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 ...
The happiness of those who are credited as righteous by God (1) [Romans 4:1-8] Have you ever heard of the Happiness Quotient (HQ)? HQ = GQ x AQ / BQ. Here, “GQ” stands for Gratitude Quotient, “AQ” stands for Achievement Quotient, and “BQ” stands for Blame Quotient. In 1998, as a result of measuring the HQ of 54 countries at the London School of Economics (LSE) in the UK, Bangladesh ranked first and Korea ranked 23 rd (Internet). After that, it is said that Bangladesh took first place in the happiness formula (i.e. happiness quotient) created by British psychologist Rothwell and life counselor Cohen in 2002. Economist Layard attributed two factors to why poor countries rank high in the happiness index: First, the fact that people too easily adapt to better conditions, and second, relative income levels. Roswell and Cohen suggested ways to be happy, and these are the following (Internet): ...