Two men. Both Chosen. One called once. The other called twice (he had the nerve to go back fishing after the first call). One a Galilean. The other the only non-Galilean chosen. One as impulsive as a 3 year-old in a candy store. The other as calculative as an accountant working the payroll. Both had preached the gospel. Both had cast out demons. Both had healed the sick.

Iscariot, the Lying Thief. Peter, the Rock. One walked on very thin ice. The other walked on water, literally. Peter was known to fall into situations by happenstance. Not Judas; every move he made was by design.

The Nazarene’s first words to Peter: “Come follow me.” And His last words to him: “You must follow me.”

In betraying Jesus, Judas made the single greatest mistake in history. In denying Jesus, Peter’s goes down in history as the most brutal denial of a friend by another.

In a flash moment of inspiration and with child-like faith, Peter had declared the Nazarene’s deity. The non-Galilean, on the flip side, has completely misunderstood Messiah’s mission. In perhaps a last ditch attempt to force His hand, he hands him over to the temple guard by night. What he sees catapults him from despondency to disillusionment: the servant’s ear re-stitched, the command to re-holster drawn swords; the man he thought was saving majestic display of grandeur for last is now being led like a lamb to the slaughter, with not as much as a word to His own defence.

So you say you can’t take it any more, man of the village of Keriyyoth. So you have abandoned your master of three years? But so has your Galilean counterpart. After all He did say you would betray Him, I hear you hiss as you grind your teeth and pump clenched fist in the air. But so did he tell Peter he would deny Him. While Jesus prayed, you were receiving your pay. The Galilean on the other hand was napping, instead of praying. And when he was not sleeping, Peter was warming himself by the enemy’s fire.

But it is you that betrayed Him, you insist. Come see for yourself; look in the direction of the firelight to the far corner. It’s a long night but do you see the brazen faced fellow seated with the servants? That’s him. For the third time going now, Peter is swearing on oath and calling down curses on himself. “May God strike me dead if am lying!” he manages a shout. “What is this servant girl and all these people talking about. The Nazarene? Who is that? I don’t know the man!” While your conscience brought you to the place of remorse Judas, it took a rooster’s crow to stop the Galilean in his tracks.

You see Judas, my story is not yet written but I understand where you are. Undoing the damage will not do. Forget method. What you need is forgiveness. I’ve been down this road more times than I can count. I’ve made mistakes that could easily last me a lifetime. And at all these bad turns I have, like Simon Peter, looked up at the Lord expecting condemnation. All I saw was mercy and eyes that said, I understand Jacob. I do. And I love you, regardless.

We will have questions. We will fall again and again. But we must never stop following Jesus.