“Battling the Bite of Betrayal”
Luke 22:39-46
(Part 2)
How many of our high schoolers here today have had to write a contrast and compare paper already? Go ahead, raise your hand (you seem so excited that I brought up school on a Sunday)! Seriously, remember the way you would take two ideas, objects or people and show their similarities as well as their differences? It’s a good way to learn and gain insight.
This morning, let’s turn back the clock (at least for the adults in here) and do some C & C work using Peter and Judas. Let’s “contrast and compare” Peter and Judas as a way to understand how to come back from the bite of betrayal. Yes, both were part of the twelve, both dealt with the lure of denial and betrayal, and both had lapses in judgment. They’re different, however, in that only one found a place of repentance; only one was restored. Let’s learn some things about recovery by contrasting and comparing these two individuals.
Their stories are found in Luke 22:54-62 and Matthew 27:1-10…turn to both of those, would you?
First, let’s investigate Peter in Luke 22:47-62. Would you circle the word “remembered” in 22:61. This is the real cornerstone of Peter’s return.
Next, let’s gain some insight into Judas by reading and Matthew 27:1-10. Here, underline the phrase “seized with remorse” in 27:3. This holds the key to understanding his inability to be restored.
The gist of this comparison is found in those words and phrases I asked you to circle and underline. So with your pen handy, let me shed some light on these phrases and words as a way to show the difference in their responses.
When the Bible says that Peter remembered, it is referencing a mental activity of deep thought. The word “remembered” is a combination of two words -- “to chew” and “to remain.” In other words, he thought long and hard about what Christ had said to him. It is a word that describes a mental process of anguish, and contains similarities to the word “repent” in that both words contain elements of the mind.
Judas, however, lacked this mental recognition and reflection in his situation. The words “seized with remorse” are indicative of a mere emotional feeling, not a mind change. In fact, the words are used more to talk about someone’s regret over specific things they don’t like, not necessarily someone’s mental anguish regarding the whole or entirety of one’s situation. True, this word is translated “repented” in the KJV, but the sense of the context shows us that Judas was merely responding emotionally to an incident and regretted what he did.
Understand that both words hang close together. They both have some sense of turning associated with them, and this makes the task of dissecting them somewhat difficult. But Peter’s “remembered” is rooted in a fixation on the Lord, and that stands in stark contrast to Judas’ “remorse,” which is entrenched in a selfish desire to vindicate himself.
Peter repented because of the Lord’s look and the Lord’s Word, and as he saw what his sin did to his Lord and others, this produced a mental “about face.” Judas, however, was only regretful because he saw what his sin did to him. This only brought about an emotional, angry attempt at clearing his name. And therein lays the greatest difference between repentance and remorse. Repentance begins in the mind and is others-focused; remorse begins in the heart and is self-centered.
It is from this word remembered that I believe Peter repented – he mentally turned around! And that’s what repentance is: a 180 degree change in action because of a decision in the mind. It’s a “decision in the mind” that is “displayed in the feet!” He chewed on the words, remained fixed on the Lord’s look, stayed focused on Christ’s prophecy, and as he thought about that, he truly repented. He knew he had failed in his relationship. His concern was truly towards someone else; it was outward in its nature. That’s repentance, in that it moves us to change because of the pain or hurt we have brought to someone else.
Judas, on the other hand, only saw the pain he caused himself. He regretted what he had done (betraying innocent blood), and knew that he had made a mistake. He felt badly, but not repentant. It was a realization rooted in selfishness, not selflessness. He wasn’t repentant, just regretful and remorseful.
As John Macarthur writes, “He was sorry, not because he had sinned against Christ, but because his sin did not satisfy him the way he had hoped. His remorse was not genuine repentance. If that were the case, he would not have killed himself. He was merely sorry because he did not like what he felt.” (Twelve Ordinary Men, p. 195-196)
Yes, Judas was all about regret. Peter? Repentance! They can look a lot like each other, but regret will never bring you back to restoration or help you find God’s path to recovery. Only repentance!
The contrast of these two words reminds me of the little town Wabush, a small community in a remote portion of Labrador, Canada. For a number of years, Wabush was completely isolated. But recently a road was cut through the wilderness to reach it. Wabush now has one road leading into it, and thus, only on one road leading out. If someone would travel the unpaved road for six to eight hours to get into Wabush, there is only way he or she could leave – by turning around. If someone were to try and cut a new path through the woods, or make a mad jump across the river, that road would only lead to a dead end. For in Wabush, there is only one road out.
And the same is true when it comes to betrayal. There is only one road out of that awful, dead end place – and that road is the road of repentance. Regret and remorse will never bring you into a life of freedom. Only repentance. Without it, there’s no way out of the town of betrayal.
