Malchus lived in Jerusalem. He was a servant in the temple. His
boss was Caiaphas, the high priest. We really don't know much about
Malchus. In fact, Matthew, Mark, and Luke don't even mention his name,
so we're left to our imagination. I imagine that Malchus did many of
the same things that our temple servant, Michael does – clean up the
sanctuary after worship, set up and take down tables for family dinners,
change light bulbs, and clean bathrooms. I expect that Malchus liked
his job and was on a first name basis with the rabbis, priests, and
scribes who frequented the temple.
It
was Passover, 33 AD. The Feast of the Passover was a festive time in
Jerusalem. Jews had come from all around to celebrate God's deliverance
from Pharaoh and Egypt. Itinerant rabbis from everywhere were rolling
in to give lectures on the scriptures. Jesus, the carpenter from
Nazareth turned rabbi had also come. He had ridden into town on the
back of a donkey while a large crowd yelled "Hosanna to the Son of
David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" As soon as he
got into town, he closed down the farmers' market in the temple and
began to speak in parables about a Kingdom that is not of this world, a
Kingdom ruled by his Father. He was calling Himself the Son of God and
the Son of Man. He not only knew the scriptures, but knew how to
interpret them and make them come to life. None of these things made
the Sadducees and Pharisees any too happy, and so they plotted with
Caiaphas to have Jesus killed. They made a deal with one of his
disciples to give him up on the night following the Passover meal.
That's
where Malchus comes in. He was doing his chores in the temple when he
overheard the plans to arrest Jesus. He sent a text message to some of
his relatives about what was going down, and they decided to follow the
crowd to Gethsemane that night. It was dark with the only light coming
from a few torches. Malchus was standing on the outside of the crowd
when Judas kissed Jesus to give him up. The crowd seized Jesus, and the
next thing Malchus felt was a burning pain in his right ear. Peter had
sliced his ear off with a sword. Jesus told Peter to put the sword
away, and then kneeled and put his hand over the side of Malchus' head
that was now gushing blood. The bleeding stopped and Malchus' ear was
restored. I suspect that it was meant for Peter to have poor aim, since
if he had been a few inches to the left he would have cleaved Malchus'
head and that restoration would have been much more dramatic. So
dramatic in fact, that I doubt that any of the crowd would have hung
around to arrest Jesus.
That's about all we know about Malchus,
except that one of his relatives who was in the garden recognized Peter
later that night and caused him to deny Jesus the third time. I suspect
that Malchus followed the proceedings on Friday to the court of the
Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate tried his best to release Jesus,
but the crowd would have none of that. When asked who should be
released from prison, as was customary during the Passover, the crowd
yelled "Give us Barabbas." Barabbas was a revolutionary like Jesus, but
one who revolted against the Roman rule and not the Jewish elders. I
have to believe that Malchus was standing in the back of that crowd too,
but was quietly saying "Give me Jesus!"
My prayer for each of us
at FPC is that on this upcoming Good Friday we, along with the Church
universal, will stand, and with one voice proclaim, "Give us Jesus!" and
then will go out and show that we mean it by our actions.
Hear! Hear!
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