Printer Friendly VersionIf you have been with us the last several weeks you know we
have been looking at the last 24 hours of Jesus life. In the fashion of the
Fox TV Series, 24, we have been looking at certain time frames during the
day to describe the events that were taking place. Quite honestly, today’s
passage doesn’t fit neatly into our 24 hour format. Some of these events
surely did not take place between 6AM and 8AM as we placed them for today.
However some of these events very well may have occurred between 6AM and 8AM.
Listen as Matthew tells of two of Jesus’ disciples who turned their
backs on Him. This passage is in two chapters of the Gospel according to Matthew.
However you understand that as Matthew was writing this story, he did not
put in the chapter breaks like what we have in our Bibles today, that came
much later. He was just telling the story of Jesus’ betrayers: (Read
Matthew 26:69--27:10).
Those are two sad accounts of two men who had spent the last
three years of their lives with Jesus. They saw Jesus heal hundreds of people.
They saw Him feed thousands of people, and even raise the dead. They had heard
the greatest life lessons and most wonderful sermons anyone could possibly
hear. And yet, when trouble came, when the heat was turned up and when problems
arose, they betrayed Him. They denied Him. They turned their back on Him.
What happened?
Let’s start with Judas. We know how he is usually portrayed:
sneaky, evil, and rotten to the core. But maybe he wasn’t that way at
all. The Bible never says he had beady eyes. The Bible never uses the word
“shifty” to describe him. When Jesus announced that someone was
going to betray Him, none of the other disciples in the upper room stood up
and pointed at Judas and said, “It’s got to be Judas, I’ve
never trusted him.” Maybe he was a nice guy. Maybe people liked him.
And if that were true how could Judas go from nice guy to betrayer?
How could somebody see Lazarus come rumbling out of the grave and a few days
later turn Jesus over to the enemy?
Understand Judas had to know that his actions would lead to Jesus’ death.
Judas was not a dummy. He knew what the religious leaders did to people they
deemed blasphemous. And he knew what the Roman leaders did to people considered
a threat to the peace. In other words, if the Jews didn’t kill him,
the Romans would. Judas had to know that.
So why did he do it? Why does Matthew 26 read: Then one of the
Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests
and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?"
So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched
for an opportunity to hand him over (vv. 14-16). Was it just about the money?
Was this a simple case of greed?
No one was going to get rich off of thirty pieces of silver
Judas received. He wasn’t going to be buying a luxury villa in the south
of France with 30 measly pieces of silver. There must have been something
more at work than money.
My theory is that Judas began to get disillusioned and was losing
hope. The kingdom Jesus was talking about--where the first become last; the
leader washes feet; the call is to be a servant--just didn’t make sense
to a guy like Judas. He looked around and saw that after three years the Romans
were still in charge, and the religious leaders were still giving orders.
Surely it surely seemed like things were never going to change. In spite of
all the healings, there were still sick folks. In spite of all the feedings,
there were still hungry people. In spite of raising a few people from the
dead, people were still dying. Could it be that Judas said, “Oh, what’s
the use? You can’t fight city hall.”
And what about Peter? Just a few hours before denying Jesus
to the slave girl by the fire pot, he was telling Jesus, “You can count
on me. Even if everyone else turns their back on you I never will.”
Of course we know how that promised worked out. When the “big, strong,
extremely threatening” (can you hear the sarcasm?) slave girl questioned
him, Peter promptly denied knowing Jesus in no uncertain terms. What happened
to Peter?
Peter doesn’t seem to be like Judas. My goodness, he was
willing to fight city hall. In the Garden of Gethsemane he seemed more than
willing to draw the sword, just ask Malchus. It was a good thing Peter had
been a fisherman and not a soldier or Malchus might have had more damage done
to him than just a missing ear. So Peter was willing to fight.
It seems that Peter was just fearful. Luke 22:54 says a lot
in a few words when it says, “Peter followed . . . from a distance.”
He wanted to be close, but he couldn’t. He wanted to keep his word,
but he couldn’t. Not close enough to help, not far enough away to forget.
He followed . . . from a distance.
I’ve known people who have wanted to follow Jesus from
a distance. They seemed intrigued by Jesus. They were fascinated by Him. They
were compelled to notice Jesus, but like Peter maybe it was fear or doubt
or greed or so self focus that caused them to not get close enough to really
follow. You see it’s impossible to follow Jesus from a distance just
as Peter discovered.
So both Peter and Judas betrayed Jesus. They had different reasons,
they had different reactions, but both failed.
