What is the difference between the lives of Judas and Peter after they both sinned?

John Snyder explains in this video that we find a contrast between Judas and Peter in the way that they responded after they sinned grievously. Judas betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver, but Peter betrayed Christ as well when he denied Christ. Both sins were heinous. Both men were guilty. But how did both of these men respond afterward?

Judas, in a sense of self-centered grief, is overcome and he chooses a path of self-destruction by hanging himself. In contrast, Peter, after denying Christ three times, he is broken-hearted. He humbles himself and he takes Christ’s offer of mercy. He repents and turns from his life of sin and receives forgiveness.

Matthew 27:3-5 (NKJV) – “Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.” 

When we think of true and false repentance, one of the examples we find in Scripture is the contrast between Judas and Peter. Let's think carefully about them. Judas betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver, but Peter also betrayed Christ. He betrayed Christ because of fear. Both of the sins were heinous.

Both of them were guilty. But let's think about the response of these two men. Judas, in a sense of me-centered, self-centered grief, is overcome and he chooses a path of self-destruction. This isn't what God tells us to do when we're aware of our sin. Ultimately, Judas is still the center of all of his actions.

He's at the center when he betrays Christ, and he's at the center when he kills himself. But think about Peter. After denying the Lord three times, Peter is brokenhearted. When Christ confronts Peter later, Peter humbles himself. He takes what Christ says to heart.

He takes Christ's assessment of his sinfulness, but he also takes Christ's offer of mercy. Peter is no longer at the center of his choices. He repents. He turns from a Peter-oriented life, a me-oriented life, and he turns back to Christ, and he receives the forgiveness that he offers.