How do you know if you’re on the right road back from betrayal? How do you know if you’re truly repentant and not just remorseful? How can you be sure you’re following Peter’s example and not Judas’? Let me quickly make a few practical observations about these two men and these two words in order to help us put some of this biblical insight into practice.
1. Repentance starts with godly sorrow; regret ends with human sorrow.
Understand that repentance is birthed in us because of the Word of God or work of God. It is a willful, volitional desire to be right and make things right because of a holy standard – God and his Word! We see where we have violated God, and we are deeply moved, beginning in our mind, to adjust and change. This deep contrition – called godly sorrow – starts the change process within us. And change that starts inside lasts.
Remorse and regret, however, are usually man-made feelings that are produced from other humans. They are external in nature and forced upon us. We feel badly “from the outside in,” so to speak. That’s why most recovery treks based only on what other people think never last.
Let me show you this divine process spelled out in 2 Corinthians 7:8-13.
In a nutshell, Paul here shows that godly sorrow leads to repentance which leads to salvation. In other words, deep, “remembering-type” sorrow begins the work of change in us. But worldly sorrow only ends in death (see v. 10). It doesn’t begin anything good, but only leaves us in a state of guilt and bitterness.
Maybe you’re wondering, “What is godly sorrow?” Based on the text in 2 Corinthians, godly sorrow is internal pain leads me towards the external humility I need to make things right with others. Human sorrow doesn’t lead us towards making things right with others, but rather towards doing whatever we can to get back what we lost. The central issue is still us and our way, not the injury we have caused to a relationship or person. Keep in mind that this type of human sorrow can be faked, so it is often hard to tell the difference. But human sorrow has no healing power! None! So it is wise to look closely; otherwise, months down the road you’ll find yourself in the same shape as before.
Here’s a tip for parents, spouses, and ministry leaders: watch the language of people in recovery. If it is all about them, it may very well be human sorrow aimed at getting things back, not healing the hurt of relationships. Genuine repentance starts with a deeper contrition than “I’m sorry I got caught.” Instead, repentance says “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
Not too many years ago newspapers carried the story of Al Johnson, a Kansas man who repented of his sin and came to faith in Jesus Christ. What made his story remarkable was not his conversion, but the fact that as a result of his newfound faith in Christ – his repentance – he confessed to a bank robbery he had participated in when he was nineteen years old. Because the statute of limitations on the case had run out, Johnson could not be prosecuted for the offense. Still, he believed his relationship with Christ demanded a confession and restoration. So he voluntarily repaid his share of the stolen money! This is genuine repentance – true sorrow that leads me to make things right. Had it been only regret, I suspect Al would have simply felt awful, maybe paid back the money, but then wallowed in self-pity and disgust over the past. But because of godly sorrow in his heart, he was moved to restorative action on behalf of others, not just reflective self-pity.
Notice another observation:
2. Repentance produces attitudes of genuine, visible brokenness; regret breeds attempts at public vindication.
The different responses of Peter and Judas are astounding. Peter wept bitterly, while Judas sought vindication. Yes, true repentance will be displayed through our brokenness. Contrition is not something we’re afraid of when real repentance is being born in us. But when remorse is simply taking over, we’ll find our actions will be all about vindication and justification.
Make no mistake – tears may very well be part of true repentance, as was the case with Peter. But sometimes tears can be a cloak of disguise as well, a tool of emotional leverage in order to get something back.
An interesting example if this is found in Hebrews 12:17 when the writer describes Esau’s actions after selling his birthright. He says Esau couldn’t regain what he had sold “even though he sought it with tears.” Interesting, isn’t it? He appeared repentant, but in reality he was only regretful. Remorseful. He had made a bad decision and didn’t like the end result of that specific situation. There was not real repentance over whom he had hurt, just regret that he didn’t get his way.
Oddly enough, I was struck this week by the similarities between Judas and Esau. Both sold something important, both regretted it, and neither could find a way to reverse their actions even though they made a last-ditch appeal. Why? Because the heart wasn’t truly repentant, only remorseful. And this showed by their attempts at vindication.
The key is brokenness. That word may look a little different for many of us. For Peter, it was displayed through private and bitter tears. For Zacheus, it was financial restitution. For David, in the Old Testament, it was shown through a written confession (Psalm 51) and fasting. But brokenness, not vindication, will always be a visible result of repentance.
Here’s a final observation:
3. Repentance leaves us filled with selfless hope about the future; regret leaves us dangling in selfish anger about the past.
Jesus, even before Peter actually walked on the thin ice of betrayal, encouraged Peter about what would happen once he returned. He said, “Strengthen (i.e., establish) the brethren.” Yes, Jesus knew that there was hope for Peter, and the road back was paved with repentance and lined with hope.
