John 18:10 – Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

Hello readers, new blog today. Has your ear been cut off? Do you hear the gospel? Or are you cut off to Jesus Christ? Has someone or something prevented you from believing on Jesus Christ for yourself? When they came to arrest Jesus, Peter had a sword and he cut off a guy’s ear with it. That guy’s name was Malchus. He was a servant of the high priest, Caiaphas.

This story is recorded in all four gospels, in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 18. Today we want to learn something from this story. In Matthew 26:52 – Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. So we see that Jesus wasn’t approving of what Peter did. In Luke 22:50,51 – And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. So Peter cut his ear off, yet Jesus healed him. Luke 22 is the only gospel that records the healing of the man who’s ear had been cut off. It takes Jesus Christ for us to be able to have our hearing restored, our spiritual ears, ears that will have the capacity to hear and receive the gospel with joy and a believing heart.

It’s a bit of a weird story, here comes the arresting party led by Judas Iscariot to take Jesus and arrest him. He plants a kiss on Jesus’ cheek, the signal that this is Jesus… the guy they’re after and who they’ve finally got. Jesus has a heap of followers, his disciples, they’re ready to oppose what’s going on. They love Jesus, they’ve been with him for his ministry, and they don’t want to see him harmed, falsely accused, imprisoned or killed. Jesus’ servants want to help him, and want to defend him, and they’ve got some swords and they want to go into action. But it just goes to show they didn’t really get it. You can really fight the wrong battles when you don’t get it. They didn’t understand what was going on at all. After all Jesus had been explaining how he must be betrayed, how he must die on the cross for the sins of the world. And Peter starts to swing the sword, and he cuts off the ear of Malchus. You know, Peter was well meaning, but he seemed to fail a fair bit. He would later deny Jesus three times. But boy he always set out with best intentions wanting to do right. Maybe you want to do right today, but you don’t know how. Maybe you’re actually harming rather than helping.

So Malchus’ ear was cut off. The sword swung through the air, and it smote him. Peter struck his ear clean off. Are you a Malchus? You know, Malchus was a servant to Caiaphas, the high priest. He had a fair dose of religion, but he didn’t have Jesus Christ. Lots of people get lost in religion. They get cut off to Jesus. Peter swung his sword and cut his ear off. Many people today don’t have an ear to hear the gospel, they don’t have an ear that will hear, they don’t have an ear for truth, they’ve been cut off from Jesus Christ by the actions of Christians. This is no excuse, let’s make that clear, you can’t just blame and justify and excuse yourself your whole life. But fake, false, phony Christians have done a lot of harm to the name of Christ.

God’s word is what we need. God’s word is what saves. It is incorruptible seed which when received into good ground of the heart… it’ll produce new birth… new life. God’s word needs to be read and to be heard. And to be heard, that takes an ear. It’s the hearing of faith that saves a man. They hear the gospel, they believe it with their hear. But there are many people out there that are cut off to God’s word, cut off to truth. They’re deaf to it. Are you deaf to the gospel? You don’t hear it, you don’t care for it. You may be stuck in religion. You may be stuck in service, yet have not met the Saviour. Maybe you don’t hear because a Peter has cut your ear off. A Christian has offended you, a Christian has caused you to stumble, a Christian has prevented you. How many people reject God’s word because of the actions of others. Maybe you need your ear put back on, but that takes the power of God. I can’t make someone hear the gospel, I can tell them until blue in the face, but until Jesus causes someone to hear… they can’t and won’t. You need ears to hear the gospel. Pray for an ear that can hear and that will hear.

You know, Peter was going to preach many great sermons where people would hear the gospel. He would care about seeing people saved… but here he was going to take lives, not to help save them. You see, sometimes we don’t understand what battle we should be fighting. What cause we should be marching for. Peter would build and strengthen people’s faith in God’s word. But here we see Peter destroying not building. Here we see Peter not helping, but harming. Here we see Peter not in the will of God, but out of the will of God. Here we see Peter not understanding, not knowing, not getting it, not understanding what to do and why. If you are saved, you are meant to sow seeds, not stop people from getting saved. There are many people out there who’s ear has been cut off to the gospel because someone has swung a sword and they’re deaf to it. Should people be cut off to God’s word, to Jesus, by us? Remember, Jesus had to be betrayed and arrested and falsely accused and crucified… without that there would be no salvation for us. We have to lead people to the cross of Christ, not prevent them from getting to it. As horrible as it sounds, that’s why Jesus was born into the world, he had to do it, otherwise we were all done for. Jesus had told them that, and here’s Peter fighting to oppose it. We shouldn’t be cutting off ears, we should be praying for ears to be opened that will hear the gospel. We should be able to lead them to God’s word, to tell, explain and expound it to them. But to be of help to others, we first need to know truth for ourselves. Jesus had told Peter the truth, but he didn’t get it. We need to get it.

Peter and the others didn’t have their doctrine and understanding straight. If they had, they would’ve known that Jesus had come to be arrested and killed, and then rise from the dead. In fighting, Peter was actually opposing the plan and will of God. So he might be well meaning, he might want to serve, but he’s doing it the wrong way. You have to serve God, God’s way. Mind blowing perhaps… but so often people want to be Christian, or serve God… but aren’t interested in obeying God’s word in doing so. You may just end up being useless in the ministry, unable to be of any help to anyone. You’re useless to others in that case. We are to help others by giving them God’s word, by building faith, by telling them the gospel, by telling others what God’s word says. We need to find the Biblical cause. Peter thought he was helping, but he was really just harming and hindering.  That’s what happens when you aren’t in the will of God, if you don’t have the mind of God through his indwelling Holy Spirit. We need to be aligned to God’s word, not him align to us. We need our minds enlightened, we need our hearts changed. When we are saved and read our Bible, our minds, our understanding, our mission should be in line with God. That’s also when answered prayer happens, because we ask things according to his will. We are changed into the image of Christ as we grow as a Christian. Christians were first so called because they were Christ-like, that’s what being a Christian means. That can only truly arise if you firstly have his Spirit dwelling in you. So many people try being Christians, yet are dead and unsaved and unregenerate inside. Our relationship and fellowship with Jesus Christ should become more and more harmonious. And we have the example of perfect harmony and oneness between Jesus and his Father.

