“Think on this…the one liners” by Suzanne Matthews

I love Holy Week. I love the study of the cross. I love that no matter what new I learn, I can never out-learn the cross of Christ. This year I am thinking on all the one-liners I have read recently in John 18, the one sentences John made sure to include. John is such a poet, such a thinker. Every sentence is written with a reason. What is written and even what is omitted, is left to deeper study and my imagination.

John 18: 1

When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side was an olive grove.

Jesus was traveling from the last supper to the Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples. John just happens to mention Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley. Why? Well, because one had to walk through the Kidron Valley to get to this familiar and favorite garden. But is there more?

John MacArthur (Grace to You, gty.org) talks about the many tunnels under the Temple Mount, and says there was a particular drain that led from the altar in the Temple court to the mountain facing the Kidron Valley. During Passover thousands of lambs were slaughtered at the altar in the Temple court. Their blood along with the water for rinsing drained to the Kidron Valley, and at this particular time of year the flow coming from the mountainside would be red and full of the stench of blood. Jesus, walking with his disciples across the Kidron Valley to Gethsemane would have seen and smelled the blood from the many sacrificial lambs. This disciples might have commented on the foul odor, but only Jesus knew the symbolism and what evil awaited him just a few hours away. The Lamb of God fully knew He was going to slaughter to become the One sacrifice.

John 18: 10

Then Simon Peter who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (the servant’s name was Malchus).

Luke 22: 51

And he (Jesus) touched the man’s ear and healed him.

We know nothing about this ear except that it belonged to Malchus, a servant of the high priest. The ear was cut off. Does cut off mean severed from his head? Was the ear on the ground? There had to have been blood everywhere. Jesus quickly calmed a situation that could have easily erupted into more bloodshed and even His own death. He averted this by healing Malchus’ ear. If he had picked the ear up off the ground and put it back on I believe John would have said so. John mentions nothing; it is Luke, the physician, who tells us Jesus healed the ear. Did Jesus touch Malchus’ head, stop the blood flow, and create an ear? I think that is exactly what He did.

John 18: 40

“Give us Barabbas!”

The crowd cried out to Pilate to release Barabbas instead of Jesus. Barabbas means “son of the father”. Bar means “son of”, abba means “father” (MacArthur). I saw the symbolism this week for the first time. The Son of the Father was given up for the son of the father.

Oh, what a Savior!