Remorse and Repentance
Matthew
27:3. When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders.
4. "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."
5. So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
(N.I.V.)
Is there a difference between 'remorse' and 'repentance' or is it just semantics? When politicians and preachers are caught in scandals and the television cameras record them with tears in their eyes - apologizing through choked up speech - are they full of remorse or repentance?
Are they sorry, or sorry they got caught?
What was the difference in the actions or motivation of Peter and Judas on that fateful night? Which would you take hardest, a friend secretly selling you out or a friend publicly cursing you three times, or all your friends completely abandoning you at your time of greatest heartache?
In the 26th chapter of Matthew, Jesus uses the words "betray," "fall away," and "disown." He said that one of them would betray Him, that all of them would fall away from Him, and that one of them would disown him.
It was plain from those involved in the painful discussion that Judas was the one who would betray Him, that all the other disciples would fall away from Him, and that Peter would be the one who would disown Him three times before the rooster would crow at the dawn of morning.
Matthew 26:75. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly. (N.I.V.)
Tears of remorse or tears of repentance?
Ultimately, the end result tells the largest story of the motivation behind the tears or angst. Those who are repentant turn from their sin and their path becomes marked by “…fruit in keeping with repentance…” (Luke 3:8)