But Judas selfishly hung himself. He committed the ultimate act of independence: suicide! And suicide is exactly that – a selfish act that benefits no one! That’s the only place remorse and human guilt can take you. It cannot heal you, for it has no restoring power. As the words of 2 Corinthians said, “It leads to death.” If, after a time of sin, we get consumed with ourselves and personal vindication, we will find ourselves plunging towards frustration quicker and quicker. If we don’t let godly sorrow work the way God wants it to, human sorrow will take over and lead us towards unthinkable acts such as suicide.
This is one of the ways you can tell if true repentance is actually in play: hope is part of the picture. And no one brings hope better than Jesus!
Today, if you find yourself dangling dangerously close to thoughts of quitting, thoughts of suicide, thoughts of giving up, the only real answer is Jesus Christ. He is the hope for all men and women everywhere.
In fact, I think about the hope I have in Jesus every time I use the “System Restore” feature on my Windows-based computer. Now I’m not a computer geek, nor am I a dunce. (I may be close, but at least I can do some things.) Regardless of my tech status, often I find myself unable to “undo” crashes that occur or unable to return my system from wrecks I’ve probably caused on the information highway inside my computer. Maybe it’s the last two weeks of financial information, your daughter’s history report, or your favorite pictures. From what I know, all you have to do is select "system restore" and specify the date to which you want your machine reset. Voila! Problem solved. All the things you somehow messed up are put back in their configuration as of that earlier day. For a beginner like me in the “techy” world, that’s hope!
Wouldn’t you like to market that feature for human lives? Do you think you could supply it fast enough to keep up with the demand? Joe would "system restore" to the day before he began the affair. Sue would go back to the day before she tampered with payroll data. Ivan would choose the day before the big fight that caused his son to run away from home. And so on.
Maybe you can remember the day when things crashed for you—and you’d give anything you own to restore things to the way they were. God’s “system restore” is the hope you need, and it is found in Jesus Christ. The avenue is repentance, and the result is a future based on forgiveness, not failure. Sure, God won’t erase all the consequences of our actions, but he promises to give us the hope to live above what has happened, not die because of it.
On a side note: Judas is in hell because he rejected the Messiah and committed apostasy, not because he committed suicide. He didn’t believe. It is also true today – people go to hell, not because they commit suicide, but because they reject Jesus and refuse to believe.
When I think about this topic and these observations, my mind runs to the spring of 1998, for that was a pivotal point in my understanding of repentance. One evening I was sitting on the couch in our basement, frustrated with youth ministry and disillusioned with my job as a youth pastor. I had just come home from a youth event that evening and was telling Julie how mush I disliked what I was doing. I vented like never before!
She just sat there, listening to my futile attempts to explain my frustration and anger. “If only this would happen” or “If they would just act this way” or “If he or she would simply change their behavior.” In many ways I was trying to excuse what I knew was a lack of depth in my own life.
And then I started crying. Suddenly, it wasn’t about the kids at church, or the programs, or the parents. It was about the carnality of my own spiritual walk and the hurt I had brought to God by not loving him and following him. Yes, I had the job of a youth pastor, but my heart was far from God. I was battling various temptations, even considering thoughts of doing something else other than what I knew God had called me to do. And then it hit me – I was way to close to betrayal than I wanted to admit. I was distant from the God who loved me, and my selfishness and worldly ambition were hurting the people around me. That’s why I was crying! I was turning into a fake! If something didn’t change inside, I would end up like the people I said I’d never become. And that night as I sat there and told my wife about my shallow spirituality and my lack of real depth with the Lord I apparently served, God began the truest work of repentance I have ever known. My sorrow for what I had to done to him was very deep; my brokenness was very evident; but my future looked hopeful as I knew God had reached down into my life and spared me from greater denials and betrayals. And little by little things began to change.
And it all started with a look inside and the simple words, “God, I’m sorry.”
As you process this insight from Luke 22, here’s what I’d like for you to do: Seek repentance, reject remorse. In other words, when sin gets into your earthly relationships, restore them the biblical way. When denial and betrayal find their way into your spiritual life, return to the Lord in the scriptural way. Realize that true repentance focuses on the hurt we have caused to others, is not concerned with looking good or being vindicated, and will always leave us with hope even in the middle of personal brokenness. That’s the way to go about battling the bite of betrayal and recovering from the fangs of failure.
These simple observations would help our homes so much, wouldn’t they? They’d help our marriages, encourage our friendships, and strengthen our relationships. Knowing that true repentance was taking root in us would be one of the best ways for healing to start taking place around us.
Would you be willing to start that process this morning with the simple words, “I’m sorry.”? No strings attached, and no explanation needed. Just an honest, “I’m sorry.” An authentic “Please forgive me for the hurt I’ve caused” can start amazing things happening both spiritually and relationally. Whether to God or an earthly person in your life, those words can make a huge difference.
Biblical repentance, not human remorse or regret, is the way to battle back from betrayal. Join me this morning in “remembering” the words of our Lord and let’s stay true and faithful from this day forward.
Let’s pray.
