What happened to his love for Jesus that caused him later that night to do just what Jesus said he’d do?

In his commentary on the Book of John, Richard Phillips suggests Peter had three problems. [Phillips, Richard D. “Before the Rooster Crows.” pp 183-192. John. Edited by Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani. 1st ed. Vol. 1 & 2. Reformed Expository Commentary. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014.

First, he was ignorant.

He was ignorant of God’s plan for salvation. He was ignorant of the fact that Jesus had to give Himself as a sacrifice for us and in our place at the cross in order for us to be saved from the penalty for our sins.

But even more than that, he was ignorant about himself. He was ignorant in regard to his own weakness of the flesh.

In fact, Matthew records that Peter said, “Hey, even if the others fall away, I’ll stand by your side.” He couldn’t see his own spiritual weakness.

And it’s often true that WE don’t see our own spiritual weakness, either. J.C. Ryle put it this way:

“We never know how far we might fall if we were tempted. We fancy sometimes, like Peter, that there are some things we could not possibly do. We look pitifully upon others who fall into certain sins, and please ourselves in the thought that [at least we’d never do THAT]! We know nothing at all. The seeds of every sin are latent in our hearts, even when renewed, and they only need occasion, or carelessness, or the withdrawal of God’s grace for a season, to put forth an abundant crop.” [J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, 3 vols. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1999), 3:47–48.]

Listen, if we have ANYTHING to say about the sons of others, it should be this: “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

So, Peter was ignorant. And Peter was overconfident.

He thought Jesus needed him, and he forgot that HE needed Jesus. He boasted about his faithfulness, even in the face of Jesus telling him he’d come under the special attention of Satan. Look at verse 31 of Luke, chapter 22:

Luke 22:31–33 NASB95

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”

Peter was confident he could stand against Satan’s special attention. And it’s telling that it was perhaps Peter’s greatest strength — his courage — that Satan would challenge and then defeat.

Listen, “we are far too weak to withstand the sifting of Satan even in our greatest strength. The sooner we know this, the sooner we will become strong in the Lord, so that he will uphold us even at the points of our greatest weakness.” [Richard D. Phillips, John, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, 1st ed., vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 188.]

That’s what Paul was getting at in the passage we looked at last week.

And that brings us to Peter’s third problem. He neglected his spiritual resources.

When the 11 remaining disciples left that upper room with Jesus and went to the Garden of Gethsemane, He took Peter, James, and John in with Him and said, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Especially for Peter, this was great advice, since Jesus had JUST told him he was being singled out by Satan this very night.

Yet, three times Jesus returned to them from His own agonized prayers and found them sleeping.

Peter, it seems, was confident he could handle Satan’s attacks on his own. He ignored the spiritual resource of prayer, and it would cost him dearly that very night.

“Such a neglect of spiritual resources reveals an ignorance and overconfidence when it comes to the grave matter of temptation to sin.” [Richard D. Phillips, John, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, 1st ed., vol. 2, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 188–189.]

We must not allow ourselves to be ignorant of our own weakness, to be overconfident in our own strength, or to ignore the spiritual resources we have at hand — prayer, the Bible, and the support of other believers, to name just three.

Of course, we know how this worked out for Peter.

While Jesus was being interrogated in the court of the high priest, Peter, who’d followed along, was approached by a servant girl as he stood near a fire in the courtyard. “You too were with Him,” she said. To which, he replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Then another came and said, “This man was with Jesus!” And he swore to her: “I don’t know the man.”

And then a third said, “Surely you’re one of them. Your accent gives you away.” And then, Peter began to curse and swear, denying Jesus a third time.

And Luke records a significant detail that the other Gospel writers omit. Look at verse 60.

Luke 22:60–62 NASB95

60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter had denied Jesus. This was a betrayal. He’d turned His back on His Savior and Lord, and he’d done so more passionately each time.

He’d done it out of fear rather than greed, and it hadn’t been premeditated as Judas’ betrayal had been. Nonetheless, he had denied Jesus — rejected Him — much the same as Judas had.

