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 Comforter who can sympathizes with our weaknesses “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Some of us are sick and unable to say we are sick. There are many people around us who cannot say ‘I am going to very hard time.’ Many people live with fear, pain and suffering. But the problem is that they cannot share their fear, pain and suffering with anyone. Perhaps that's because they don’t have anybody whom they can share their hearts with. Why can’t they share their hearts? Maybe it's because they think that even we open our hearts and share our fear, pain and suffering, the other person will not be able to understand or sympathize with them. So they are mainly covering that fear, pain and suffering deep in their hearts. And they live this way today. As I meditated on Jesus during the...