A Picture Of The Gospel
Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant,
and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
John 18:10
In Luke, we have an event recorded for us in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32). After the Lord Jesus had prayed, the temple guards arrive with Judas (the betrayer), to arrest Him. When they lay hands on Jesus (v 47), Peter takes out his sword and chops of the ear of guard called Marcus. Mark does not tell us that it was Peter, or that the guard's name was Malchus, but John does in John 10:18. After the event, the Lord rebukes Peter and restores the ear (Luke 22:51).
Why did Jesus do that? At that time, when Peter cut of the ear of Malchus, the servant of the High Priest, it was a capital crime, and Peter could have been arrested and executed for what he did. When Jesus restored the ear, He took away, He removed all the evidence that Peter had transgressed the law. Thus, if Peter had been arrested, and brought before the council of the High Priest, and accused of the crime, there would be absolutely no evidence.
In the Lord's actions that day, we have a picture of the Gospel. What the Lord did was representative of what He has done for each of us. When we ask Jesus for salvation, He
cleanses us in His own blood (1 John 1:7). The blood of Jesus Christ takes away all evidence that we have ever transgressed.
Bible Reading
Luke 22:47-53.
Prayer
Merciful God, wherever one looks in Your Word, we find the Gospel, and this because all Scriptures point to the Lord Jesus, and His work for sinners, I thank You. In His name. Amen.
Comments