Jesus, Plastic Surgeon

Have you ever had a moment in your life when everything turned to complete crap?  You’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everybody’s version of crap is different of course.

If you are reading this and your life has taken a right turn towards Crapville, let me please say, I am so sorry you’re going through this. It hurts, it sucks, and it’s probably not fair.

I thought about this as I was reading a story in the bible. It made me pause and think carefully about those crappy moments.  This story happens when the mob has come to arrest Jesus before he is to be crucified.  A slave (Malchus) of the high priest, Caiphas, has his ear cut off by one of the disciples, Simon – known as Peter. Peter is valiantly trying to defend Jesus from what’s to come. They are close friends. This is very understandable.

 ^“Simon Peter therefore having a sword drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. Now the servant’s name was Malchus.”   John 18:10

“And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.”   Luke 22:50-51

When I focused on the slave – Malchus – and not Peter – all I could think about was, “Wow, this poor guy. He’s already a slave to a total jerk. He’s dragged out of his (possibly comfy) bed in the middle of the night to come ‘help’ arrest Jesus and he gets his ear cut off!”  Welcome to Crapville….

Malchus is basically the innocent bystander that gets smacked by life. Right afterwards though, Jesus puts a stop to further bloodshed, and he heals Malchus. This is the very last miracle Jesus will perform before his resurrection. This is not insignificant. Jesus essentially performs plastic surgery on Malchus right in front of the people who are wishing Jesus dead because they are scared of him.

Jesus could have left Malchus wounded, in agony, perhaps destined to die from an infection. But he doesn’t. Jesus touches Malchus’ ear and heals him. To be clear, Jesus didn’t even need to touch the slave to heal him. Jesus had healed from a physical distance before.

But this is a portrait in exquisite tenderness. Jesus touched Malchus, and he was healed. Can you imagine being in the depths of Crapville and then the Savior of the world performs plastic surgery on you, a lowly slave?

I think Malchus was in the right place at the right time. Maybe you are too. Maybe you have reached just the right moment, a slave in need of a Savior. Reach out to Jesus and let him tenderly perform plastic surgery on your battered heart.    

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