Easter celebration reminds us of a number of things that occurred in relation to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Among those are Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial of Christ. Some may argue that Judas’ betrayal was worse than Peter’s denial while others may argue the opposite. One thing is common; both were acts of disappointment to their dear Master. There are some other similarities between both men’s actions; they were both forewarned by the Lord. In Mat. 26 Judas was informed that he was the person to betray the Lord (vs. 25) while in vs. 34, Peter was told that he was to deny the Lord thrice before the cockcrow. Another similarity is that both men completed their respective betrayal and denial actions without stopping amidst their actions to reason that they were doing exactly what they were warned against. If after receiving the 30 pieces of silver Judas reasoned that he was betraying his innocent Lord, he probably could have returned the money and decided not to lead the mob to Christ. Similarly, if Peter reasoned that he was doing just what he was forewarned against, he might have stopped after the first or second denials. The same Lord who warned both Judas and Peter has also warned us that those who are not saved will have their parts in hell fire. Again, like Judas and Peter, some people will not reason to heed the Lord’s warning until they enter into hell fire. It is amazing how we often ignore warnings thinking that we have things under control, but we don’t.
There is yet another similarity between both men; they regretted their actions. What separates them is what they did in regretting their actions. Judas confronted those who paid him to betray the Lord, returned their money and proceeded to kill himself. Peter on the other hand wept bitterly and I suppose, repenting and confessing his failure to God. We know that Peter received the forgiveness he sought for because Jesus sent a resurrection message specifically to him (Mk. 16:7), met with him personally (Lk. 24:34; 1 Cor.15:5) and confirmed his place in the His service in front of the other apostles (Jn. 21:15-17). The lesson then is that regretting bad actions or wishing to have not sinned is not sufficient to save anyone from sin. The sinner (whether in the Church or not) must be saved by accepting that he has sinned. He then must earnestly look unto God for forgiveness through the blood of Jesus and decide to adhere to the Lord’s warnings in the scriptures. These actions will attract the Lords mercy and grace for the person to live and conquer the sins that conquered him before. This is what Easter is all about.