The Part of the Story We Often Skip Over....

It’s a tradition for my oldest son and I to watch The Passion of the Christ on Good Friday. It’s one of the hardest movies to watch, but we watch it every year on purpose, so that we can remember what Jesus endured for us. As we watched the familiar film today, something stuck out to me that I've never paid much attention to previously.

While Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying over the betrayal, rejection, and pain He was preparing to endure, Judas arrives with armed soldiers. Jesus is fully aware of what is happening, but Luke 5:49-51 says, "When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, 'Lord, should we strike with our swords?' And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear."

Jesus' followers obviously didn't know what was going on or how to react. Verse 51 tells us "Jesus answered, 'No more of this!' And He touched the man's ear and healed him."

This part of the story is typically passed over rather quickly because the very next sentence begins a conversation between Jesus and the soldiers and then He is led away. But I can’t help but wonder what went through the servant’s mind as the Man he was coming to seize knelt beside him, picked up his severed ear, and reattached it. The excruciating pain must have ended abruptly when Jesus touched him. He must have been in awe of how quickly the ear was reattached and wondered how someone could heal an ear with such ease.

Researchers believe the servant of the high priest’s name was Malchus. Ironically, this position was considered to be the “ears” of the high priest. As the high priest’s servant, he had probably heard all about the “man who claims to be the Messiah.” But in the garden, even though he was only there to harm Jesus, Malchus personally witnessed this extraordinary man heal him.

This story brings so many questions to my mind. Did Malchus wonder why Jesus would heal someone that was only there to harm Him? Did he stand in awe or flee from the rest of the group? Did he continue on with the task he had been given and assist in bringing Jesus to the high priest? Did he try to stop the soldiers from taking Jesus? Did any of the other soldiers see this happen? Was Malchus present when Jesus was being questioned or when He was crucified? If so, why didn’t he step up and tell what Jesus had done for him? Did he believe that Jesus was the Messiah? Will we meet Malchus in heaven one day?

This part of the Easter story shares Jesus’ last recorded miracle. As I’ve pondered this today, it occurred to me that Jesus’ last miracle was foreshadowing what He was about to do on a grander scale. Jesus knew why the servant of the high priest came to the garden and He knew that Malchus played a role in what He was about to endure, but Jesus still chose to heal him.

The wounded servant stood there, grasping at the side of his head, in his most desperate moment, and Jesus came to his rescue. He picked up the destroyed ear and placed His hand on the man’s head. While touching Malchus, all the muscles, tendons, nerves, and tissue were restored to their original state. The unbearable pain disappeared, and his hearing was fully restored.

Jesus’ death on the cross does the same thing for all of us. We are all in a desperate place until Jesus arrives on the scene. Even though He knows all we’ve ever done and all we’ll ever do, He came to rescue us. We deserve to be punished for all of our sins but Jesus took that punishment for us. Instead of fighting against us, He willingly went to the cross for us. As sinners, we don’t deserve to be healed, but Jesus picks up our pieces and puts us back together. He redeems, heals, and restores.

Jesus’ last miracle was like an illustration of His greatest miracle of all. The same hands that were about to be bound and pierced, were used to heal a man who hated him. He stopped the servant’s bleeding, just before He would pour out His blood for all mankind. He chose to bless Malchus with restoration and wholeness right before He would be torn apart and broken.

Even though this part of the story is usually skipped over, I pray that we’ll see how beautiful and symbolic it truly is. Jesus knew what He was about to do and who He was doing it for. His last miracle represented all that was about to unfold. We can be sure; nothing could have kept Him from going to the cross. That's how much He loves us!

Happy Easter!

Tori