The Last Miracle Before The Cross

Intro

The miracles of Jesus. There are 36 miracles reported by the Gospels performed by Jesus.

We can list Jesus Miracles under two general headings:

Those that involved healing.

Those that involved nature.

The purpose of miracles. We can certainly say that miracles do not serve to entertain the crowds and satisfy their curiosity, but!

Establishing the authority and credentials of Jesus as the Messiah.

Communicating truth.

Demonstrating compassion.

Demonstrating a measure of the believers inheritance in Christ:

Mark 16:17–18 NIV

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

The Last Miracle. This is the last sermon in this series.

I want to consider the last miracle of Jesus before his crucifixion.

All 4 Gospels report this episode, but only Luke tells us that Jesus healed this man.

The Gospel of John tells us that it was Peter who cut off the ear of the servant of the High Priest.

Again in John we discover the name of this servant: Malchus.

So we have our 3 protagonists:

Peter, the violent disceple.

Malchus, the mutilated servant.

Jesus, the Healer.

In a biblical passage where kisses and swords do not work, only the hand of Jesus is powerful to heal.

Sermon's outline. Of this miracle I want to consider:

The miracle that will not happen;

The miracle before the miracle;

The scandal before the miracle;

The beneficiary of the miracle;

N. 1 - The Miracle that will not happen

Matthew 26:53 NIV

Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?

12 Legions of Angels. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus rebukes the disciples for using violence.

Jesus adds that he could have called upon the help of 12 legions of angels.

To get an idea of ​​the miracle Jesus is talking about, just consider that a legion was a unit of the Roman army and included 6,000 soldiers.

We are talking about 72,000 angels!

A single angel was able to exterminate an entire enemy army:

2 Chronicles 32:21 NIV

And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.

The mere appearance of an angel was considered an extraordinary and terrifying event:

Luke 2:9 NIV

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But Jesus did not perform this miracle.

He speaks about it, he has the power and authority to summon the army of Heaven, but the Savior will not perform this miracle.

His power will be used to perform another miracle, not to summon legions of angels.

Miracles for us. Jesus never used His power for personal purposes, to relieve His pain, or to facilitate His earthly ministry.

He always used His authority for others, to bless, heal, and save us, not Himself!

This is how Isaiah describes the ministry of Jesus:

Isaiah 61:1–3 NIV

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

At the banks of the Jordan River that dove (the Holy Spirit) descended on the Lamb of God (Christ Jesus) with the sole purpose of healing us of our sins.

N. 2 - The Miracle before the Miracle

Luke 22:50 NIV

And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

A sword. The text tells us that Malchus' ear was cut off in one blow.

Wounded, bleeding, forever mutilated.

Luke uses the term "sword" to indicate the instrument used by Peter to strike Malchus.

We are not talking about a knife to cut bread, but a weapon forged to strike the enemy to death.

In other words, that night Malchus could have lost much more than an ear; that night could have been his last night!

Thank you Jesus! The story of Malchus reminds us that many problems we have experienced were designed by the enemy to inflict fatal blows on us, but Jesus did not allow it because He prayed for us:

Luke 22:31–32 NIV

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

The Devil did not aim at your ear, he wanted our head, but Jesus did not allow it.

It was not chance or good luck that prevented the tragedy, or Peter's inability to use the sword, or Malchus' agility in dodging the fatal blow, but the fact that in that dark night there was the Prince of life: Jesus!

We can say it without fear of being wrong: if Jesus was not in our life, things could have been 1000 times worse:

Psalm 124:1–3 NIV

If the Lord had not been on our side— let Israel say— if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us, they would have swallowed us alive when their anger flared against us;

N. 3 - The Scandal before the Miracle

John 18:10 NIV

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

Suffering under Peter's blows. The story of Malchus reminds us that unfortunately even Jesus' disciples can strike and hurt.

This story highlights Peter's violence against the servant Malchus.

Today, thank God, there are no swords among us, yet we have the tongue that can hurt, cut and strike.

Probably, in this place, there are some Malchus, men and women hurt by those who professed to be Christians, or by those who had been called by God to be an example and instead abused their power to hurt and strike.

There are 3 ways to be "hit" by Peter, hurt by those who profess to be disciples of Jesus:

Disuse, not used;

Misuse, badly used;

Abuse, exploited.

The Lord condemns every type of violence and abuse of power:

Job 31:13–15 NIV

“If I have denied justice to any of my servants, whether male or female, when they had a grievance against me, what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

N. 4 - The Beneficiary of the Miracle

Enemies of God. Unlike all the other miracles, Malchus stands out because he was an enemy of Jesus.

The paralytic man was brought to Jesus thanks to the help of his 4 friends.

Jairo’s daughter was healed thanks to her father's love and faith.

But Malchus? Malchus was on the front lines to imprison Jesus, he was in that garden as an adversary, as an enemy of Jesus.

His intentions were not friendly.

Furthermore, the fact that Peter hits Malchus means that Malchus was very involved in the capture of Jesus, and yet he is healed.

Enemies healed. This passage teaches us that even an enemy can be healed by Jesus.

The Bible reminds us that we were all enemies of God at one time.

Perhaps your intentions were hostile, perhaps your actions define you as an enemy of God.

You are here today wondering if Jesus can heal your life... Malchus can assure you that this can happen. Jesus can "fix" you.

Jesus wants to put the pieces of your heart back together.

Even if you were Jesus' worst enemy, He is willing to do good to you:

Colossians 1:21–22 NIV

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—

Conclusion

Malchus. Tradition says that the Gospel of John reveals the name of that servant because Malchus will eventually convert to Jesus.

I don't know if it's true, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Malchus in heaven, possibly far from Peter.

After all, it's not the first time the Lord has given thanks to His enemies.

Open your cold and painful heart to the One who wants to heal your life.