Repentance & Remorse: Three Stories

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. — 2 Corinthians 8:10

Peter’s Story: Repentance

He had declared his intention, of never denying Jesus. His character was bold; his resolve strong. Even if all the other disciples abandoned Him, as Jesus predicted they would, Peter would remain faithful to his Lord (see Matthew 26:31-35).

He followed Jesus as far as the outer courtyard of the High Priest, where the Messiah faced a sham trial before Sanhedrin. When several servants girls recognized Peter as a friend of the infamous Rabbi, Peter disowned Jesus — not once, but three times. Then the rooster crowed, as Jesus had said it would. Remembering Jesus’ words, Peter crumbled. Broken and weeping, he staggered away into the night (Matthew 26:69-75).

Peter’s repentance is an eye-opening lesson for every believer. He wept beneath the back-breaking burden of his sin and pride, finally admitting that Jesus’ words were undeniably true. He was convicted in his spirit of his sin, and the ugliness of it seemed too much to bear.

It is an easy temptation, when we feel the weight and shame of our sin, to want to hide ourselves from God, as Adam vainly attempted to do in the garden by covering himself and physically hiding from God’s presence. We can’t imagine looking into the sinless eyes of the One we have betrayed; shame tempts us to shut our eyes against the only One who can rescue us from our guilt: Christ!

Peter, thankfully, didn’t fall prey to this temptation. Instead, he ran to Christ. When he realized Jesus was on the shore, he leapt overboard into the water and started swimming toward him! He could not reach the Lord quickly enough. Peter ate the breakfast that Jesus’ hands had prepared for him and his brothers, and then answered Jesus’ painful questions about his love for his Saviour (see John 21:7-17).

Peter’s repentance was complete: he had been convicted of his sin, had grieved over it with a godly sorrow, and was then eager to turn to Christ for restoration. His repentance was visible: he was a changed man! He followed Christ with renewed boldness and a new gentleness "feeding the sheep" as Jesus had commanded. He was humbled and empowered by a better understanding of his sin, and a more certain knowledge of the One who died to save him from it.

Judas’ Story: Remorse

In the very next chapter of Matthew, we read about Judas. After selling out Christ to the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver, he realized their intent was execution. He "was remorseful" and tried to return the blood money to them. When they refused, he threw the coins at their feet and ran out, stricken.

Was this repentance, akin to Peter’s? No, for although Judas’ heart was heavy with guilt, he took it upon himself to remedy his burden by trying to turn back the clock. His grief over his sin did not lead him to Christ, but to his own devices and — ultimately — to his death (Matthew 27:3-5).

Our Story . . .

No matter what our sin may be, no matter how much we try to hide it from the Lord, or try to fix it ourselves, God knows our hearts fully. And He waits with welcoming arms for us to finally look to Him with our sorrow and our sin. His forgiveness is extravagant and powerful; through Christ, His forgiveness covers our every sin, as we come to Him with our honest confession, in a spirit of repentance. He pours out His mercy on us to wash it away, and He grants us His strength to truly repent and walk in newness of life, as Peter did.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
— Hebrews 4:16