Mark wrote how there, “came Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely. And as soon as he was come, he went straightway to him, and said, Master, master; and kissed him”, and in chapter fourteen and verse forty-seven of his book, Mark shared how, “one of them that stood by drew a sword”, where we read:
And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
The verse reads, “And one of them that stood by drew a sword, ...”. Mark began with the word, “and one of them” which means “and a certain and particular one of the disciples” “that stood by” or “who was standing beside and near to the captors of Jesus” “drew a sword” which means “took out a large knife or a small sword which was either a curved sword used for a cutting stroke or a straight sword used for thrusting”. Mark shared how one of Jesus' disciples (John the apostle tells us it was Peter – See John 18:10) took out his sword and did the following.
The verse continues, “... and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.” Mark added the words, “and smote a servant” which means “and hit, struck or stung a bondman, slave or man of servile condition” “of the high priest” or “belonging to the chief and primary priest”, “and cut off his ear” which means “and removed, carried off and took away the servant's ear used for hearing”. Mark shared how the disciple of Jesus (Peter) “cut off” the “ear” of the “servant” of the “chief priest”.
When we meditate upon Mark's words in this verse, we see how Peter attempted to defend Jesus when He was being arrested. Though he only cut off the ear of the chief priest's servant, at least he attempted to do something. Jesus will have something to say about this attempt in the next verse, but suffice it for now to know that Jesus knew He would experience all these things because His mission was to “save” people from their sins. When people understand how much Jesus loves and desires to have a personal relationship with them, they should simply ask Him to forgive them for their sins, repent and yield to Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”.
Next time Mark shares how Jesus asked His captors, “are you come out, as against a thief?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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