Who is Malchus? He is mentioned in the Bible only once in only one of the 4 Gospel accounts (John 18:10). I should take you back to the Garden of Gethsemane right after Jesus was done praying to His Father in his dark hour…the last free night before he got arrested and taken to the cross the following day. Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus came along with the Priest’s servants to arrest Jesus. As Judas betrayed Jesus handing him over, the guards/ Priest’s servants took hold of Jesus and tied him up. Then, Simon Peter jumped forward and cut off the ear of one of the servants with his sword. “The servant’s name was Malchus - His name is mentioned by neither of the other evangelists, nor is it said by the other evangelists who was the disciple that gave the blow. It is probable that both Peter and the servant were alive when the other gospels were writte” (E-Sword Comment on John 18:10).
So here we go. I have been very intrigued by the character of Malchus. He actually is a minor character in the Passion of the Christ. After watching the Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson, I focused more on the side characters in the events. Malchus, one of the Priest’s servants came alive for me especially last Thursday when I watched it last.
Getting into the character:
He must have been an important one of the guards since he was chosen to go and arrest Jesus in the evening hours of the day before Jesus was crucified. My thoughts started to go with the flow of this situation. Here is what could have been going on in Malchus’ mind during the scene in the garden of Gethsemane:
“Here we go. We found this guy, this blasphemous man. I wonder if he is really guilty. He does not look like it.” This is when Judas came forth and kissed Jesus calling him – My Rabbi – which is an official title of honor (Mark 14:45). “Ok, now we know it’s him. Let’s just arrest him.” At this moment, Simon Peter jumped forth, ready to defend Jesus cutting Malchus’ right ear off. “Oh my……what just happened? Is this Galilean crazy? What is this excruciating pain? My right ear?????Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?” As Malchus goes down in deep pain holding the right side of his head, Jesus reprimands his disciple, speaks and reaches out his hand, touching Malchus’ right side of his head and healing and restoring it completely (Luke 22:51). “What is happening? I cannot put this into words? My ear? My ear? My ear!”
This moment is the moment that intrigues me the most. What must Malchus have felt, have thought? I bet there are no words, only appreciative silence and surprise, a gasp maybe and then…. Then Malchus could hear again, his right ear was back where it belonged. WOW. Malchus had a visitation from the Lord himself. He was healed and restored by Jesus in one little instant in the later hours of the day before Jesus’ crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane. I wonder how this must have felt. I have felt Jesus’ hand in healing myself but not in such a physical way. I am not here to draw attention to this healing. I want to draw attention to the encounter that Malchus had with the living Son of Man: Jesus Christ. He looked into Jesus’ eyes. I like the way Mel Gibson portrayed the scene. According to his movie, Malchus fell down on his knees suffering from the pain when Jesus got on his knees in front of Malchus and touched his right ear to heal it. In this second he looked deep into Malchus’ eyes. The moment freezes for me. It becomes eternity itself. A moment of deep healing and restoration. After that, Malchus stays on his knees deeply in awe watching the other guards taking Jesus away. He cannot move. He is amazed and touched. He had an encounter with Jesus. We all need an encounter with Jesus to understand that HE is real, He is true and He is the way to eternity! One encounter with HIM and we are never the same again. Malchus was not the same man after that night. That is what I am very sure about!
The name Malchus means: My King - I wonder if Malchus thought that after his encounter witht he Living God??
Who is Malchus? He is mentioned in the Bible only once in only one of the 4 Gospel accounts (John 18:10). I should take you back to the Garden of Gethsemane right after Jesus was done praying to His Father in his dark hour…the last free night before he got arrested and taken to the cross the following day. Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus came along with the Priest’s servants to arrest Jesus. As Judas betrayed Jesus handing him over, the guards/ Priest’s servants took hold of Jesus and tied him up. Then, Simon Peter jumped forward and cut off the ear of one of the servants with his sword. “The servant’s name was Malchus - His name is mentioned by neither of the other evangelists, nor is it said by the other evangelists who was the disciple that gave the blow. It is probable that both Peter and the servant were alive when the other gospels were writte” (E-Sword Comment on John 18:10).
So here we go. I have been very intrigued by the character of Malchus. He actually is a minor character in the Passion of the Christ. After watching the Passion of the Christ by Mel Gibson, I focused more on the side characters in the events. Malchus, one of the Priest’s servants came alive for me especially last Thursday when I watched it last.
Getting into the character:
He must have been an important one of the guards since he was chosen to go and arrest Jesus in the evening hours of the day before Jesus was crucified. My thoughts started to go with the flow of this situation. Here is what could have been going on in Malchus’ mind during the scene in the garden of Gethsemane:
“Here we go. We found this guy, this blasphemous man. I wonder if he is really guilty. He does not look like it.” This is when Judas came forth and kissed Jesus calling him – My Rabbi – which is an official title of honor (Mark 14:45). “Ok, now we know it’s him. Let’s just arrest him.” At this moment, Simon Peter jumped forth, ready to defend Jesus cutting Malchus’ right ear off. “Oh my……what just happened? Is this Galilean crazy? What is this excruciating pain? My right ear?????Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah?” As Malchus goes down in deep pain holding the right side of his head, Jesus reprimands his disciple, speaks and reaches out his hand, touching Malchus’ right side of his head and healing and restoring it completely (Luke 22:51). “What is happening? I cannot put this into words? My ear? My ear? My ear!”
This moment is the moment that intrigues me the most. What must Malchus have felt, have thought? I bet there are no words, only appreciative silence and surprise, a gasp maybe and then…. Then Malchus could hear again, his right ear was back where it belonged. WOW. Malchus had a visitation from the Lord himself. He was healed and restored by Jesus in one little instant in the later hours of the day before Jesus’ crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane. I wonder how this must have felt. I have felt Jesus’ hand in healing myself but not in such a physical way. I am not here to draw attention to this healing. I want to draw attention to the encounter that Malchus had with the living Son of Man: Jesus Christ. He looked into Jesus’ eyes. I like the way Mel Gibson portrayed the scene. According to his movie, Malchus fell down on his knees suffering from the pain when Jesus got on his knees in front of Malchus and touched his right ear to heal it. In this second he looked deep into Malchus’ eyes. The moment freezes for me. It becomes eternity itself. A moment of deep healing and restoration. After that, Malchus stays on his knees deeply in awe watching the other guards taking Jesus away. He cannot move. He is amazed and touched. He had an encounter with Jesus. We all need an encounter with Jesus to understand that HE is real, He is true and He is the way to eternity! One encounter with HIM and we are never the same again. Malchus was not the same man after that night. That is what I am very sure about!
The name Malchus means: My King - I wonder if Malchus thought that after his encounter witht he Living God??
2 comments:
kerstin:
on Easter i watched this movie again and was also struck with this question. i wondered how his life was affected along with several other people who briefly were with jesus throughout that week. it is so cool that God is speaking to us about similar things! the other thing that really stuck out to me is how much he went through to save me and how little i tend to trust Him with the "little" stuff in life. hope you are doing well!
Charis: yay how cool is this? I will add some more thoughts to different of those side characters in the Passion....
so cool how we were touched and intrigued by the same thing!. am doing ok, struggling health-wise now already for a while but amthankful-you?
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