Body: | The Tragedy of Disbelieving in the supernatural God!
The writer, Humboldt, very fittingly said, "I am convinced that our
happiness depends more on the way we meet the events of life, than on the
nature of those events themselves". This great truth has never been more
graphically illustrated than in the lives of the Apostles Simon Peter and
Judas Iscariot. The first denied his Lord and the second betrayed the
Saviour. Both were terrible sins, but they did different things to the men
who committed them. The difference in the results of these transgressions
lay in the faith on the part of one and the disbelief in the heart of the
other.
Simon Peter had earlier protested to Jesus that he would go to prison for
the Master. He would even die for Him. Certainly, he would not run away and
desert Him in any hour of trial. But how little did Peter know! When Jesus
was arrested in the garden, Peter did put up an initial defense of his Best
Friend. He struck out with the sword and was fortunate by not having been
killed by the Jewish soldiers of the High Priest's guard. Jesus took the
sword away from Simon. In Matthew Chapter 26, verse 52 Jesus said, "Put up
again thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall
perish with the sword".
Peter was stunned by His Lord's behavior. The only weapon Peter knew how to
use was taken from him. Now, how could he defend Jesus? Simon was amazed,
frustrated and bewildered. So must have been all the disciples because
Matthew's account of the arrest says, "Then all the disciples forsook Him
and fled". Matthew Chapter 26, verse 56. Simon Peter tried a hasty comeback
however. He followed the crowd to the palace of Ciaphas, the high priest.
Here again, he was put under pressure and failed his Lord.
Three times various ones recognized Peter as one of Jesus' friends and
confronted him with the relationship, only to receive an adamant denial
that he knew Jesus. Under heavy strain Simon even stooped to cursing and
swearing to persuade his enemies that he had no association with Christ. At
'this Point the rooster crew as the Lord had said it would. This shook
Peter into reality and to an understanding of what he had done. The
scripture says, "And he went out and wept bitterly" Matthew 26:75.
Peter was a good man. lie had faith. It was his faith tha'L. saw him
through his terrible ordeal. I+. led him back to Jesus for forgiveness. It
led him back to God for another chance. It was humiliating. It was
embarrassing. But it was the only thing to do, if he would ever know
happiness again. His faith led him out of his cowardice and on to great
things in the Kingdom of God. The outcome of Peter's trials was not so much
a matter of the events themselves, but how he met adversity. On the other
hand, Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemene, with a
kiss. And he too came to himself and sought to make amends. He even took
the 30 pieces of silver back to the Jewish leaders and begged for the life
of Jesus. This request was denied. Here is where the tragedy of Disbelief
became evident.
Could Judas not return to Jesus as Simon did? Surely! The Lord had taught
them both that He would be resurrected from the dead. But Judas did not
believe. Instead of repenting of his sin and surrendering his life back to
God, he saw no way out. His pride was too great for him to face either the
Lord or the other Apostles. Matthew's account of the gospel says, "And he
cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and
hanged himself" Matthew 27:5. The tragedy in Judas's life was not that he
betrayed the Son of God, but that he betrayed himself! His faith was too
weak. His pride was too strong! The event did not make or break him within
itself, rather his response to the betrayal crushed out his life in
suicide. The simple lesson in the life of Judas Iscariot was the tragedy of
disbelief.
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