Witnesses to Christ: Malchus John 18:1–11
Grace, mercy and peace be with you, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved and healed even His enemies.
As we continue our Lenten series, Witnesses to Christ, tonight, as Jesus is arrested, we’ll see Peter cut off a man’s ear, and we’ll see Jesus heal it.
And John will tell us the man’s name.
On January 17, 2004, a 66 ton whale died and was beached on the southwestern coast of Taiwan.
Two weeks later, authorities decided to truck the dead whale to a laboratory to do an autopsy.
It took fifty men and three lifting cranes, working for thirteen hours to hoist the gigantic creature onto a flatbed trailer.
People poured into the streets of the city to see the spectacle of a 66 ton whale carcass being slowly driven through their downtown.
And that’s when it happened!
As the truck crawled through the city, with the crowds looking on, all of a sudden, the monstrous beast exploded. A 66 ton explosion!
Whale innards and parts and blubber splattered on cars, and people, and buildings.
Can you imagine the mess? And the smell?
The traffic stopped for hours as the massive mess was cleaned up.
I bet no one saw that coming!
Malchus didn’t see it coming, either.
The next thing he knew, he was missing an ear… and then he wasn’t.
And the disciples didn’t see it coming, that their Teacher would be arrested and crucified.
Having washed the disciples feet in the Upper Room, having celebrated the Passover Meal and instituted the Lord’s Supper, having predicted that Judas would betray Him, that Peter would deny Him, and that they all would desert Him, Jesus led His disciples to the Mount of Olives.
John says, When Jesus had spoken these words, [the words he spoke to the disciples in the Upper Room] He went out with His disciples across the Kidron brook, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.
John doesn’t mention Jesus’ praying in the Garden before He’s arrested, probably because the other 3 Gospels, all written before the Gospel of John, describe it thoroughly; so John had nothing more to add.
And John wanted to focus on the arrest, and especially the trial of Jesus, where he had a number of things to add since he was an eye witness to those events.
Back to Jesus’ arrest, 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.
3 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
A large, well armed group, prepared to fight Jesus and His disciples if necessary.
4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”
5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.”
Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
It’s only John who tells that they stepped back and fell to their knees.
They were afraid of Him. They had heard of the miracles Jesus had done, and they respected His power.
As they would see, they had nothing to fear… yet everything to fear.
Nothing to fear at the time, because Jesus was not going to use His divine power to harm them so he could get away. He would surrender Himself peacefully.
They had everything to fear because if they would continue to oppose and reject Jesus, they would suffer great harm, eternal harm.
7 So He asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” His disciples.
9 This was to fulfill the word that He had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not even one.”
Judas was lost by that time, but by his own doing, not by Jesus’ doing.
10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)
Some of the disciples had, at some point, armed themselves, expecting that the conflict between Jesus and the religious/political leaders in Jerusalem was going to come to a head and might result in a battle or skirmish.
Jesus had no intention of fighting against his enemies; He would use their treachery to redeem the world, something no one saw coming, not even the devil, it seems.
All four Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ arrest, and they all mention that someone cut off the ear of the servant to the High Priest.
Only John mentions that the servant’s name was Malchus, and that it was Peter who cut off his ear.
John had some kind of connection to the family of the high priest, as we’ll see in next Wednesday’s message, so he had access to some of this inside information.
As we said, Malchus never saw it coming. Nor did he expect what happened next.
For that we need to look to the Gospel of Luke. He’s the only one who includes this.
And since he was physician, it’s not surprising that He does.
Jesus [said], “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
It doesn’t say Jesus reattached his ear, but that would be my guess. Or possibly remade it. For sure He healed the wound.
11 [Then] Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
Peter and the disciples still didn’t understand that to redeem the world, Jesus would have to die.
At this point Mark adds an important detail, not included in the other Gospels.
He says, Then everyone deserted Him and fled.
All the disciples ran away as fast as they could.
Mark also adds another detail that goes with this, something personal.
He says the guards grabbed a young man, to try to arrest him, but as he struggled to get away, they ended up pulling off his garment and he ran away naked.
Kind of embarrassing but better than being arrested.
Mark was talking about himself. He was that young man who barely, no pun intended, got away.
John says, 12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus.
Just like that, everything had exploded.
Jesus was arrested; the disciples were scattered.
And it would get worse, way worse: in a few hours the disciples would see their Teacher dying on a cross, and then see Him buried.
Their lives and faith had exploded to the point that they probably never dreamed it could all be put back together again.
Sometimes, our lives explode; sometimes so badly that we can’t imagine how it’s going to be put back together again.
And sometimes, like Malchus, we don’t see it coming.
Something sad or tragic or heart-breaking happens, and it’s like a 66 ton whale exploding in our lives; it’s all a gigantic mess, or so it seems.
In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned, all humanity exploded, the world exploded.
What the disciples didn’t realize at the time was that by dying, Jesus was actually putting their, and our, exploded lives back together; and in a far better way.
Just as Malchus didn’t expect to be hurt, and even more so, didn’t expect to be healed, so the disciples, didn’t expect Jesus to be crucified and die, and didn’t expect Him to be healed and rise.
But He did! And at that moment, when Jesus rose, everything exploded again, but in a wonderful way.
He ascended into Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit, and the disciples spread the Gospel among people of all nations, and there was an explosion of faith in the world.
By His death and resurrection, Jesus put, not just the disciples back together, He put the world back together, not politically -- spiritually.
From people of all nations, all around the world, the Holy Spirit makes and increases the Body of Christ; as we say in the Nicene Creed, the One, Holy Christian and Apostolic Church.
Jesus puts us back together as members of His own dear family, His Church.
When life explodes, and we get blindsided by whatever trouble or challenge or sin or mistake, let us be comforted and strengthened in knowing that Jesus puts our lives back together, and in a better way, -- the way of godly love, godly wisdom, faith, hope, courage, joy… and in the end, in the way of everlasting life and eternal glory.
May we always look to Him, who can put our lives back together like no one else can.
Jesus makes our lives better for today, and forever!
And as we look to Him, the peace of God that passes understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, who loves us always, and heals us for eternity. Amen.