CUTTING OFF THE MOB

 KEY VERSE: Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.(John 18:10)

  The mob was about to take Jesus to His death. Simon Peter, this time showing his love for Jesus, defended Jesus with his sword. (Jesus would use the “Sword of the Word” rather than the armor of men!) Peter had good intentions, but when he drew his sword in defense of Jesus, he diminished Jesus.

  After all, Jesus is God, and the gospel is that Jesus saves, yet Peter sought to save Jesus from the world. He had the Doctrine of Christ reversed. He was a zealot, but zealous for the way of the World. Of course, the Doctrine of Christ is “peace on Earth, goodwill toward men” (Luke 2:14)

  Jesus, knowing peace did not have a chance, still wanted to give peace a chance because that was His Way. His Way was not the way of the world, but Peter’s was. Vengeance belongs to Jesus (Rom 12:19). Someday, Jesus will have His vengeance:

For He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. (Rom 9:28)

  Peter was brave to cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. That was as if cutting off the high priest himself. In the end, the high priest was the guiltiest of all, as his sin was greater than even the centurion’s (John 19:11).

  If vengeance had been Peter’s, then the all of them would have been killed, and the Purpose of Jesus diminished as He preserves. His Name even means “Yahweh is salvation” but here Peter was trying to save Jesus! He was acting as if he was God, and that showed little trust in Jesus.

  Ironically, the high priest who was to rebuild the Temple (in earlier times) was also named that (Joshua or Yeshua). It would be Jesus Christ who would rebuild the Temple and it would be with the souls of men, not cedar!

  Jesus came to finish the work that Yeshua started and here was another high priest protecting the Temple that Jesus would replace. (It would be destroyed in 70 AD, but the Church still lives to this day.) The high priest was guardian of the Temple built by Yeshua, and “built back better” by Herod, but the death of Jesus would build the House of God, or the Church.

  Jesus is the craftsman who builds indestructible “Temples” and here was the high priest’s servant there to tear it down before it was built. 

  The Harbinger made one passage familiar to most Christians:

The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. (Isa 9:10)

  Yeshua (the chief priest) had rebuilt Solomon’s Temple whose construction had fallen down at the hand of the Babylonians. God ordained Nebuchadnezzar to tear down the Temple, and effectively, God destroyed Solomon’s Temple. He had never wanted a House for Himself but only a House for His people.

  Yeshua had tried to build back better but failed. The Second Temple was nothing as grand as the first. The Jews had tried to convince themselves that they had built back better in the days when they had no king. [1]

  Now let me apply this to modern times: Biden wants to “Build Back Better.” Ironically, the “bricks had fallen” when Obama was president and Biden vice-president. With that said, Biden and the Democrats do not want to “Build Back Better” but with the fallen bricks whose mortar was chipped away by Obama and Biden. The United States had been built on Living Souls bound together by God. That is making America great again!

  Now to be honest, Trump supporters, me included, want to be “Peter’s.” I often think of cutting off the tongue of Biden’s propagandist. Face it; Jesus did not want Peter to do that and neither does He want us to provide the vengeance. I am correcting myself! Because Democrats diminish Jesus, I can hardly stand that, and my reaction is violence. That is not the Way.

  Jesus was anointed to die, and whoever wins this election is anointed by God. God has a purpose for Trump and another one for Biden. Perhaps we need Biden to long for a “Trump” just as we needed Obama to elect Trump.

  Jesus, true to His Name, restored the right ear of Malchus whose name means, “My King.” Caiaphas was the “king” of Malchus, not Jesus. He served the high priest. The meaning of the name, “Caiaphas” is unknown. He was the “Unknown God” just as the god of the Athenians with whom Paul debated. Caiaphas was a type of Yeshua and a competitor of the True Jesus.

  Caiaphas symbolized a doctrine of works, and Jesus, by restoring the ear of Malchus, a Doctrine of Grace.

  The Doctrine of Grace will prevail until God’s Grace has been stretched to the limits. “For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the Earth.” Malchus, the high priest, and the mob will be cut off with time. Be patient! Jesus will cut off the whole Earth: some will be saved and the remainder shall perish.

  Christians know who really wins the election. Whether it is Trump of Biden, in the end, Biden will be cut off because of his arrogance. However, just as Jesus restored the ear of Malchus, He can restore the ears of all who hear His Message. Jesus can restore Biden’s ear just as He did the ear of Malchus.

  What should Christians do? Certainly not cut off our opponents, but pray that with their ears they will hear, and if they repent, they shall be saved.

  After all, Donald Trump saw the Light and became a new person in Christ. Even if Trump had the greater sin then Biden, he was restored, and Biden can be as well. What shall we do? Vengeance or grace? The easier thing to do is cut them off, but Jesus would have us demonstrate love of enemies and do our Great Commission.

  This is hard to write because I want vengeance. In my heart, I want to cut the Democrats off and judge them guilty and deserving of Hell! They may be, but that is for God to judge and convict. Like Peter, who was not the high priest, he had not authority to convict and punish. He cast a “stone” at Malchus when later, he himself, would deny Jesus.

  Pray first that right judgment will keep America great with God and Trump. If that fails, pray that God will get a hold of Joe Biden.

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[1] The “Big Lie” at this time is that Democrats under “Yeshua” Biden will “Build Back Better.” The United States was built by God, and Trump desired to “Make America Great Again” — a nation built with Jesus as the Cornerstone. “Better” in the viewpoint of Democrats is Marxism.

(picture credit: "Daily Bread" Pastor Mike Anderson)