October 13, 2023

Mistakes Made

 

“Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?’” John 18:10-11 (NASB)

            Some years back while in law enforcement training, we were at the gun range. We were working through police shooting scenarios with simunition ammunition (plastic bullets shot from real guns). In one scenario, you arrive in your police car without any provocation from anyone. As you exit your car, a suspect begins shooting at you from a house. You take cover and return fire. When it was my turn (which I didn’t know at the time), I went through this scenario. When I got out of the car a suspect started to fire at me (another deputy dressed up as a suspect). I returned fire. Here is the funny part; I became so laser-focused on the gun when I fired my weapon, that I shot the gun out of the suspect’s hand. It broke his middle finger with the bullet. You couldn’t have seen a more funny situation than this in an old Western movie.

             “Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus.” Perhaps Peter felt as if this was the time to go, it was now. Perhaps Peter felt he had to do something to defend Jesus as well. Perhaps Peter thought if Jesus could raise the dead, surely He could strengthen him to fight the battle and win. Whatever the case, a slave of the high priest named Malchus lost his ear. Lincoln says, “In the Synoptics (cf. Mark 14:47 parr.) this incident involves an unnamed bystander or disciple and an unnamed slave of the high priest. In Mark and Matthew, but not in Luke, the sword is wielded after Jesus’ arrest.”[1] I find it interesting how each disciple records these events. Remember this, it might be hard to witness much by each disciple in totality because of the stress at the time. Stress does strange things to all of us. Then, add the number of people present. This would have made it harder to concentrate on the exact details. Foster and many other commentators say, “Peter whipped out a sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. One must believe that Peter was not aiming at the ear, but at the head itself. Probably the victim dodged in time to save his life, but not his ear. Peter was told to put the sword away. Christ was not to be deterred from fulfilling His mission. He must drink of the cup His Father had given Him. John does not record the healing of the ear, but Luke 22:51 does.”[2] Whatever the actions of Malchus were, it was obvious he was the advancing attack on Jesus. Peter whether aiming for his head with laser precision zeroed in on the head of the attacker. He probably didn’t take into account that Malchus probably moved his head, and in doing so lost his ear. Jesus however, rebuked Peter and told him, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” Jesus knew the plan of the Father and therefore was perfectly ready to drink from the cup He was presented. Brown and Fausset add, “Matthew adds to the address to Peter the following: —' For all they that take the sword shall perish by the sword’ (Mt 26:52)—that is.”[3]

            My friend wasn’t too happy that night. He showed it to me many times. Peter probably regretted his actions as well. Have you ever been this focused on something and regretted it?

[1] Lincoln, A. T. (2005). (pp. 445–446). Continuum.

[2] Foster, L. (1987). (p. 193). Standard.

[3] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997).