Luke 22:51

New International Version

But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

For Meditation

His Master was under attack (Luke 22:47-53). What should he do — stand aloof and let the detachment from the high priest have their way? How could he deal with himself later? After all, Peter had boasted about defending Jesus, so why not strike with what he had in hand, a sword, and by the means he knew—fight back (50)? However, the rebuke of the Lord was swift and cutting more than the sword Peter used on the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant (51). No more of this! (51). Peter had the wrong mindset and used the wrong weapon and method. Regrettably, it has become the same for many of Jesus’s modern-day disciples.

At the end of His conversation with the disciples in the upper room, Jesus spoke about the condition of the disciples after His ascension (v.36). Peter may have misunderstood Him. Maybe buying swords for themselves was the Master’s call to arms against the Roman government. So, Peter carried his sword into the Garden of Gethsemane. Instead of staying awake and praying with the Master, he slept, and when the divine appointment came for the Lord, Peter’s bravado showed up, very awake. Did he know what was happening? Did he understand all that Jesus had taught them about Himself, His mission, and the reality of things after His return to the Father?

These are some critical questions we, as His disciples, must grapple with today. As His ambassadors, we should have an excellent knowledge of who we are, our mission, and what our life must be about. We cannot be like the people of the world anymore; neither fight as the world does nor with their weapons (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

When the enemy tempted Him in the wilderness, He fought with the word of God (Luke 4:1-13). He has given us the sword of the Spirit—and prayer as parts of the whole armor of God to fight the invisible forces of evil that contend with us (Ephesians 6:10-18). In humility, He washed the feet of his would-be betrayer and did not fight back when they arrested Him. Instead, He yielded to the Father’s will and gave Himself for our sake. Jesus healed Malchus’s fresh wound and restored his ear. He did all that for our example today.

Our mission, as His disciples, is to make disciples of all nations, living as He did and responding to the aggression of the world with compassion, humility, and grace. The Holy Spirit bears His fruit in us to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6) as we step out to live for Him.

So, we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). We should feed them when they are hungry (Romans 12:20). That’s radically opposite the world’s way.

No more of this! Jesus said. He touched Malchus’s ear and restored it (Lk. 22:51).

What love! What a picture of the new way He came to show us — a revelation of God’s heart for the world.