Devotional Reflection Based on the Incident of Peter Cutting Off Malchus's Ear: “Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.” ( Mark 14:47, Today's Korean Version ) 1. Identifying the People Involved: The person who stood beside Jesus and drew the sword was Simon Peter . The servant of the high priest was named Malchus . “Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.” ( John 18:10 ) 2. Jesus' Response to Peter's Action: (a) Jesus said: “Permit even this.” ( Luke 22:51, KJV: “Suffer ye thus far”; RSV: “No more of this” ) The Greek words clarify this: “ἕως τούτου” (“heōs toutou”) = “up to this point” or “even this” “ἐᾶτε” (“eate”) = “allow it,” “let it be,” “leave it alone” Therefore, Jesus is essentially saying: “Let them do what they are doing. Do not resist any further.” “If ...
Jonah’s God (2) [Jonah 1:7-17] We Koreans seem to be good at lying. When I watch the Korean dramas, I don’t know why people are lying so much. Even if it is a lie that cares for a loved one, a lie is a lie. But I don’t know why it is called 'a good lie'. Especially I don’t understand why they keep on denying after their lies got exposed rather than acknowledging their sin of lying. Maybe it is because they think that people are unwilling to forgive them even though they confess their lies honestly. So what they do is they keep on denying the fact that they lied until people find that they lied. For example, the Korean politicians keep on denying their lies even though those lies get exposed (I am sure not all the Korean politicians are like this). The reason is because they may think that even they confess honestly, it is difficult to avoid blame. So it seems that some...