Thank you Jesus for healing Malchus

Let’s back up a little from Easter Sunday & refocus on a mid-arrest miracle, the last miracle that the Scriptures record Jesus performing before his own death & resurrection.

The first books in the 2nd part of the Bible, the New Testament, are mostly stories and testimonies about Jesus, God's son who came to earth about two thousand years ago to walk among us.  He fulfilled God's redemptive plan in our broken lives.  He made a way for us to be forgiven apart from the law, that as you know, we couldn't keep.  Jesus' perfect life & death & resurrection was that plan & we can still read specifically about it today in the first four books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.  The books are called gospels, because gospel means 'good news', which if you know anything about Jesus, he certainly is.  A Harmony of the Gospels is a book which tells all four accounts of the story side by side, Matthew's, Mark's, Luke's & John's.  I'll read the story of Jesus' arrest using a Harmony blending all four accounts so we have the benefit of the fullest telling.

To study them on your own, read Matthew 26:47-56, Mark 14:43-52, Luke 22:47-53, John 18:2-12a.
 

“Now Judas, who betrayed (Jesus), knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.  So Judas, one of the Twelve, came to the grove, leading a large crowd of soldiers and some officials sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the Pharisees.  They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.  Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.”  Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.  Jesus knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”  “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.  “I am he,” Jesus said.  When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.  Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”  And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”  “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered.  “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.”  This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”  (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)  Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?  Friend, do what you came for.”  Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.  When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?”  And Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear.  (The servant’s name was Malchus.)  Jesus commanded Peter, “No more of this!”  And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.  “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.  Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?  But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?  Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”  Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs to capture me?  Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me.  But this is your hour – when darkness reigns.  This has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.”  Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus.  Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.”

Three Sundays ago I was sitting around with a group of adults in a Bible Study at our church & we read this passage, the one in Luke, and verses 49-51 kept coming back to me.

“When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?”  And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.  But Jesus answered, “No more of this!”  And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.”

I started thinking about Jesus’ miracles.  Most of them are him healing people, healing physical ailments or setting people free from demonic strongholds.  Of course he has others you will certainly remember, like turning water into wine, a miracle you probably wish he’d done in reverse if you got picked up with open containers.  He miraculously calmed a storm, fed thousands of people, walked on water & a handful of other things.  There’s 37 specific miracles the New Testament records that Jesus performed & the book of John says in chapter 21 & verse 25 that Jesus did many other things as well, and as you might imagine, they’re just not all recorded.

But this miracle in Luke, in the garden at night in the middle of Jesus’ arrest is different.  It’s not like any of the others.  This miracle, Jesus’s last recorded miracle before his death follows an act of violence.  Violence from one person to another, and not just from any person, but from one who we would now call a Christian, & not just any Christian, but one of Jesus’ most intimate followers.

I want that to resonate with you a little.

If you’ve heard me come in here before and share, you may think I’m starting to sound like a broken record.  I find the same message in every story of the Bible it seems.

People hurt people.  Even people who are “not supposed to hurt people”, hurt people.  And sometimes because we expect something different, those are the worst injuries.

However, even in the midst of our innocent Savior’s barbarian-like arrest, surrounded by people he had made & who he had authority over, in the midst of his active decision to obey his Father’s perfect redemptive will at the cost of his completely wrongful personal humiliation and extreme suffering to death – Jesus stopped – and he healed.

What can I say?  What can you?
Thank you Jesus for healing Malchus.

I’m surrounded by Peters in here.  Passionate people who live life on the edge.  People who carry a sword & sometimes use it.  Great people who when they’ve lost sight of the Lord’s will can also cause great harm.  I have a little of Peter in me as well.

Thank you Jesus for healing Malchus.

I’m surrounded by Malchuses in here.  Servants or slaves to a powerful system that is all too frequently corrupt.  Who show up in the dark of night to do another’s bidding and who then become a casualty of another man’s war.  I have a little of Malchus in me as well.

Thank you Jesus for healing Malchus.

I want you to walk away from here and intentionally think about the violence in your life.  I want you to acknowledge that you’ve harmed people, maybe maliciously.  I want you to know that God fully knows you’ve also been harmed.  But harm done to you in no way nullifies your sin or excuses it.  Jesus was greatly harmed & did not return the offense or pass it to others.  We stand before a Savior who extends his forgiveness through himself, & it’s for all who come to him.  He is a God of healing and can meet you where the pain is.  He is a God of healing who can meet others where we’ve created pain.

It gives me hope to pray – God continue to heal the Malchuses in my life.  And help me to put my sword away.

Let’s pray.

 

 

Romans 3:10 "As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one...'"

Romans 3:23 "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 10:9 "if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Romans 10:13, "for,'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"