Luke 22:47-51 (NIV) While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
When Judas arrived with a sizeable crowd of men with torches and armed with swords and clubs (Mark 14:43), the scene in the garden quickly became chaotic. The first thing that happened was that Judas quickly moved to Jesus, greeted Him, and kissed Him on the cheek, the agreed-upon signal that identified Him in the dim light to those who had come to arrest Him (Mark 14:44).
But Jesus wasn’t going to let the moment pass without clearly naming what was happening: “Judas, are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss?” With those words, spoken loud and clear, the other apostles suddenly realized that it was Judas that Jesus had been talking about during the supper. It was Judas who had agreed to betray Jesus to the authorities.
Immediately the armed posse drew their weapons and moved toward Jesus. Almost as quickly, someone among the disciples cried out, “Should we strike with our swords?” referring to the two swords that they had brought with them from the upper room (Luke 22:38a). Not waiting for permission, Peter impulsively lashed out with the sword he was carrying, and ended up delivering a glancing blow that severed the right ear of a servant of the high priest named Malchus (John 18:10b).
The scene had grown very loud and tumultuous, with the disciples pushing the crowd back, and everyone starting to yell. But Jesus’ voice cut through the din: “No more of this!” causing everyone to suddenly stop, and to grow quiet. In the eerie silence that suddenly fell over the campsite, Jesus moved swiftly to Malchus, and wordlessly lay a hand on his damaged ear, restoring it instantly.
Father, how often do we zealously come to Your defense in the course of living our lives, but do so in ways that actually damage the cause of the kingdom, and even get in the way of what You have planned, because we see the situation with worldly eyes instead of kingdom eyes? How often do we damage someone in our zeal to advance what we believe to be the cause of Christ, leaving it to You to clean up the mess we have made? Even though we might be acting with the best of intentions, if we approach things that way, we can really mess things up and complicate Your agenda more than it needs to be. Help me, Lord, to listen to Your guidance before I impulsively act. Help me to keep myself in the center of Your will every day, and to always work in concert with Your designs, and never against You, no matter how well-intentioned I may be. Amen.