So, these two men had much in common that night. They were both walking in spiritual, as well as physical darkness. They had both sinned grievously against Jesus.

But something set the apart. There was something important that made them very much different.

Judas was outwardly religious, but he never truly trusted in Jesus. He never gave himself to Christ.

Peter, on the other hand, was a believer, despite his failings. He loved Jesus and gave himself to Jesus, trusting in Him with his eternal soul. He’d made Jesus master over his life.

And we know that Peter recognized his failure — his sin — the moment he heard that rooster crow, because he wept bitterly.

That’s an appropriate reaction to YOUR sin if you’re a follower of Jesus. These were tears of abject guilt and repentance by a man who realized how he’d failed his Savior and Lord.

Judas responded to HIS guilt by killing himself. Peter responded to HIS guilt with repentance. Jesus had given Judas plenty of opportunity to do just what Peter did, but Judas refused.

And so, the question for you today is this: Are you Judas or Peter?

We are all one or the other, because we all sin against God and against His Son, Jesus. Every one of us betrays Him, rejects Him, and denies Him when we sin.

In our sins, we proclaim that we want to be the ones to decide what’s good and what’s evil. We reject the authority God alone has to decide those things.

We usurp His throne and place ourselves upon it, much as the people of Babel were trying to do when they built that great tower.

And this is a sin no less outrageous and hideous to God than the sin of Judas the betrayer.

And just as Jesus looked over and saw Peter, He sees our sins, too. I believe when He looked at Peter, what Peter saw from His Lord and Savior was love.

But what Judas will see when he stands before the Great White Throne of judgment in the end times will be judgment and condemnation.

Which will YOU see? The love of a Savior in whom you’ve placed your trust, to whom you’ve given your life? Or the condemnation of a king whom you’ve rejected and never trusted?

Who ARE you? Are you Judas? Or are you Peter?

This is a question I hope you’ll take seriously this morning. And if you realize that you’re Judas in church clothes, come and see me and let me help you see the Jesus who wants to look at you with love, not condemnation.

Now, today is Lord’s Supper Sunday. This is an important observance for individual followers of Jesus.

But it’s is also important to the fellowship of the church. It brings us together in a unique way and reminds us that we belong to one another in Christ Jesus.

It reminds us of the loyal love He has for us and the loyal love we’re called to have for one another.

Jesus commanded us to observe the Lord’s Supper as an act of obedience to Him. It’s a way of proclaiming that we who follow Him in faith belong to Him. In it, we are reminded of what He did for us.

The Lord’s Supper reminds us that our hope for salvation rests only and completely on the sacrifice He made for us and in our place at the cross. It reminds us that our life is in Him.

And sharing the bread from one loaf reminds us that we are, together, the one body of Christ. It reminds us that we’re called to unity of faith, unity of purpose, and unity of love.

It reminds us that, just as He gave up the glory He had in heaven, we who’ve followed Jesus in faith are called to give up any claims we might think we have to our own lives as we follow Him.

Finally, it reminds us that, as we’ve been given the testimony of the Holy Spirit within us, we’re to share OUR testimony of salvation by grace through faith.

We’re not to be lukewarm Christians, but people who are on fire for the Lord. People desperate to SEE His righteousness upon the earth and committed to LIVING His righteousness while we wait.

If you’re a baptized believer walking in obedience to Christ, I’d like to invite you to join us today as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

Now, this sacred meal dates all the way back to when Jesus shared it with His disciples at the Last Supper on the night before He was crucified.

The conditions during the Last Supper were different than the conditions we have here today. But the significance was the same as it is today.

Jesus told His disciples that the bread represented His body, which would be broken for our transgressions.

Let us pray.

Matthew 26:26 NASB95

26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

As Jesus suffered and died on that cross, his blood poured out with His life. This was always God’s plan to reconcile mankind to Himself.

“In [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”

Let us pray.

Matthew 26:27–28 NASB95

27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

Take and drink.

“Now, as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

Maranatha! Lord, come!

Here at Liberty Spring, we have a tradition following our commemoration of the Lord’s Supper.

Please gather around in a circle, and let us sing together “Blest Be the Tie that Binds.”