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 ...
A man of faith whom Jesus even marvels [Matthew 8:5-13] Are you walking by faith or by sight? In 2 Corinthians 5:7, the Bible tells us: “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” But in reality, even though we try to live by faith, many times when we look back at ourselves, we realize that we are living by sight rather than by faith. In other words, we are sensitive to what we see rather than living day by day with faith in the invisible God. Why do we live like that? The reason is because our faith is weak. However, it is not only us who are weak in faith. In the Bible, Jesus said this about the faith of his disciples: “You of little faith!” (Mt.6:30; 8:26; 16:8; Lk.12:28), “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mt.14:31), “Because of the littleness of your faith” (17:20), “Where is your faith?” (Lk.8:25), “Do you still have no fa...