The break from chapter 26 to chapter 27 might distract us from seeing how Matthew has juxtaposed the stories of Peter (Matthew 26:69-75) and Judas (27:3-10). Putting this pair of incidents side by side gives us a combination we might call “The Two Disciples Who Failed.” After this Matthew will mention neither Peter nor Judas by name in the remainder of his book.

Yet something interesting happens when we read, almost at the very end, that “the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them” (28:16). We are used to hearing about “the twelve disciples,” so we pause for a moment and then remember, oh yeah, we lost two of them, Peter and Judas. But wait, wouldn’t that mean that it should be ten disciples? Why does it say eleven?

By using the word ‘eleven,’ Matthew indicated that Peter came back, without mentioning him by name or giving any indication of how he got restored. The last we saw of him, Peter had promised he would be faithful and had failed utterly, and was weeping in the alley. Yet there he was with the others on the mountain in Galilee: no spotlight on him, no explanation, yet present with the other disciples, seeing the risen Jesus, hearing the Great Commission. And going on from there to make disciples, baptize, and teach (28:19-20).

Judas recognized how wrong he had been: Matthew specifically recorded that Judas “repented,” that he “brought back the thirty pieces of silver,” that he confessed “I have sinned” (27:3-4). How would the chief priests and elders respond to this abject repentance? They shrugged dismissively: “What is that to us? See to it yourself” (27:4). Judas decided there was no point in going on, and hanged himself (27:5).

Peter, meanwhile, still managed somehow to show up. Without explaining how Peter got restored, Matthew simply lets us see that Peter resumed his place among the disciples – and thereby prompts us to wonder what would have been the story for Judas, had he also managed to show up on the mountain in Galilee. The contrast between the two should motivate us to recognize that in the midst of all our own failures, in our worst sins, even in the face of our most bitter weeping (26:75), there is nowhere else for us to go except to Jesus.

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We are so grateful, Lord, for the astonishing depth of your forgiveness. You keep taking us back, as long as we keep showing up. Give us grace, we pray, that we may yet learn diligence and faithfulness, to follow as your disciples.

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