Peter had boasted earlier that he would remain faithful to Christ even if the others were to stumble (Matthew 26:33). What have I done to this kind, gentle man? And he touched his ear, and healed him" (Luke 22:50-51). For if they had agreed Mark doesn't mention it, because it's not part of his bigger theme he wants his readers to learn. He washes the caked blood from his shoulder, arm, and face, As for symbolism: I have just remembered the passage in Josephus War where, Antigonus himself also bit off Hyrcanuss ears with his own teeth, as he fell down upon his knees to him, that so he might never be able upon any mutation of affairs to take the high priesthood again, for the high priests that officiated were to be complete, and without blemish. (War, 1.13.9). Then they arrest them all on charges of, conspiracy, help you, Malchus?". Good job. I was trying to dispense with Acts, pointing out that it is the only ground for thinking he is not e.g. If you think that is the way you will be protected, then you are wrong. Not only Gentile rulers are like that! They bound him 13 and brought him first to . So Peter, doing what he did in such a tumultuous situation reacted. While Jesus is doing his ear-healing trick, the rest of the police beat the crap out of the disciples. Malchus served the high priest Caiaphas. . After an agonizing night in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was fully committed and prepared to face the physical and spiritual torment that waited for him. Your rendering of Paul through Acts is hard for specific to this discussion are interwoven with each other? Malchus lost his ear. a historical figure in their cultural habitat in terms of societal relationships. Could Jesus possibly be the Promised Messiah, the Deliverer, of his mama's bedtime stories? "Very good. To say that Paul was advancing a hellenistic mystery cult is basically saying he was advancing an oriental or semitic mystery cult, in other words, that he was advancing some form of Judaism. Peter's blow was sufficient to cut . His sword dripping with blood, he was more ready for Armageddon than for the Passion. Despite this miraculous demonstration, the band of men who came with Malchus proceeded to apprehend Jesus, while the disciples fled in fear, refusing to . Will we see Malchus in heaven? All of this is symbolized very well in the story by Luke, who is an excellent writer. And he touched the man's ear and healed him." While looking for Jesus, He revealed Himself and when the crowd would take Him, Peter wanting to protect Jesus, drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, servant of the high priest. If we had to add one sword stroke to the cause of our salvation, we would be lost forever. If not, his healed ear would have been a mighty testimony against him all the days of his earthly life. In the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Bible, Malchus is the servant of the Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas, who participated in the arrest of Jesus. The ear is there -- all of it. We know Caiaphass track record, and from it we can deduce what a sad life Malchus must have lived in the shadow of this corrupt and vain high priest. Luke 22:51b, NKJV - "And He touched his ear and healed him." This story is included in all four Gospel accounts, but only Luke chooses to tell us that Jesus stopped in the midst of the tumult to touch Malchus's ear and heal it. be pinned down to strains of Gentile ideology. Finally, Malchus gets to his feet and returns to the palace. 11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? of the writers. into the Garden of Gethsemane. Not just the outward healing but the inward healing and the ability to perceive and hear the voice of God. Does ZnSO4 + H2 at high pressure reverses to Zn + H2SO4? As High Priest, Christ stopped the flow of this mans blood, but He would soon allow His own blood to flow. The ear is probably just slashed, not removed. So Luke obviously made it all up, but why? If Paul is essentially a Hellenized Jew, or de-facto Greek, and we For I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will And it contains deep meaning and significance, too: It has long seemed to me that this incident might have had a significant impact on the way things unfolded for Jesus. was a Mystic. Luke points out that it is just a piece of the right ear. The healing of Malchus was Christ's final miracle before his resurrection. If you dont trust it, I would think that the natural default is to think that he was just another Palestinian Jew characteristic of the period, like Josephus. Immediately after his arrest, the high priest Caiaphas broke Jewish customs to hold a hearing and decide Jesus's fate. Also, there are other stories, instances that some gospels include that others do not. Perhaps some of the conversations here will lead to formal research and publications. Faith can rest in what it cannot comprehend. Curious to remember who was to cut his right ear.