Malchus Matthew 26:51, Mark 14:47, Luke 22:50–51, and John 18:10–11,
I had been working for Caiaphas for several years and was considered to be a trusted servant and worker. I had the privilege of being present at many of the council meetings, celebrations and festivals and social events which were presided over by the High Priest as well as attending to many of his personal needs. Caiaphas was married to the daughter of Annas, the previous High Priest and was highly regarded by the Romans who needed someone reliable and level headed in the Jewish courts to deal with disputes regarding Jewish law which the Romans didnt understand and wanted nothing to do with. He was a reasonable man as long as he was getting his own way but had a mean temper when he was crossed. I had rarely been on the receiving end of his temper, but other household servants had been. It was never pretty.
In the weeks running up to Jesus's arrest there had been lots of meetings and assemblies and covert conversations about what was to be done. The Sanhedrin, Pharisees and Saducees all seemed, amazingly, to agree for once. Jesus was a threat to civil and religious stability and was undoubtably going to cause more trouble the longer he was allowed to go on teaching and preaching and stirring up the masses. After many hours of debating various courses of action one of Jesus's disciples turned up with information which Caiaphas felt he had to act on. Which is why I found myself in Gethsemane that night, along with an armed guard and Judas Iscariot who was there to show us the man we were looking to arrest.
To be honest, I wasnt expecting any trouble. Judas had assured us that Jesus was a peaceable fellow and that his followers were fishermen and ordinary working men. None of them were soldiers, none of them would be armed. It was highly unlikely that we would meet with any resistance.
We arrived at Gethsemane after sunset. I had been sent by my master along with several of the city elders and leaders of the synagogue to make sure that the arrest went smoothly and that Jesus and his disciples would all be rounded up for questioning. To that end there were about forty soldiers ( armed) so I suppose we did make quite a crowd as we entered the gardens. Judas had arranged to kiss the ringleader Jesus so that we would know which one he was in the fading light.
As we made our way into the interior of the garden of Gethsemane we saw a figure on his knees on the path in front of us. He seemed to be deep in prayer. Judas approached him and kissed him on both cheeks, which was the signal for the soldiers to move in and arrest him. Before we could reach him he spoke and said ' Judas, are you really going to betray me with a kiss?' And to us he said ' Gentlemen, good evening. Who are you looking for?' The captain of the guard stepped forward and said ' We are here for Jesus of Nazareth' Jesus stepped forward and said ' I am' and the minute he spoke it was as though a great gust of wind knocked us all backwards and we all stumbled and grabbed onto each other and tried to steady ourseleves. To be honest I wasnt quite sure if there hadnt been a minor earthquake. It was most peculiar and I could tell that some of the soldiers were a bit spooked by it.
Before we could all gather ourselves and proceed a voice spoke out of the gloom and shouted ' Lord, I have my sword. Let's fight them off' and suddenly a figure appeared wielding a short sword in my face. I was startled, not having expected anyone to be armed, and not having seen that there was anyone but Jesus there. As I stepped back and turned to signal to the guard to arrest this man I felt a stab of excruciating pain on the right side of my head. I yelped and put my hand up to my head to discover that a river of blood was flowing down my face. That maniac had cut my ear practically right off my head! It was hanging by the lobe and flapping about in a bloody mess. I was in agony. For a second or two the guards just stood looking at me. And then the chief officer drew his sword and stepped forward ready to run the vagabond through. But at that instant Jesus stepped in between the chief guard and the bloke who had cut me and said ' Wait!' There was proper authority in his voice and everyone immediately stopped and looked at him. ' Have you really come out here with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I am a common thief? I've spent every day teaching in the synagogues and the temple and you could have come and arrested me at any time. Why wait till now? Was it because you needed the cover of darkness? ' Whilst he was talking he was stretching out his hand and touching my hand which was clasped over what was left of my ear. The minute he did so the pain stopped and I could feel there was no more blood. As he removed his hand I realised that my ear was fully restored and back to normal. I looked around at the elders and soliders who were standing right beside me. They were all pale and terrified and amazed. Had I just imagined that? I looked down at my blood soaked robe and realised that no, I hadnt.
Jesus held out his hands and indicated that he was happy enough to come with us peacefully. The chief guard and a couple of others stepped up, bound his hands and led him out of the garden. The other soldiers were sent off to look for the disicples, but in the few moments that Jesus had been talking they seem to have vanished into the night. We knew they must have been close by when we arrived, but despite searching the whole of Gethsemane that evening there was no trace of any of them to be found.
I went home that evening and reported to Caiaphas that Jesus was in our custody. He wasnt too happy that the disciples had eluded us, but suspected that with their charismatic leader captured the whole organisation would crumble within days. I didnt tell my master about my ear and he didnt seem to notice the blood on my clothes. I hurried home to change my garments and to check my face in a mirror. There was not a trace of injury. I sat for many hours that night re-running in my mind the events of that evening and wondering if perhaps there might be some truth to the rumours about Jesus after all. His followers believe his is the Son of God. Even some of the Pharisees and Saducees think he might be a prophet. Before that night I had just assumed that my master was right and that he was a dangerous radical. But now I wasnt so sure. Why did he heal my ear? I was coming to arrest him and yet he showed me kindness. Why? That didnt make any sense to me.