Disappointment, greed, and fear have the potential to lead a
person to becoming involved in destructive behaviors. Judas and Peter were
not the first, and they surely are not the last to make devastating, sinful
choices based on such feelings and emotions. Prisons are full of people who
because of disappointment, greed, or fear have taken actions that have placed
them behind bars for many, many years.
So Judas sold Jesus out and Peter simply denied Him.
Both of their actions led these men to a place of horrible despair.
Judas realized the error of his ways, went back to the religious leaders and
tried to give the money back. He doesn’t want the money. He wanted Jesus.
But he was informed, “It was too late.”
And when the rooster crowed, Peter knew he had failed. There
was no mistaking what he had done. He failed. He failed his best friend. He
did what he said he would never do.
What do you do when you’ve done something so horrible,
so terrible, and so wrong? Where do you turn? What do you do when you do the
very thing you said you would never ever do?
Max Lucado tells a lot of good stories but my favorite by far
is about a mom and her daughter living in a small Brazilian village. You probably
have heard this story before, but it’s worth hearing again. Because
the story reminds us what do when we are at the bottom.
The mom’s name was Maria and the daughter’s name
was Christina. They were all each other had. Maria’s husband, Christina’s
father had died when Christina was a baby. And Maria worked hard as a maid
and did what she could to provide a stable, loving home for her daughter.
And now Christina was old enough to begin to help with the household
duties, maybe get a job and help out. But Christina was independent, and the
notion of following tradition of marrying a young man from the village and
raising a family just did not appeal to her at all. Not that she couldn’t
have her choice of husbands, it seemed that every boy in town wanted to ask
her out. But she didn’t want that.
She often spoke of going to the “Big City.” She
dreamed of trading her dusty village for the bright lights and excitement
of Rio. Just the thought of this horrified her mother. Maria would say to
her daughter, “People don’t know you there. Jobs are scarce and
life is cruel. What would you do for a living in the city?”
Maria knew exactly what Christina would do or would resort to
doing. That’s why her heart sunk when one morning she awoke only to
discover that Christina was gone. She knew immediately what she would have
to do. She threw some clothes in a bag, gathered up all her money and ran
out of the house.
On her way to the bus stop she entered a drugstore to get one
last thing: pictures. She sat in one of those dollar photograph booths. Closed
the curtain and spend all she could on pictures of herself. With her purse
full of small black and white photos, she boarded the next bus for Rio de
Janeiro.
Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew
that her daughter was too proud or too stubborn to give up. Sometimes when
pride and hunger meet people will do things they never would have done. Knowing
this, Maria began her search. She went to bars, hotels, nightclubs any place
that had a reputation for prostitutes. She went to them all and in each place
she left her picture taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin
board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo she
left a note.
Well, it wasn’t long before both the money and her pictures
ran out, and Maria had to go home. She didn’t want to because she thought
she might never see her daughter again but she had to go home.
It was a few weeks later that young Christina walked down the
hotel stairs. Her young face was tired and her eyes spoke of pain and fear.
Her laughter was broken. Her dream became a nightmare. A thousand times over
she had longed to go back home. Yet her little village was in many, many ways
too far away.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes spotted a familiar face.
On the lobby mirror was a small black and white photo of her mother. Christina’s
eyes burned red and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and
removed the picture from the mirror. Written on the back were these words:
“Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t
matter. Please come home.”1
Wow! “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become,
it doesn’t matter. Please come home.”
She did.
What a powerful message! It’s the message Peter heard,
but unfortunately because he took his own life a message Judas never heard.
Peter was so broken-hearted. He was devastated by his actions.
I know I’m jumping ahead in the story, but I can’t leave you with
Peter in this state. Judas killed himself. And although Peter didn’t,
he was in utter despair. Peter discovered that there was hope for him.
He had a lot going through his mind following the resurrection
of Jesus. Mainly, what will Jesus do with a guy like him? What will Jesus
do with a turncoat? What will Jesus do with a guy who turned his back and
ran when the times got difficult? What will Jesus do to a guy who swore up
and down, “I will never leave you, never in a million years--and then
did just that? What will Jesus do with Peter?
Maybe Peter got a hint of Jesus’ amazing love and God’s
grace immediately following the Resurrection. According to Mark’s account
in 16:7, the ladies went to the tomb early on Easter morning fully intending
to anoint the cold, dead body of Jesus--that was the plan. You know the story,
as they are walking to the tomb, the ladies were wondering how in the world
they were going to move that great big rock that was blocking the entrance.
