49 Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” aand kissed Him.
50 But Jesus said to him, a“Friend, why have you come?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.
51 And suddenly, aone of those whowere with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
52 But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, afor all who take the sword will1perish by the sword.
53Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with amore than twelve legions of angels?
54How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, athat it must happen thus?”
55 In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me.
56But all this was done that the aScriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then ball the disciples forsook Him and fled.
Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin
57aAnd those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.
58 But aPeter followed Him at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.
Jesus shows that retaliation intensifies and continues an evil and that the retaliator can be consumed by it. He acknowledges that He had the power to retaliate, but He held His peace, giving us the example to follow. Verse 54 explains that if He had retaliated, God's will would not have been done!
The spirit of retaliation must be aborted before it leads to murder. We should approach it in the manner Jesus exemplifies here. We must make an honest and sincere attempt to reconcile with an offended brother. If the person truly is a brother, he will forgive quickly and go on with life without a grudge (Luke 17:1-4).
The suddenness of Peter's reaction reveals a lack of forethought and patience. Just before his action, he had asked Christ, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” However, he did not wait for an answer (Luke 22:49-50). His abruptness reflects that he was moved more by his passion—his emotions—instead of upright, reasoned thought and godly principle. Such ungoverned passion rarely leads to righteous action.
Pride is also evident in his action. Perhaps he was even trying to impress his fellow disciples. Peter had boasted earlier that he would remain faithful to Christ even if the others were to stumble (Matthew 26:33). Initially, his strike may have appeared to be sparked by a courageous and noble faith, but it was wrongly motivated. It actually manifested more vainglory than faithful courage or nobility. Peter's carnality echoes the approach of many nominal Christians, inspired more by the desire to outshine others instead of a sincere passion to honor and glorify God.