Jesus hadn’t come to start a rebellion, a war against the Romans. He hadn’t come to give national deliverance… yet anyway. Because one day he will! The kingdom of God today exists in the hearts of believers, those who are saved. That’s where Jesus dwells. He dwelt in a tabernacle, then in a temple, but he really wants to dwell in us. He can’t change you inside from being in a building which you aren’t allowed in… but he sure can if he’s dwelling in you, if you are yoked up to him. God’s kingdom is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. See, it’s a changed life. An unsaved person isn’t in that kingdom, they are of this world. But a saved person although physically in this world… is not of this world (or shouldn’t be!). Spiritually what happens when you are saved is that you are translated out of the kingdom of this world, of who’s ruler is Satan, into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, it’s a kingdom change inside. It is only possible through what Jesus accomplished on the cross and in rising from the dead. Jesus had come to give spiritual deliverance. That’s man’s primary need, that is what salvation is all about. That’s the salvation we really all need. Spiritual salvation is far more necessary than national salvation. You could be under Roman occupation yet free, or under no occupation yet a slave. You can live in a free country yet be bound by the chains of sin. You see, if sin is your master and you are it’s servant, you are a slave. True freedom starts at the spiritual level. The kingdom change has to be inward first. Jesus came to save us from our sins, not only the penalty, but the power and practice and ultimately presence of sin. That’s the real deliverance we need.

Like Peter, if you don’t have a handle on what’s what, on what matters, on who Jesus is, and what he requires of us, of what his word says… you may just end up cutting ears off. Is your life cutting people off from the gospel? And you may even use a Bible to do it. The Bible is often likened to a sword, and he used his sword to cut the guy’s ear off, he used it to do something Jesus didn’t want him to do. Watch how you use the Bible, there are many who twist it, pervert it, cherry pick it, and use it to justify and excuse themselves.

Peter wanted to serve God, he wanted to do right, but he was always ending up going about it all wrong. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:5 – And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. If an athlete uses drugs to win, they are disqualified. If you are a young Timothy, you gotta obey God in how you serve God. See, Peter needed to be set straight himself in order to be useful in the ministry. You gotta be taught of Christ in order to tell others about Jesus Christ. How are you going to be a help if you don’t know what Jesus wants? If you don’t know him? There’s no crown for a competitor who doesn’t obey the rules. We gotta serve God… God’s way. You can’t expect to use your sword completely in violation to who Jesus is and what Jesus says and expect to get his OK at the end. Jesus rebuked Peter for what he did, and Jesus healed Malchus. Peter had zeal, he wanted to do right, he was well meaning… but that means nothing if that all isn’t subject to obedience to God in the first place.

Peter didn’t know what was really going on. You see, although Jesus had repeatedly spoken to them about what was going to happen, they weren’t hearing. God, give us ears to hear. Revelation 3:13 – He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Do you have an ear to hear? Is there an ear that’s turned to the voice of the shepherd? Or has some Christian’s disobedience to God, their negligence in knowing his will… is that what’s stopped you from being saved? People often judge Jesus by people claiming to be Christians. We are living epistles the Bible says, known and read of men. What book are people reading when they read you? Maybe you’ve lost your ear, and you need Jesus to heal it. Peter needed to be straightened out, and we need to be straightened out first by Christ before we can help others. Maybe you can only partially hear. After all, Malchus still had one ear, but he didn’t have both. You lose a bit of direction with one ear. You don’t have full hearing. You don’t get the full story. Many people have a partial understanding of truth. Many people only partially hear. They hear what they want to hear in life. And lots of people live a life with one ear for God, and one ear for the world, for themselves.

If you want to serve God, like Peter did, you have to have a firm foundation based on  God’s word. He should’ve known from God’s word, from Jesus telling him, yet he didn’t know. We need to keep our eyes on what matters, Jesus has come to save men’s lives rather than to destroy them. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Keep your eyes on the prize, they’re the souls of men. But Peter and company had swords and were willing to start killing people to defend Jesus, but just like when they wanted Jesus to call down fire on a village of the Samaritans that rejected him, they had missed the actual mission. It took Jesus Christ to heal Malchus’ ear. We all need Jesus to heal us, to enable us to hear. Maybe you’ve been cut off to the gospel, and you blame other people, but you are still responsible for your own salvation. Noone will go to hell for you. The misuse, the perversion, the rebellion, the disobedience, the twisting of the Bible has been very harmful. Even well meaning people can do damage. The gospel is that Jesus Christ has died for our sins, because he so loved the world. We all need to recognize we are sinners, and we need the Saviour. We need to keep our eyes on what’s what, and make sure we are fighting the right battles in lives. And it’s a battle to save souls, not to destroy them. To help to hear, not to cut people off from Jesus Christ. If your ear has been cut off, Jesus can heal it, he can heal what man destroys, it was a miracle what Jesus did. Salvation is a miracle, and it can be you that is healed today. You know, Malchus was part of the arresting party… and that’s all of us, we were all enemies of Christ, we all hated on God and his word… but Jesus loved us and died for us while we were out to get him. Behold the love of God! Don’t let anyone cut you off to Jesus Christ.

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