Tag: healing
The Sword & Malchus
Malchus was only named in the account of John. He was the slave of the high priest whose ear was sliced off by Peter’s sword. The healing of his ear by Jesus was only mentioned in the account of Luke.
“50 And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered and said, “Stop! No more of this.” And He touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a robber? 53 While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.” – Luke 22:50-53 (NASB)
Tommy Tenny taught on this during Easter Sunday and it struck a cord in me. Tommy painted the scenario that Peter probably thought it literal when Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” – Mat 10:34 and thus he carried a sword around with him. It is unlikely a fisherman in normal circumstances to be found carrying a sword to supper. It goes to show how much the disciples understood what Jesus was teaching and referring to. Back to the quoted passage. The sequence of how Jesus handled the situation was highlighted. Jesus first DISARMED Peter in Matthew 26:52 & John 18:11 by getting him to put the sword back. After disarming Peter, Jesus then proceeded to heal Malchus and then addressed His arrestors.
I have come across many sword-wielding leaders, who are as brash and clueless as Peter was. This “sword” is definitely not the Word defined in Hebrews 4:12 but a sword of misplaced zeal in misinterpreted Word. Many unnamed servants of God who have quietly served in the body of Christ were blatantly cut and severed by these “Peters”. There is no doubt of the potential of Peter and similarly these “Peters”. Yet, they have to be disarmed. There is a need to disarm the sword that the “Peters” are wielding to brutally cut others. Malchus was healed only after Peter was commanded to keep the sword.
We often tell the “Malchus” to forgive and trust that God will heal. This is true, but people do not take the step to get “Peters” to put down their swords. Instead of being healed, the “Malchus” sometimes get a second, third or even more slashing from the same Peter or other Peters. I can imagine if Jesus did not stop Peter, there might be more people who will be cut until the soldiers stop him. There is no other account after this that Peter carried a sword with him. It is interesting that “Peters” do not even realise what they have done when there is a “blood bath” surrounding them of injured people who stayed away from them. Not because the “Malchus” do not forgive but it is human nature to stay away. If I am Malchu, I will carry a shield with me if I ever have to meet Peter again lest I lose my ear! Even with a shield, I am not sure if I want to be in the same place as Peter! It will be easier for the “Malchus” to be reconciled to the “Peters” when they are unarmed, but in the love and gentleness of Christ. Such is the wisdom of Jesus in handling such situations!
Refigured by Grace
One night, I was with my late father and his friends crossing a major road after a late dinner. The 8-lane road was really quiet at that time. The whole bunch of us stopped at the middle divider after crossing 4-lanes to look out for traffic from the other side of the road. After which, I have no recollection of the events that followed and all of it was related to me by my dad.
A fast-moving motorcycle came really close to the middle divider and hooked onto me. I was dragged along with the motorcycle for a distance while the cyclist jammed his brakes. The abrupt stop catapulted me to about 11 metres away from the where the motorcycle stopped, and the motorcyclist was flung 15 metres away. The next thing I remembered was opening my eyes in a hospital bed.
I was confined to the bed for almost a week. I had no broken bones and there were no visible wounds or injuries on my body. You can imagine how difficult it was for an active 11-year-old to stay in bed the whole day. The reason for the bed confinement was for the fear of head concussion. When I flew off from the grips of the motorcycle like a supergirl, I landed head down against the concrete road. Just imagine how huge the impact of the fall was upon the head considering I had no other injury on the rest of my body. In my one week of confinement, my head felt a little strange and stiff but other than that, no abnormality.
Finally they let me off the bed. First thing I did was to go to the sink to wash up with running tap water. This was the first time I saw myself in the mirror. To my horror, the left side of my face was completely covered with dried blood and wounds from the accident. Just imagine the wound a child gets when he has a nasty fall on his knees on a road. This wound multiply at least ten times, all on the left side of my face. I honestly look like a horror movie demon that just walked out of a film set, perhaps even more horrific looking than creature coming out of the screen in The Ring.
Thank God that I was discharged a week after when the neuro team of doctors were certain that there was no concussion or any brain damage. Since it is a neuro team, they did not quite treat my facial wound. I was discharged without any medication for my face except some disinfectant lotion to clean the wound. The wound was left open without bandage as well. By then, some bruises on my legs and arms started to surface but nothing serious. My parents took good care of the facial wound. They cleaned it diligently everyday and after a month or two, scabs of the wound began falling off revealing pink new skin beneath. The healing process was miraculous. I have ZERO scars on my left face. I stand amazed by the sheer fact that a fall on the knee leaves scars and I have scars on my face from pimples, but there is absolutely no sign of this major wound on my face!
It is by God’s grace that I am alive from the accident. Yet, beyond that He has His angels protect me that I have no broken bones and no head injuries. The only visible wound on the face, He miraculously healed it COMPLETELY! It was because of this, I chose to be baptised the following Resurrection Sunday as I know that my life is not my own but Christ’s.
P.S. I wished we took photos of my face after the accident but we didn’t have any. Even the newspaper report of the accident had no photos of me. Perhaps out of compassion, the people did not want to keep records of such a hideous wound. Even so, to God be the glory!