I didnt sleep that night. In the days that followed I paid close attention to Jesus, his trial and his fate. The more I saw and heard of him the more I was convinced that this was not just an ordinary man.
In the weeks running up to Jesus's arrest there had been lots of meetings and assemblies and covert conversations about what was to be done. The Sanhedrin, Pharisees and Saducees all seemed, amazingly, to agree for once. Jesus was a threat to civil and religious stability and was undoubtably going to cause more trouble the longer he was allowed to go on teaching and preaching and stirring up the masses. After many hours of debating various courses of action one of Jesus's disciples turned up with information which Caiaphas felt he had to act on. Which is why I found myself in Gethsemane that night, along with an armed guard and Judas Iscariot who was there to show us the man we were looking to arrest.
To be honest, I wasnt expecting any trouble. Judas had assured us that Jesus was a peaceable fellow and that his followers were fishermen and ordinary working men. None of them were soldiers, none of them would be armed. It was highly unlikely that we would meet with any resistance.
We arrived at Gethsemane after sunset. I had been sent by my master along with several of the city elders and leaders of the synagogue to make sure that the arrest went smoothly and that Jesus and his disciples would all be rounded up for questioning. To that end there were about forty soldiers ( armed) so I suppose we did make quite a crowd as we entered the gardens. Judas had arranged to kiss the ringleader Jesus so that we would know which one he was in the fading light.
As we made our way into the interior of the garden of Gethsemane we saw a figure on his knees on the path in front of us. He seemed to be deep in prayer. Judas approached him and kissed him on both cheeks, which was the signal for the soldiers to move in and arrest him. Before we could reach him he spoke and said ' Judas, are you really going to betray me with a kiss?' And to us he said ' Gentlemen, good evening. Who are you looking for?' The captain of the guard stepped forward and said ' We are here for Jesus of Nazareth' Jesus stepped forward and said ' I am' and the minute he spoke it was as though a great gust of wind knocked us all backwards and we all stumbled and grabbed onto each other and tried to steady ourseleves. To be honest I wasnt quite sure if there hadnt been a minor earthquake. It was most peculiar and I could tell that some of the soldiers were a bit spooked by it.
Before we could all gather ourselves and proceed a voice spoke out of the gloom and shouted ' Lord, I have my sword. Let's fight them off' and suddenly a figure appeared wielding a short sword in my face. I was startled, not having expected anyone to be armed, and not having seen that there was anyone but Jesus there. As I stepped back and turned to signal to the guard to arrest this man I felt a stab of excruciating pain on the right side of my head. I yelped and put my hand up to my head to discover that a river of blood was flowing down my face. That maniac had cut my ear practically right off my head! It was hanging by the lobe and flapping about in a bloody mess. I was in agony. For a second or two the guards just stood looking at me. And then the chief officer drew his sword and stepped forward ready to run the vagabond through. But at that instant Jesus stepped in between the chief guard and the bloke who had cut me and said ' Wait!' There was proper authority in his voice and everyone immediately stopped and looked at him. ' Have you really come out here with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I am a common thief? I've spent every day teaching in the synagogues and the temple and you could have come and arrested me at any time. Why wait till now? Was it because you needed the cover of darkness? ' Whilst he was talking he was stretching out his hand and touching my hand which was clasped over what was left of my ear. The minute he did so the pain stopped and I could feel there was no more blood. As he removed his hand I realised that my ear was fully restored and back to normal. I looked around at the elders and soliders who were standing right beside me. They were all pale and terrified and amazed. Had I just imagined that? I looked down at my blood soaked robe and realised that no, I hadnt.
Jesus held out his hands and indicated that he was happy enough to come with us peacefully. The chief guard and a couple of others stepped up, bound his hands and led him out of the garden. The other soldiers were sent off to look for the disicples, but in the few moments that Jesus had been talking they seem to have vanished into the night. We knew they must have been close by when we arrived, but despite searching the whole of Gethsemane that evening there was no trace of any of them to be found.
I went home that evening and reported to Caiaphas that Jesus was in our custody. He wasnt too happy that the disciples had eluded us, but suspected that with their charismatic leader captured the whole organisation would crumble within days. I didnt tell my master about my ear and he didnt seem to notice the blood on my clothes. I hurried home to change my garments and to check my face in a mirror. There was not a trace of injury. I sat for many hours that night re-running in my mind the events of that evening and wondering if perhaps there might be some truth to the rumours about Jesus after all. His followers believe his is the Son of God. Even some of the Pharisees and Saducees think he might be a prophet. Before that night I had just assumed that my master was right and that he was a dangerous radical. But now I wasnt so sure. Why did he heal my ear? I was coming to arrest him and yet he showed me kindness. Why? That didnt make any sense to me.
I didnt sleep that night. In the days that followed I paid close attention to Jesus, his trial and his fate. The more I saw and heard of him the more I was convinced that this was not just an ordinary man.
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