24 Series Devotionals - Day 75

 

 

1. Malchus - The Innocent Bystander 

Since he was a slave, Malchus really didn't have a choice whether to join the lynch mob.  He was a slave; his job was to do what his master said.  He crossed the Kidron Valley near the Pool of Gihon east of the city of Jerusalem with the nervous throng of Roman soldiers and Jewish religious leaders.

 

They followed Judas.  He lead this unlikely group to the place he had often prayed with Jesus.  Maybe it was a trap.  Maybe Judas was leading the unsuspecting power-hungry mob right into an ambush.  Malchus didn't know.  He simply was forced into the angry current tht led them to Gethsemane.

 

The Bible makes it clear what they expected.  They carried lanterns, torches and weapons.  The Jewish religious leaders were accoompanied by a good number of soldiers.  A cohort of Roman soldiers was usually 600 men, but the word here can mean any detachment of soldiers.  So Judas, the members of the Sanhedrin and a band of well-armed, well-trained soldiers entered that quiet sanctuary of prayer where the followers of Jesus slept.  God the Son wept as He settled once and for all His readiness to drink the cup of God's wrath earned by yours and my sin and given to Him by His heavenly Father.

 

They expected a fight, but Malchus was not expected to engage in fighting.  His job was to serve his master, the high priest.  So he went where he was told.

 

Jesus knew they were coming.  In John 18:4 we read:  "Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, 'Whom do you seek?'"   As recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, at some point, Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.

 

Although John didn't record the kiss of betrayal, what is recorded is one of my favorite events in all of scripture, and Malchus was part of this incredible scene.  Tomorrow we will hear Jesus' answer.