Luke 22:51 But
Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and
healed him. (NIV)
It was His last miracle. When Jesus
was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, one of His disciples tried to defend
Christ with a sword and ended up cutting off the ear of one of the High Priest’s
guards. It was a valiant effort, but a wasteful one. It was also something that
Jesus did not condone.
Instead of calling upon His
disciples to attack the mob, Jesus sternly called for an end to the violence. He
was not going to be party to any defense of His person; He was not going to
start a protest, a rout, or a rebellion. In order to show how committed He was
to being a peacemaker, Jesus healed the guard immediately. He didn’t want
anyone else to suffer, not even His enemies.
As Christians, we are called to be
peacemakers in our communities, as well as across the world. This is very
difficult to do because, like most human beings, we get angry and feel
justified about diminishing our opponents or destroying our enemies. It’s very
easy for us, and even for me as a pastor, to get caught up in foolish quarrels
and trivial arguments which do nothing to promote Christ’s teaching, God’s
love, or the Spirit’s way. We want to feel strong by humiliating our foes; we
want to be crusaders for religious causes, both of which, Jesus would not condone.
Christ’s last healing miracle was
how He personally practiced His radical teaching of loving our enemies and
forgiving those who hurt us. He not only showed His disciples how to practice
their faith, but He also beautifully exemplified His teaching to His foes,
especially the guard who was the injured victim of the disciples’ religious
zeal. This is an important lesson about peacemaking for all of us who call
ourselves ‘Christian’.
Questions for personal reflection
How has the practicing
of my faith hurt other people? What would Christ have me do to remedy this?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, Your Life constantly
challenges us. Every moment and every incident in the Gospels has been recorded
to teach us about how our Christian faith should be lived. Forgive us, Lord,
when we neglect Your lessons; help us to become better witnesses of Your peace
and love. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.
John
Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian
Church
in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions about
today’s message, please send him an email to Traqair@aol.com. John is always
interested in your thoughts. And, if you ever find yourself in Knoxville
on a Sunday morning, the people at Erin will make you feel welcome and will be
delighted to worship with you.
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