As usual...more than an ear full!!

MALCHUS…where did he end up???

Often reading the Bible I run across passages that make me wonder, ‘just what happened next?’  Like, Malchus…exactly where did he end up?   What went through his mind, where were his loyalties, what were his actions following that heaven and earth changing day when Jesus was arrested in the gardens of Gethsemane?  I just have to wonder!

Maybe the name Malchus does not strike a bell, but you will surely remember him…he was a servant of the high priest, who on that day had but one mission…to find and arrest our Savior.  Many people were with him, bearing clubs and swords, including Judas Iscariot, bearing a kiss to identify, betray, and condemn Jesus.  As they moved forward to arrest Him, impulsive, protective Peter, friend to our Lord reacted.  He immediately drew his sword and swung it and Malchus’ ear was never quite the same again!   Peter’s sword landed on Malchus’ ear and Malchus’ ear landed on the ground!  Now we may see pictures or try to visualize this, but are we looking at the whole picture?  There is so much going on…many people shouting and upset, but definitely the loudest scream and the most physically violent picture at that particular point had to be Malchus! 

This event is recorded in all of our four Gospels, but only John (18:10, 11) identifies Peter and Malchus by name and only Luke assures us that all ended well with Malchus’ ear being healed by Jesus (Luke 22:51).  As we read these passages, we are most likely focused on something other than Malchus.  There is a huge crowd, an apostle betraying our Lord for thirty pieces of silver, our Lord waiting for His delivery to His impending death, and His followers, who just moments before could not even stay awake to provide companionship to our Lord in this dark hour. 

This one soldier in the midst of all of this carries little weight in our eyes.  We are focused and anxious for our Lord.  If it was a play we would probably cheer when Peter is bold enough to draw his sword and show some wrath.  Malchus and his ear are the least of our worries…but our Lord, who has just prayed and pleaded for His life, cares.  He cares, he cares, he cares…he doesn’t walk away from the pain filled screams of Malchus, but cares enough to stop and heal him.  And with that one gesture of love from the One who is the very definition of Love, Malchus, servant to the high priest, was changed forever. 

That brings me to my point of wonder.  Exactly what does it do to you when, just as you are coming to take hold and arrest Him, the very one who has created your world and everything in it touches your face and heals you?   How do you feel from that point forward in your life?  Did Malchus’ loyalties change?  Was he immediately aware of the fact that an ear on the ground one minute and back on your head the next had to be a miracle?  Or that the One who performed the miracle was, indeed, not an ordinary person?  Or that he was involved in apprehending someone who may, in fact, be exactly who He claimed to be; the living, breathing Son of God?  I wonder if he changed from that day forward, if he became a follower of Christ, if he lived out the rest of his life telling the story of the one who changed his course on that very day, or if he simply went back to living his life as he always had. 

As I wonder about Malchus, not knowing the answer, I have to realize that very likely it did not change his life.  I hope that it would, but just as Malchus was physically touched by our Lord, many are spiritually touched by Him through His Word daily without being changed.  God has given us this story along with thousands of others to change our lives, but yet we often just turn away and live our lives as though we deserve to have our ear healed, or our soul saved, and fail to do our part.  We get so caught up in being a “servant to the high priest,” that we fail to be a servant to our High Priest.  Look at Malchus’ ear, look into Christ’s healing heart, and make your choice, no matter what Malchus' choice was, to change YOUR life because it has been touched by the Hand of Love.

Roberta Pledge

1/11/12