April 10 Thought for the day.....being there for others in their messes

Have you ever had a friend or family member get into such a mess that if you didn't help them, they were never going to make it? The night Jesus was betrayed that happened to Peter.

When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him. Luke 22:49-51

Let's set the scene, John tells us that 300-600 soldiers just came to arrest Jesus. Judas had just kissed Him. They asked if He was Jesus and when He said, "I am He!" All of the soldiers got knocked on their backsides. Right after that is when trouble starts.

Peter decided that even though Jesus, just by speaking, knocked the soldiers over like dominos, he still needed to defend Jesus with a sword. Malchus was the servant of the high priest, and as such, he would have been very well known in the community. Peter, by an utter act of ignorance and stupidity, allowed his emotions to get the better of him and slices off the ear of Malchus. For Peter, this meant certain jail time and worse that he would not be able to use for the Kingdom.

Jesus had just been sweating blood in prayer, was being betrayed, and arrested, regardless of this He stops everyone saying, "Permit even this," in other words, give me a moment. He stops everything and everyone, knowing He is on His way to ridicule, torture, the cross, and three days in the tomb, to help a friend in a mess.

Jesus "touches" Malchus. This word means not to lightly touch but he, more or less, grabbed him by the head, got his attention and "healed" (to completely restore) his ear. He saved Peter from jail time and not being able to fulfill the ministry God had planned for him.

Often, friends and family will get into trouble, much of the time it is their own fault, it is easy to allow them to wallow in their self- imposed pain. Jesus gave us the example that if we have the ability to do good for all people even if it was their own stupidity or ignorance, we should. We have no idea how many times the Lord has done the same for us. His grace is sufficient for us, let us have grace enough to help others out of their self-imposed messes.