John 18:7-11 (NIV)
Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”
And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
“I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”
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.)
Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
As the mob from the high priest quickly gathered themselves together after they had stumbled and tripped over each other, they found that Jesus was still in control of the whole situation. He immediately channeled the conversation toward the fact that they had come to arrest Him, only Him, and not anyone associated with Him.
This was important, because in the heat of the moment, especially under the idea that there still might be an ambush brewing, it would be understandable to take everyone into custody just to be cautious. But Jesus had committed Himself to protecting His disciples. So, He intentionally pushed Himself forward into the center of activity, surrendering without a struggle. This allowed the soldiers and officials to accomplish their mission quickly and easily, and took the focus off His followers.
But Simon Peter tended to be a bit impulsive and determined that he would intervene to save Jesus. He had one of the two swords that existed among the company (Luke 22:36-38), and before Jesus could react, he had pulled out the sword and swung it wildly at those nearest himself. He ended up cutting off the right ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest.
This impulsive action could have proven to be disastrous, resulting in the arrest and charging of all the disciples. But again, Jesus intervened. Stepping between Peter and the mob, His sharp rebuke echoed through the trees and caused everyone to freeze. It was Luke who noted that before He surrendered Himself to the mob, Jesus touched Malchus’ ear and healed it (Luke 22:51), undoing the damage that Peter had done, removing the proof of the rebellion against the agents of the high priest, and causing a pause in the action out of sheer wonder at the miracle.
As He walked toward the soldiers to surrender Himself, Jesus upbraided Peter for trying to stop the Father’s plan from moving forward, for trying to interfere with Jesus drinking the cup that the Father had given Him. This was the second time Peter had tried to stop God’s plan from moving forward (the first can be found in Matthew 16:21-23), and the second stinging rebuke he had received.
Father, we don’t usually think about the fact that when we try to squeeze things into the shape that we believe they should be, we could easily end up getting into the way of Your plan and causing things to turn aside from the way You want them to go. As hard as it might be sometimes, help us to simply obey, to fit ourselves into Your will, Your plan, and to surrender ourselves to You entirely, so that we can glorify You, even when the cup You have prepared either for us or for those we love is difficult to drink.
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