Cutting Off the Right Ear of the High Priest's Servant - Luke 22:50

Luke the beloved physician wrote how, “Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?”, and in chapter twenty-two and verse fifty of his book Luke shared how, “one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear” where we read:

And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

The verse reads, “And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, ...” Luke began with the words, “and one of them” or “and one of Jesus' disciples” “smote the servant” which means “cut, knocked or afflicted the man of servile condition, bondman or slave” “of the high priest” or “belonging to the chief and principal priest”. Luke shared how “one” of Jesus' disciples “struck” the “servant” of the “chief priest” “with a sword” and the following occurred.

The verse goes on to say, “... and cut off his right ear.” Luke continued with the words, “and cut off” which means “and removed or took away by cutting” “his right ear” which means “the servant's right physical ear”. Luke shared how the “strike” of the sword by Jesus' disciples resulted in the removal of the “right ear” of the “chief priest's” “servant”.

When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we learn how one of Jesus' disciples began to fight to defend Jesus. (We discover in the apostle John's account of this event that Peter was the disciple and Malchus was the servant. See John 18:10). We did not read anything about anyone else attempting to help, but we should consider that Peter actually missed as he only “cut off the right ear” of the “servant” rather than hitting him in the head. Jesus will respond to Peter's efforts in our next verse, but for now let it suffice us to know Jesus endured these things so we might be “saved” from our sins and be able to live with God forever. Let all who consider Peter's action and Jesus' willingness to submit to these captors yield their lives to Jesus who is able to “save, forgive and grant everlasting life” to everyone who believes.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus, “touched his ear, and healed him”, 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".