NAMED, BUT UNKNOWN: MALCHUS

Matthew, Mark, and Luke probably recorded their Gospel accounts about thirty years after Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Most scholars believe that John recorded his Gospel about sixty years after Jesus’ earthly ministry.

The Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) remembered and recorded the story of Judas’s betrayal in the quiet Garden of Gethsemane. They each remembered and recorded the “large mob with swords and clubs” (Matthew 26:47) “from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders” (Mark 14:43). They recorded Judas’s not-so-stealthy sign… the kiss planted on Jesus’ cheek. “The one I kiss, he’s the one; arrest him” (Matthew 26:48). And, the Synoptics all recorded the sword fight. When the mop started to arrest their Master, the disciples responded. “One of them struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear” (Luke 22:50).

Interestingly, Dr. Luke is the only Gospel writer to record the healing miracle that must have quieted the angry crowd. “Jesus responded, ‘No more of this!’ And touching his ear, he healed him” (Luke 22:51).

John, the beloved disciple, now wrinkled and weary, took up his quill pen and wrote. He remembered the “company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees (that) came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons” (John 18:30).

He remembered the betrayal and the arrest. And he remembered his friend, Peter, unsheathing his sword and swinging it wildly at the closest enemy.

Here’s a curiosity. Six decades had passed, but John remembered the wounded man’s name… “The servant’s name was Malchus” (John 18:10). His name is only recorded once. Only by John. Only here. Why did John remember this seemingly insignificant detail?

Maybe…

Malchus was hard-hearted and angry when he entered Gethsemane. Was he broken-hearted and humbled when he walked away that night? Had Jesus’ compassionate touch changed his life? Did Malchus come to arrest Jesus only to have his own heart arrested by grace?

Did the lives of Malchus and John intersect after Jesus’ resurrection? Did John remember Malchus because he had become a disciple, a Christ-follower, one of the many who “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer” (Acts 2:41–42)? Maybe.

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).