They arrived and discovered they didn’t need to move the rock: it had
been rolled away. An angel was sitting inside the tomb and the angel said,
(This is great) “Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth,
who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is
where they laid his body. (This is the part I want you to get as it relates
to Peter, the angel went on to say--this is really awesome.) Now go and tell
his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee.
You will see him there, just as he told you before he died” (Mark 16:6-7).
“Go tell his disciples, including Peter.” Why did
the angel have to emphasize Peter? That old angel could have simply said,
“Go tell the disciples.” That certainly would have included Peter
just like it included James and John and everybody else. But that’s
not what the angel said. The angel said, “Ladies, don’t stay here,
go and tell the disciples, including Peter, especially Peter, make sure you
tell Peter, if you forget everybody else, the one you absolutely can’t
forget to tell is Peter. Peter has to know!”
That’s the same message that Maria wrote on the back of
her picture to Christina: “Whatever you’ve done, whatever you’ve
become, it doesn’t matter. Please come home.”
Wow! I’m so glad Mark included all of the angel’s
words. It reminds us that the good news of Jesus Christ is a gospel of second
chances. That doesn’t happen a lot in our world. Usually if you mess
up you’re done for. Three strikes and your out pal. That’s how
our world works. Not so with Jesus.
And in this Lenten season is a message for you. Maybe you haven’t
been in church for a long time. Maybe you’ve been so far away from God.
Maybe you’re tempted to think He’s forgotten about you. Or maybe
you are at church all the time, but because of something that happened years
ago you’ve bought the lie that says, “Somebody like you could
never be forgiven.”
Don’t believe it! It was several years ago now, and the
church I was pastoring was having a special service for the Sanctity of Life
Sunday. The focus was on life. The service wasn’t about the negative
things that can end life--issues like abortion, euthanasia, or something like
that. Our focus was on the positive. God is the author of life. God loves
life. God calls us to embrace life. That was the thrust of the service.
I remember I was just a few minutes into the sermon and a young
lady in her late twenties got up and left the service. Now normally I don’t
even notice those types of things. I don’t notice people getting up
or babies crying. I’ve joked that if a nuclear bomb went off I’d
probably keep on preaching. But on that Sunday, during that sermon I noticed
this lady leave the service.
And as she left—remember, I’m still preaching—the
Holy Spirit spoke with my spirit and seemed to say: “She had an abortion.”
Again, we didn’t mention abortion, we weren’t talking about abortion.
To be honest—it surprised me to have a thought like that come into my
mind. I’ve got to tell you, I normally don’t try to think up reasons
why people are getting up and leaving in the middle of the sermon. Just in
case you are worried, if you get up to use the restroom I’m pretty sure
I’m not going to think you have some deep dark secret that might have
caused you to leave. But on that morning, as she was leaving, clear as a bell,
“she had an abortion.”
The lady never returned to the service, but afterwards she was
in the foyer of the church and I asked her if everything was okay. And that
simple question caused the dam of tears to burst. She began to pour out her
soul. She said as we were talking about how wonderful, glorious, and precious
life is her mind went back to a time when she was young, confused, scared,
and hurt. She really didn’t put a lot of time or effort or even much
thought into the decision to end her pregnancy. She just went to the clinic
and that was that.
But she said, “Pastor, I have never forgotten that day.
And it seems that whenever I try to pray, that’s what on my mind. When
I’m around ten year olds I get so sad because that’s how hold
my baby would be. It’s been ten years. And it is always in front of
me. And I can’t pray. And I can’t think. It’s just so overwhelming.”
And then she said this: “I know God hates me, and could never forgive
me for what I’ve done.”
That’s when I jumped in and said, “Oh no, you are
wrong. There are plenty of things God hates: He hates death. He hates abortion.
He hates war. But God loves you! Make no mistake. God loves you.” I
told her what we’ve been talking about today. That God specializes in
second chances. No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done
God loves you. He is willing to forgive and ready to say let’s move
forward.
Perhaps you’ve got something in your past that has been
dragging you down. Maybe it is something you did. Maybe it is something that
was done to you. Whatever it is a memory has a grip on your life and you haven’t
been able to move past. Maybe you are thinking like that lady, “It’s
been ten years. I should be over this by now, but it is there.”
If you have been thinking that way, can I give you some good
news: today can be your day!
God wants to give you another chance. Like Peter, He’ll welcome you home!
1. Lucado, Max. No Wonder They Call Him Savior (Portland: Multnomah, 1998).
