July 02 2025

Wednesday July 02

Luke 22:49-53

Fighting the Wrong Enemy with the Wrong Weapons

49 When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered and said, "Permit even this." And He touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

Jesus has been praying with His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane when Judas shows up with a “multitude” of the temple guards to arrest Jesus. To get the full picture of this event, I highly recommend that you read all four Gospel accounts. John tells us that Jesus “went forth” to meet Judas and those with him and asked, “Whom are you seeking?” They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth” and Jesus said, “I am He”. At those words, God released the radiance of His glory, and it literally knocked Judas and all the mob to the ground (John 18:1-12).

Matthew tells us that this is when Judas gets up and greets Jesus saying, “Hail Master” and then kisses Jesus. Jesus calls him “Friend” and the officers came and “laid hands on Jesus and took Him” (Matthew 26:47-56). It was then that the disciples remembered (and misunderstood) His words about the sword (Luke 22:35-38), so they asked Him if now was the time to make use of their two swords. Without waiting for the answer, Peter rushed ahead and attacked a man who turned out to be Malchus, a servant to the high priest (John 18:10, 26-27).

Why did Peter do this? For one thing, he had to back up the boastful words he had spoken in the Upper Room (Luke 22:33) and again on the way to the Garden (Matt. 26:30-35). Someone rightly said, “Peter had been sleeping when he should have been praying, talking when he should have been listening, and boasting when he should have been fearing. Now he was fighting when he should have been surrendering!”

Peter made a number of serious mistakes when he attacked Malchus with his sword. To begin with, Peter was fighting the wrong enemy with the wrong weapon. We must always remember that our enemies are not flesh and blood, and they cannot be defeated with ordinary weapons (2 Cor. 10:3-6; Eph. 6:10-18). In His wilderness temptations, Jesus defeated Satan with the Word of God (Matt. 4:1-11), and that is the weapon we must use (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12).

Peter also revealed the wrong attitude and trusted the wrong energy. While Jesus was surrendering, Peter was busy declaring war! This reveals that he was depending on "the arm of flesh." His whole approach to the situation was not at all Christlike (John 18:36) and stands as a good warning to us today. The lost world may act this way, but it is not the way God's servants should act (Matthew 12:19; 2 Timothy 2:24). Jesus had taught His disciples and us that: “…whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also…. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven…” (Matthew 5:38-45).

It is just like Jesus to act in grace when others are acting in malice (Psalms 103:10). He showed grace to Peter by rebuking his presumptuous sin and repairing the damage he had done. He showed grace to Malchus, a lowly slave, by healing his ear, and He showed grace to the whole world by willingly yielding Himself to the mob and going to Calvary. He did not come to judge but to save (Luke 19:10).  John 3:16-17 reminds us: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Our Lord's last miracle before the cross was not a big flashy thing that attracted attention. It is likely that very few of the men who were there that night even knew what Peter and Jesus had done. Jesus could have summoned twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53), one legion (6,000 soldiers) for each of the eleven disciples and one for Himself, but He did not. Instead of performing some spectacular feat, He lovingly healed the ear of an obscure slave and then presented His hands to be bound.

Each of us must decide whether we will go through life pretending, like Judas; or fighting, like Peter; or yielding to God's perfect will, like Jesus. Today, will it be the kiss of betrayal, the sword of the flesh, or the cup of surrender to the will of God?

God bless!