Am I Being a Sword Wielder or an Ear Healer?
By: Michael Murray
Tags: Inspiration, Spirituality, Christianity, Religion, Faith

When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!” And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. (Luke 22:49–51, NLT)

When the high priest’s servant woke up on the morning of Jesus’ arrest, I doubt he thought his ear would be chopped off by an overzealous fisherman. But later that night, he found his life changed forever.

In John’s gospel, we learn this servant’s name is Malchus. All four gospels include this story, but only John names the servant. John knew the high priest, so it makes sense he would know the names of the people associated with him. (Little details like this are what I find so fascinating about the Bible!)

Jesus’ arrest takes place a few hours after the Last Supper. After some quiet moments of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the scene breaks into chaos. Judas, a close friend of Jesus, guides a group of soldiers and officials to the garden to make the arrest.

When I picture this scene playing out, I imagine a small group of soldiers coming to arrest Jesus. He’s one man who travels with a group of 12 nobodys — how much muscle do they really need? But the Greek language suggests a group of 600–1,000 men — and they were armed and ready to fight.

There are many things we can highlight in this story. The way Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. The group of 600 soldiers cowering in fear when Jesus speaks. Jesus’ compassion and concern for his friends. But today, I want to focus on Malchus.

As the servant of the high priest, it was Malchus’s job to make sure Jesus was arrested. The operation fell on him, and if anything went wrong, he’d be held responsible.

As soldiers are shouting and chaos is swirling, Peter does something drastic. He grabs a sword and lobs off Malchus’s right ear.

Was Peter’s Act Courageous?

Some commentators say even though Peter was wrong to start swinging swords, he was at least showing courage. Surrounded by 600 soldiers, he was ready to fight to the death for Jesus.

Other commentators say it was more of a cheap shot. Because it was the right ear that got mangled, some surmise Peter attacked Malchus from behind. And because Malchus wasn’t a soldier, he was probably unarmed.

I guess my question is, what is courage? Is it simply doing something that scares you, no matter what it is? Or is it something more?

Right before he attacks Malchus, Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, should we fight?” But he doesn’t wait for an answer.

Would it have been more courageous of Peter to show restraint? We get the sense Peter was swinging the sword around like a maniac, the way a child would roughhouse with a toy sword. He was aiming for Malchus’ head and instead got a piece of an ear.

This Is Where the Garden of Gethsemane Intersects With Our Own Lives

Peter saw Malchus as the enemy who was out to stop Jesus.

Who do we see as the enemy? Who are we swinging swords at like a maniac?

No, we may not be wielding real swords, but we wield verbal ones. We wield digital ones. And we do it all in the name of defending what’s right.

It’s become a bit of a cliche to say we are divided. But I don’t think that’s our main problem. There will always be differences of opinion. The problem comes when we view those who disagree with us as “the enemy”.

Have you ever seen a Facebook comment thread turn toxic? The conversation stops being about the topic at hand and turns into personal attacks and generalizations about specific groups of people. (I shouldn’t just pick on Facebook. This happens on blog posts, articles, and other social media platforms, too.)

I get stressed whenever I see a heated comment thread, and yet I feel compelled to jump in and start swinging my own sword.

Isn’t it amazing how much your blood can boil just by reading other people’s opinions? And that’s the worst time to pick up a sword because you have no control over yourself.

I end up chopping off empathy and understanding. I end up chopping off love, kindness, and the chance at a genuine relationship.

I continue the cycle of manic sword swinging.

No More of This

In the middle of the chaos, Jesus steps in. Jesus is always willing to step into our mess and show us a better way.

“No more of this,” he says. Then he heals Malchus’s ear and allows himself to be arrested.

In one brief moment, Malchus’s life was changed forever as his ear gets lobbed off. Fear washed over him as he thought about what this would mean for the rest of his life.

Then, just as quickly, his life was changed again when Jesus healed him. And even though Malchus still carried out his marching orders, I don’t think he was ever the same. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson speculates on Malchus’s future: