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I was meditating on Jesus’ arrest as recorded in Matthew 26.47 – 56 as well as Mark 14, Luke 22, and John 18. All four gospels tell how one of the disciples swung a sword and cut off the servant of the high priest’s ear. Only John identifies Peter as the assailant and gives the name of the victim as Malchus. Only Luke records that Jesus healed him:

And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. (Luke 22.50, 51, ESV)

So here’s a trivia question: what was Jesus’ last miracle before the crucifixion? Answer, healing Malchus’ ear. A more interesting question is, what happened to Malchus?

Jesus, once more, provides evidence of his identity, his power, and his compassion. There would have been a lot of confusion. It was night. There was a large crowd of men with clubs and swords. Not everyone would have even seen Peter’s attack. But Malchus knew! He was injured and he was healed.

People see what they want to see. What did Malchus see, and how did he respond? Did he continue to be loyal to his boss and the mob he was with? Or did he have second thoughts and one day become a believer? Scriptures don’t say.  Scriptures are clear that people have options and react in different ways. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead: many believed in him and the religious leaders still wanted to kill Jesus and Lazarus!

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (John 12.9 – 11, ESV)

As we’ve observed before, Jesus is always giving people a chance to believe. He’s showing compassion and doing good even when his own life is in danger. And the results are never guaranteed. We don’t know if Malchus believed or not. And we don’t know how people will respond to our attempts at compassion. Jesus promised:

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. (Matthew 10.24, 25, ESV)