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 ...
Eight blessings (4): The blessing of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [Matthew 5:6] Are you living with a sense of satisfaction right now? Are you happy now? There is a quiz developed by Dr. Ed Dinner in the United States to measure happiness (Internet). There are 5 questions in the quiz, and you have to score them when you answer them. Answer 1 is “definitely not”, answer 2 is “no”, answer 3 is “somewhat not”, and answer 4 is “Neither this nor that”, answer 5 is “slightly yes”, answer 6 is “yes” and answer 7 is “strongly yes.” After answering each of the five questions from 1 to 7 in this way, if the total score is 31-35, “extremely satisfied”, 26-30 is “very satisfied”, 21-25 is “slightly satisfied”, 20 is considered “moderate”, 15-19 is “slightly dissatisfied”, 10-14 is “very dissatisfied”, and 5-9 is “extremely dissatisfied”. Then I am asking you those five questions: (1) ...