April 12, 2023
This month we are looking at the story of how Jesus was betrayed and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, as found in Mark 14:43-52. Each week we are viewing the life of one of the key characters in the story, besides Jesus and Judas. They are people who have been named or identified by their actions. The purpose is to learn a lesson or two that will help us to live more like Jesus.
In last week’s blog I shared some thoughts about Malik the Mobster – Mark 14:43-46. Today we’ll look at Simon the Slasher – Mark 14:47a, and followed by Malchus the Earless – Mark 14:47b and Noam the Nah’ked Gai – Mark 14:51-52, the next two weeks.
Have you ever acted in a rash manner, impulsively, or impetuous? Reacted or done something hastily because of fear, anger, despair, or hatred?
An impulsive behavior is when “you act quickly with very little or no thought to the consequences. There’s nothing on your mind beyond that exact moment.” Almost all people engage in some impulsive behavior from time to time, especially when we’re young or undisciplined.
Examples might be “binging, physical violence, verbal outbursts, self-harm, over-sharing – talking without thinking of the damage or consequences, or even dare devil behavior.”
In this passage, we see that Jesus has led his Apostles to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Western slope of the Mt. of Olives. It is an evening prayer meeting, following the Last Supper, and the Lord is preparing for His coming crucifixion.
Late in evening, around midnight, Judas led a large crowd out to where he knew Jesus would be. His intent, to betray Him, as the priests had already agreed to pay Judas 30 pieces of silver.
Try to imagine Jesus, as He is wrapping up His prayers and counting down the hours until His death. Suddenly, he sees a swarm of lighted torches moving up the hill in His direction. There is the sound of people talking roughly, the clatter of feet upon the rocky path and stone steps, the clanging of swords and clubs as they brush against branches, cursing as several of the crowd stumble and fall, the sound of someone … maybe more than one saying, “Shhhh,” He will hear us coming.
As they arrive, Judas made a beeline for Jesus, greeting Him with the typical Jewish kiss – a sign of acceptance, peace, and respect (see Matthew 26:49). Judas used an intimate expression of love and respect to betray Jesus. Judas’s actions were hypocritical in the extreme—his actions said, “I respect and honor you,” at the exact time he was betraying Jesus to be murdered. Judas’s actions illustrate Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Often, foes disguise themselves as friends. Evil often wears a mask to conceal its true purpose.
At that moment, our text tells us that Jesus was seized and we read in v. 47 “Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.” The Gospel of John tells us that this person was Simon Peter, one of the inner circle of Jesus’ followers.
As I’ve studied this passage the past couple of weeks, I asked myself, “Self, what the heck was Simon doing? He was just SLASHING away. Now if it had been me, I would have gone after Judas. Or maybe the head of the Temple guards.
But no. Simon got the servant of the high priest. Now he may have aimed for the dude’s head … but only got an ear. Remember, Simon wasn’t a solider or battle trained … he was fishermen, and didn’t use swords to fish. It was the move by an amateur to act like a professional, an emotional earthly centered person to carry out his own idea of vengeance, to enforce his own idea of what is right, and to be the hero instead of letting God receive the glory. Most of us would argue that Simon’s motive, logic and actions were justified, but not according to Jesus’ viewpoint.
Typical Simon. Not thinking a lot, just reacting emotionally. Letting his emotions get the best of him. Showing off his manhood. Doing something, rather than doing something right. Playing God when we don’t want to wait to understand God’s viewpoint or to let Him deal with a situation.
Jesus pointed this out with very strong rebuke (you can read this in Matthew 26:52-55; Luke 22:51, and John 8:18:11).
The Kingdom that Jesus had come to establish operated by different rules than the kingdoms of the world, where so often “might makes right.”
I have to believe that if Simon had stayed awake, rather than going sleepy-bye several times, he would have known God’s will and had God’s strength for this moment of crisis. If he had really listened to Jesus when He had been preaching and talking in so many, many messages, he would have applied biblical principles to his life and had the character to deal with this turbulent situation.
Simon could have been better prepared for the ugly part of life if he had put in the preparation. Simon could have responded by kissing Judas, and calling him friend and asking him to reconsider what he was doing. Simon could have stood by Jesus and said, “If you take My Master, My Lord, then you will take me too.” Simon could have asked the Lord how He would have him (Simon) respond, but he didn’t. Simon could have called his friends to pray for the Lord and even to pray for Judas. Simon could have acted in a spiritual way, trusting that God knew what was happening and was more than able to handle the situation.
No. Simon acted like virtually all of us. He let his sin nature take over. He listened to the voice of evil. He acted, maybe worse than the others by slashing.
He became one with the world, he acted like those who don’t trust God, aren’t’ willing to wait for God, who really don’t want God to have His way. He acted like God in the sense that he wanted to dispense justice according to his whims.
Little bit of Judas in all of us. Little bit of Simon the Slasher in all of us.
BE more like Jesus in 2023 and less like Simon the Slasher.