Malcus’ Ear Restored

Matthew 26:51-54 – And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? 

Mark 14:47 – And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 

Luke 22:49-51 – When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? 50 And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. 51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.  

John 18:10-11 – Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. 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? 

I.        Why did Christ perform this miracle? 

A.     Christ performed miracles, not just for show, but to reveal his power and eternal Godhead. 

B.     This miracle is recorded in all four gospels, with different descriptions and details of it. 

1.      Christ performed this miracle to show his power to those that were determined to kill him. 

2.      Christ also performed this miracle to show his power to his disciples, lest they think he did not have power to escape the hands of those who wanted to kill him. 

3.      Christ performed this miracle for us today. 

a.       Christ wants us to have faith in him, regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in. 

b.      It is easy to trust Christ when things go “our way”, but it is more important to trust Christ when things go “his way”. 

C.     The servant whose ear was cut off. 

1.      He is the servant of the high priest, who is apparently Caiaphas. 

a.       John 11:49-52 – Caiaphas prophesied that Christ should die that the whole nation might live. 

b.      He did not realize he was prophesying scripturally, and not personally. 

2.      John, being the physician, noted that his right ear was cut off. 

3.      This event and miracle should have been a real testimony to Caiaphas, but there is no evidence Caiaphas, or anybody else realized what had happened. 

II.     Christians don't fight “fire with fire”. 

A.     The weapons of our warfare are not carnal.  

1.      II Corinthians 10:4 states, (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 

2.      Often we believe we should fight against our enemies, but we are much off letting Christ fight our battles for us, while we earnestly pray for our enemies. 

3.      This is not say it is wrong to stand for the truth, and fight against sin and wickedness. 

B.     This is no doubt a time of great conflict for the disciples.

1.      They have just observed the Passover with Christ, which was a great time of fellowship and worship. 

2.      Now they have gone into the Garden of Gethsemane, and been with Christ as he prayed, and they slept. 

3.      Now the band of men approach, who are armed with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 

4.      Most confusing of all is that Judas is with the band of men, who are obviously against Christ. 

C.     John 18:4-9 records the band of men had just fallen backward, unable to help themselves, when Jesus told him who he was. 

1.      Peter, and the other disciples, didn't grasp what had just happened, therefore prepared to defend themselves and Christ with swords, which they were completely unaccustomed to using.   

2.      It is very easy for us to criticize Peter and the other disciples, but we do the same thing they did. 

a.       We know what the Bible says about the power of Christ and his watch care over us, but we often forget those promises, or fail to apply the promises to whatever situation we happen to find ourselves in. 

b.      We, as the disciples, are prone to think “naturally” instead of spiritually. 

3.      John records that Peter had a sword.  Why? 

a.       I don't suppose a fisherman would normally carry a sword. 

b.      Luke 22:38 states,   And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough. 

c.       Apparently the group of disciples carried these two swords with them at all times. 

1)      I am assuming that they took turns carrying the swords, but I have no proof or evidence. 

2)      Whether they intend to use the sword for defense is unknown. 

3)      Jesus doesn't need human defense, he has plenty of heavenly defense. 

III.   Twelve Legions of Angels. 

A.     Matthew 26:53 - Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 

1.      A legion is approximately 6,000 soldiers; therefore 12 legions of angels would be 78,000 angels.

2.      II Samuel 24:15 states So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men. 

3.      This death was over a three-day period (that was cut short). 

4.      See II Samuel 24:13 – So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days’ pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.

5.      To calculate how many people 78,000 angels could kill in three days, first calculate how many people one angel killed in three days. 

a.       24        hours in a day.

b.      X 3                  days 

c.       = 72                hours in three days.

d.      X 60                minutes in an hour. 

e.       = 4320                        minutes in three days. 

f.        X 60                seconds in a minute. 

g.       = 259,200       seconds in three days. 

h.       / 70,000           total people killed. 

i.         = 3.7               seconds required to kill one person. 

j.        / 60                  number of seconds in each minute. 

k.      = 16.2             number of people killed each minute. 

l.         X 60                number of minutes in each hour. 

m.     = 972              number of people killed each hour. 

n.       X 24                number of hours in each day. 

o.      = 23,328         number of people killed each day. 

p.      X 3                  number of days of the plague. 

q.      = 69,984         number of people killed in three days by one angel. 

r.        X 78,000         number of angels in 12 legions. 

s.       = 5,458,752,000         total number of people killed by 12 legions of angels in three days. 

B.     Conclusion. 

1.      Christ will either die for the entire population of the world at that time, or he will die that the world might be saved. 

2.      It is as possible for any person to save themselves as it is for one person to kill 5,458,752,000 people in three days (without using weapons, of course.)