Malchus (John 18:1-11)
Rev. Peter Heckert
03/16/22

+ Grace to you, and peace, from God our heavenly Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. + Amen.

On January 17, 2004, a sixty-six ton sperm whale died and was beached on the southwestern coast of Taiwan. Two weeks later, authorities decided to truck the dead whale to a laboratory, where they could do an autopsy. It took fifty men and three lifting cranes thirteen hours to hoist the whale onto a flatbed trailer. People poured into the streets of a local city to watch the spectacle of a whale carcass being driven through their downtown. And then it happened! As the truck crawled through the city, with crowds looking on, the whale exploded. That’s right, the whale exploded! The insides of the whale splattered cars, people, and local shops. Traffic stopped for hours. The smell was almost unbearable. Betcha no one saw that coming!

Life’s like that sometimes. We’re going about our business, and a “whale” explodes, leaving us hurt and confused, with lots of questions that begin with one word: Why? Why did she leave me? Why did he have to die so young? Why did we lose so much money? Why does our daughter continue to cause us so much pain? Why? Why?

Continuing in our sermon series, we come to John 18 and meet yet another witness to Christ, Malchus. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Malchus was going about his business, following orders, doing his duty, and before he knows it, one of those whales exploded. Suddenly, his right ear was cut off by a fisherman from Galilee. No one saw that coming!

Let’s go back a little, and see how we got to this point. “Now Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.”

Judas is leading this posse of Roman soldiers and Jewish temple guards, armed and ready to fight. And what is Judas up to? Betrayal. Every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we hear the words, “Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed.” That’s exactly what happened, and that’s the night we’re looking at.

Judas makes his treacherous kiss, and chaos ensues. “Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus).” Peter cuts off Malchus’s right ear. Perhaps they should have anticipated that Jesus’s followers wouldn’t go quietly, but it’s safe to say that, for Malchus, the whale exploded!

Again, life is like that. We all have messes that we need to contend with. Things blow up, but through it all, we know that our Lord and our God remains firmly in control. That’s the way of it with our exploding whales, and the way it was on that night. In the cacophony, Christ remains in control, and John tells us as much.

“Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him, came forward.” It’s clear who’s in control here. When His enemies come, Christ goes out to meet them. When Judas approaches, Christ doesn’t run. When Peter strikes Malchus, Christ commands Peter to put away his sword.

“No one takes [My life] from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.” Though the powers of darkness rise against Him—full throttle—Christ remains in absolute control. A tidbit found in Matthew’s gospel account not found in John’s reveals that, in that moment, Jesus reminds His disciples that He could ask His Father for more than twelve legions of angels. In a single Roman legion, you found six thousand troops. Do the math—12 x 6,000 = 72,000. An impressive, awesome display of power that would be … but it isn’t needed. The power of one Jesus of Nazareth is infinitely more than the entirety of the angelic host! Oh, yes, He’s in absolute control!

And He’s calm about all of this, and His calm is contagious! “This was to fulfill the word that He had spoken: ‘Of those whom You gave Me I have lost not one.’” Christ is calm because He trusts the Scriptures. He’s calm because He knows the truth of who He is, the reality of what must be, and reward that awaits Him on the other side of His suffering, crucifixion, death, and burial. He’s calm … because He knows the outcome before it transpires. His calm is contagious!

Enter what our Lord does for Malchus. Who knows what the high priest servant was thinking? No doubt, “Ow” was among the foremost, but was he now concerned about his hearing from that moment onward? Would he be able to serve the high priest any longer? Would this gaping open wound now invite serious, perhaps fatal infection? How could this wrong be righted? 

Jesus shows him how, as Luke describes in his gospel account, “And [Jesus] touched his ear and healed him.” One of the number, come to arrest this clearly yet inexplicably intimidating and calm man, was healed of his wounds by the very One he had come out against. So calm, so in control, and still, so supernaturally selfless, even as Malchus and the others take Jesus into custody with slaps and punches. Knowing full well what awaited Him, Jesus still ruthlessly pursued the salvation of Malchus, healing his broken body, as He was led to the place where He would win the full atonement of the high priest servant’s sins. 

And He did the same for us. All of us are as guilty as Peter, Malchus, Pilate, and the rest. Our sins brought Jesus into the chaos and cacophony of creation. He speaks calm into the calamities of our lives, saying, “Your sins are forgiven,” and exercises His absolute control over all things as He declares from His throne, “Behold, I make all things new.” Yes, there are whale explosions in our lives, but none come close to threatening the full pardon for sin that is ours in Christ Jesus. Ask Malchus; he’ll tell you. 

+ In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. + Amen.