THE QUESTION

The night Jesus was arrested, Peter swung a sword and cut off a servant’s ear. Only John’s Gospel tells us the servant’s name. What was it?

A) Malchus  ✓

B) Barabbas

C) Caiaphas

D) Nicodemus

A closer look

It was late, and the garden was full of torches. Judas had just led a crowd of soldiers and temple guards to Jesus, and Peter did what Peter always did: he acted first. He drew a sword and swung at the nearest man, taking off the right ear of the high priest’s servant (John 18:10-11).

All four Gospels tell the story, but only John gives the servant a name: Malchus. John was there that night, and he knew the high priest’s household personally (John 18:15-16), so this reads like an eyewitness remembering a face, not a footnote.

Jesus told Peter to put the sword away, and Luke adds a detail the others leave out: He touched the man’s ear and healed him (Luke 22:51). The last miracle before the cross was for someone who had come to arrest Him.

Malchus shows up once more. Around the fire in the courtyard, one of his relatives recognized Peter and asked, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” That was the question that brought on Peter’s third denial (John 18:26-27).

As for the distractors: Barabbas was the prisoner the crowd chose over Jesus, Caiaphas was the high priest Malchus served, and Nicodemus was the Pharisee who came to Jesus at night and later helped bury Him.

A few hours earlier, Jesus had told His friends they would have trouble in this world. Then He walked into it, and healed the man sent to take Him.

See you tomorrow for a new verse, prayer, and trivia. Have a blessed day. ♡