This is a quick study for my Sunday School lesson. I am building up to the Easter story on Easter Sunday.
Story: Peter strikes Malchus with his sword and Jesus heals his ear back
Passage: Luke 22:45-54; Matthew 26:45-56; John 18:1-14; Mark 14:42-50
“Most Important Thing”: Jesus want us to love our enemies
Outline:
- Jesus goes to the garden to pray knowing his most important task is drawing close
- A large group of people enter the garden with force
- Judas leads them to Jesus and kisses him (like a handshake)
- One disciple asks if they should fight back
- Peter doesn’t wait for an answer; he draws his sword and begins fighting
- Peter swipes Malchus’ ear off
- Jesus said to let them take him
- Jesus heals Malchus’ ear with a touch
- Jesus points out that he had been teaching in the temple, and they couldn’t arrest or kill him there. He is letting them take him: there is no need for force.
Imagining It:
Think of the pain that Malchus must have been in. I can’t help but think that this must have been a fatal wound. Could they have stopped the bleeding enough before he lost too much blood? Was Malchus thinking this was the end? Then, suddenly he felt the touch of Jesus. Surely, all eyes were on Jesus since they had come to take him away. As Jesus placed the ear back in place, all the pain went away. Malchus was a new man! Little did he know that just as Jesus healed his ear, Jesus was about to heal his heart’s sin problem by paying his punishment on the cross.
Related verses:
Proverbs 27:6 — Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Romans 12:20 — Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Matthew 5:44 — But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
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