To help us better understand today’s passage, I thought it would be helpful to “visit” with Oliver Zorh, expert sword craftsman & owner of Blue Valley’s Forge.

DL: Thanks for your time.  Tell us a bit about the sword business.

Zohr, O.:  My pleasure.  It is an enjoyable vocation.  You get to smelt/design your own swords & be as creative as you like.  On the other hand it can be challenging.  For example, we use cutting-edge technology for our blades, but our competitors can slice into our market share by slashing prices on what is really cut-rate quality merchandise. You definitely have to stay sharp.

DL: Do you still fence?

Zohr, O.: No.  My doctor encouraged me to stop after I complained of having a sharp, stabbing pain each time I fenced.

DL: So, what are your thoughts on today’s passage?

Zohr, O.: It’s fascinating.  You have this huge contingent of guards coming to arrest Jesus.  This just seems so over-the-top.

DL: I think there might be several reasons to send a large arrest party: Remember Jesus had eluded capture earlier at the Temple, a large posse would also give credence to their claim that Jesus was trying to start a revolution & overthrow Caesar, & it would intimidate any of Jesus’ followers & make any attempt at resistance seem futile.

Zohr, O.:  But Peter does resist.  Peter draws his sword & cuts the Chief Priest’s servant’s ear off.  Noting that Peter was a fisherman by trade & his sword was one of just 2 swords the Disciples had recently purchased, we can probably guess that the ear was not Peter’s intended target. 

DL: Agreed.  Then Jesus rebukes Peter & instantly heals the ear.  This is an interesting miracle.  No dirt/saliva serum like with the Blind Man, no prayer of preparation ala Lazarus, & no statement like “your faith has made you well” as in the Hemorrhaging Woman.  It was just a touch of the ear & it was healed.

Zohr, O: With the benefit of hindsight, I understand Jesus’ scolding Peter.  However, on that dark Thursday night I really admire Peter.  He knew the “fix” was in & there was no earthly way that Jesus was ever going to walk free.  He had to conclude that this was it.  This was the ultimate/final battle between good & evil.  Regardless of the odds, Peter was going to go down fighting to save Jesus.

DL: Exactly.  How was Peter to know about the glorious Sunday morning to come?  Before we scold Peter, perhaps we are more like him than we know.  Sometimes we Christians can stuck on “Thursday Night” like when we are concerned about our Sunday School students seemingly drifting, or when we are frustrated by the lack of results of our earnest prayers for that prodigal friend or family member who has lost their way, or when we are irritated that even our own spiritual life seems bleak & God seems very distant. 

But.  We forget that come Sunday, those seeds we are planting with our students will one day generate a great harvest, or come Sunday, we’ll finally realize all of the Holy Spirit’s nudges & prods that brought the wayward believer back to the path, or come Sunday we’ll fully recognize that we were never really alone; that God didn’t leave us in that garden, but that He was alongside us all the time.

While we can get stuck in the here & now, we have to remember that God always takes the long view.  That Thursday Night was an essential phase of His plan of redemption that resulted in the Greatest Sunday the world has ever known.

Zohr, O.: For a non-swordsman, those are some pretty good points.  Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to settle a dispute about who gets a sales commission between my blacksmith who made the sword & my clerk who sold it.

DL: Sounds challenging.

Zohr, O.: Not really.  For disputes like this, I just rely on the boyhood adage, “Thou who smelt it, dealt it.”