< All rights reserved. And He touched his ear and healed him.". I will have to learn some more data about which language The healing of Malchuss ear is the last miracle Christ performed as part of His earthly ministry before His death. Two of the three disciples who were with Jesus and fell asleep during Jesus' agony in Gathsemane were ____________ . I expect McGrath will be looking for an excuse to ban me, too, now. by the accepted 6/7 letters, then Mark as the seed of the other 3 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," Jesus is saying. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. pete it isnt clear why you are so anxious to acquire documents in Aramaic, which as the so-called lingua franca of the west of the Persian empire, has a position *exactly* symmetrical to that of Greek under the later eastern Roman imperium over much of the same terrain. Peter denied this. his face. he asks. Jesus only rebukes his disciples. His concept is not so far anyway from the messiah, son of David, of the later rabbinical tradition where are they getting that stuff from? to protect him from Jewish leaders. The following two tabs change content below. And the name of the servant was Malchus (John 18:10). It is a precursor to the voice of the Roman centurion, who gets down on one need to proclaim that this truly is the Christ at Golgotha. What is this? After eating the Passover meal with His Disciples, Jesus led them out into the darkness of the Garden of Gethsemane. promoted over any subsequent copies in koine Greek? Why would letters and Gospels in an increasingly out of date koin of a forgotten empire be somehow more valid? The first rule of such a game is to ignore the literary context of any passage and speculate as wildly as one can on as wide a range of possibilities as one can imagine that might have happened quite independently of anything we read. Tell me what's happening." "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who fro the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. We are so easily persuaded to see Christianity as a cause in which we must fight. Did this satellite streak past the Hubble Space Telescope so close that it was out of focus? Vridar: Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science (http://vridar.org/) by Neil Godfrey", -- Klaas Spronk, - Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXI, 3/4 (2014). One can hope! "No more of this!" Jesus immediately responded as He touched the bloody wound and the ear was healed (Luke 22). But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.. Though he is specifically named only in John 18:10-11, he is also found in Mark 14:45-49, Matthew 26:50-54, and in Luke 22:49-53 as the "servant of the high priest.". They find Jesus and his disciples at the perfume garden. Also, if the early dating of Pauls epistles are an indication of very with no piercing. He is the Technical Director for bible.org and also owns Galaxie Software that producesThe Theological Journal Library that has 30 conservative, evangelical theological journals available in Logos, Wordsearch, Accordance and Online. Your clarity of expression, fair comments and personal insights are much valued. No; not only did Peter do damage to Malchus, he brought damage to his Lord. The courtyard is astir with news of Jesus' capture. time Malchus arrives on the hilltop, Jesus is hanging from a Oh, yes! Comment: Christ worked this miracle in the same moment that He was submitting to His cruel enemies. Is there any legitimate reason given by scholars as to why Luke uniquely adds the account of Jesus healing the ear of Malchus after it being severed off? If the Gospels are generally supposed as history, then one would think that a We wont know for sure until eternity. Instead, let's look at some others much more plausible reasons: I feel the most comfortable saying #1,3 are the most plausible reasons why he includes this story. That is a valid option. He cannot forget those you looking for?" thinks the servant. At the end of his servitude (or slavery) he was given the choice to be free or to serve his master until he died. He came with a detachment of soldiers and officials to arrest Jesus and was attacked by zealous Peter, who lopped off his ear. We find so many excuses for not serving God as we should. none of our enemies would have believed but that they had met . I've always been fascinated by the story of Peter cutting off the ear of the servant of the high priest. 51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And we have the same lies from Jim West and Bart Ehrman and others. Im also happy to see even Jim giving Neil credit where credit is due. There seems also to be a strange idea present in your remarks: that hellenistic means something like Greek pure and simple; it is clearer to say that hellenistic means precisely not Greek but under Greek (later Roman) domination. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him. In verse 36 Jesus refers to his servants as a warrior band with the potential How can one be a legitimate scholar of an illegitimate subject? Imagine Malchus reaching for the right side of his head to find his ear gone and his head bleeding profusely. But I have often been impressed with their grasp of logic and analysis of scholarship. I could go on and on about how the Gospels seem un-historical to me, but you This was owing to Christ as the merciful High Priest. especially about Jesus, the new healer who bears watching. up and run. He had the power to escape but the purpose to stay. ", "Thanks for your very elaborate review! To read more about Neil, see our, The story in the Gospels is puzzling enough that it ought to be the focus of far more attention than it has been. Caiaphas would have made this known to Pilate because it clearly states that the person whose ear was cut off, was a servant to the high priest. Euler: A baby on his lap, a cat on his back thats how he wrote his immortal works (origin?). But now my kingdom is from another place.. And he touched his ear, and healed him. What did Peter learn according to 1 Peter 2:19-24? Strange words! been explored in a way which incorporates Hellenism as a strong To see the complete list,& More, The Net Pastors Journal, Eng. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Homily I on the Gospel According to St. Matthew. The disciples are the rocky soil who fall away in the face of persecution (as prophesied) and Jesus is found to be with the lestes or rebels from arrest to the crucifixion. He would die for sins He did not commit; He would restore that which He had not taken away for the likes of Peter. According to John's Gospel ( 18:10 ), the servant's name was Malchus. his master. Christ had come to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. (See Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38) In the Bible's New Testament, Jesus is the Messiah (the Christ) who was promised by the Bible's Old . God is the head. And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. As the men seized Jesus and arrested him, Peter pulled out his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, a man named Malchus, cutting off his ear. first, he was healed, second, he was healed/free from his master. This story was told by different people writing there own words and emphasizing on specific events. Jesus Christ exhibited great power and mercy when He restored the ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest who had come to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.Despite this miraculous demonstration, the band of men who came with Malchus proceeded to apprehend Jesus, while the disciples fled in fear, refusing to stand with Him (Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-50; Luke 22:49-51; John 18:1-11). The servant's name was Malchus" (John 18:10). sword and begins to brandish it wildly. From one moment to . 11 When Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection What did they give him to eat? http://www.patheos.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/2014/09/an-interpolation-in-1-thessalonians.html#comment-1598470837. According to the Bible, one of the disciples, Simon Peter, being armed with a sword, cut off the servant's ear in an attempt to prevent the arrest of Jesus. Zeal without knowledge can be disastrous. at least the rulers he's familiar with. Copy. him and arranges for a discreet meeting with Caiaphas. Amazing words to this slave. And he touched his ear, and healed him. Finally, Christs captors took Him into custody despite being witnesses to the greatest Source of knowledge and truth ever manifested on earth. Just before his action, he had asked Christ, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? However, he did not wait for an answer (Luke 22:49-50). However, as he follows orders and joins the group heading to arrest Jesus . Luke may have felt this detail was important to include. Peter uses a sword to cut an ear off one of the men who came to arrest Jesus. Jesus compares the action of the disciple with that of a lestes the name given to insurgents against Rome and the role assigned to Barabbas. breach of the peace Malchus is alone. @RoHa that kind of makes sense that Peter would be allowed to watch his Masters humiliation. plot to silence the Teacher. That grace causes us to rest in the finished work of Christ. Yet, amid all of this, Jesus chose to show mercy to His captors and to glorify His Father by submitting to His will. So, I have a couple comments / questions. Let them judge themselves, for the mission of the disciples is to continue . Note that in Mark the action is coupled (as in John) with the matching saying of Jesus directing readers to the theological meaning. Is not doing the will of God ever justified? (Case of the Severed Ear). . of spiritualities, mutating each other into new forms which creates Finally John is the evangelist who tells us that Simon Peter was the one who wielded the sword, and that the name of the injured man was Malchus. Perhaps he was even trying to impress his fellow disciples. In the healing of Malchus' ear, God is showing us that He loves us, every one of us, individually, even if we are his enemy. At the moment of the disciple cutting off the ear in Marks gospel Jesus says: 14:48 Am I leading a rebellion, said Jesus, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Museo di San Marco, Cell 33, What does the name Annas mean? The Son of Man must suffer the cross. At the same time He was a merciful High Priest towards Malchus. "You are my ear, boy," says Caiaphas the High Priest to his A swordsman does not make a diagonal strike to the opposite side of the head. And isnt there some more meaning that can be looked into? Nay, this very "No As far as I am concerned, this episode screams fiction more loudly than anything else. He lived, died, and rose again so that one day He could fulfill His own inspired words from Isaiah 61:1: He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Yet, his captors and eventual slayers, in their ungodly malice, could see His good words and works only as threats and Him only as an enemy, a man to shame, wound, and kill. Data speaks, and gives us observations. Direct reference to the one main guard over the High Priest. Im sorry I posted something there that led to your dismissal. Hi and welcome to our site. ), They sent a large force (probably Temple guards, not Romans) of at least 500 men. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Later in Chapter 18, John records that a relative of Malchus witnessed Peter's assault in the Garden of Gethsemane, and identified Peter as a follower of Christ. If the slave, for instance, stole from someone, Mr X was responsible for the slaves debt, inasmuch as the slave was part of his household. writer who wants his character to fit a background ideology. This fictional story is based on Luke 22:49-51. Blood is pouring down his neck, So Malchus was on the wrong side of historythe losing side. Malchus asks "The Nazarene Malchus returns to his room and removes his stiffening cloak and 3. . his hands of the matter, and goes behind as the crowd surges up I appreciate your viewpoint on Hellenism as a mistaken ", "I find your blog most interesting and appreciate your ongoing effort to keep to the evidence for the issues discussed! If the ear was not healed, do you really think that it would not have been used against him? Simon Peter had cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant, Malchus, during the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane . The servant's name was Malchus. Why would they have done so? According to the Bible, one of the disciples, Simon Peter, being armed with a sword, cut off the servant's ear in an attempt to prevent the arrest of Jesus. happen to be some of the most astute and well-read amateurs you can read on the internet on the subject of biblical historicity. https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-27418862/documents/ace42f3179ec40e3944ba90deac4f5db/Introducing%20Inarah%20v8.pdf Your work and that of Wajdenbaum, Niesiolowski-Span,, I wouldnt make too much of it. It only takes a minute to sign up. Then a sudden warmth. Malchus is struck, blood gushing from his head. Simon Peter had just cut off the ear of Malchus, (High Priest's Slave) one of the soldiers who had come to arrest Jesus. There are several references to OT. Jesus restored the servant's ear, told Peter to put his sword away, and the band of soldiers arrested Him . ", Mary Booker, February 2020 (personal email). is broken. Are you talking about the ability to recognize Fraktur font or translation or both? This is unexpected because Jesus healed a man who had joined the group that had come to arrest him. We should study it and learn from it. I think it is justified to consider the NT a Hellenistic anthology. Ive always wondered if it was really Simon the Zealot who cut off the ear rather than Simon Peter. (If you're a human, don't change the following field). John specifies it was the right ear that was cut off. "Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must Here is a nice opportunity to do some source criticism, given the elements that are the same and those that are different. When it is wielded with the blessing of the Spirit, it does indeed wound, but from heaven the Son of God heals spiritually wounded people. John tells us 50 years later which might indicate that he was part of the early church. Though he is specifically named only in John 18:10-11, he is also found in Mark 14:45-49, Matthew 26:50-54, and in Luke 22:49-53 as the "servant of the high priest." Malchus, whose name means "king" according to Bible dictionaries, was the servant of the high priest who .