Mark 14:47 Commentary and Bible Study

We learn from John’s Gospel that it was Simon Peter who struck with his sword. Perhaps other disciples also had swords. That is very likely because Luke tells us that they all said at first, ‘Lord, shall we [plural] smite with the sword?’ Shall we defend you? And it was Peter who had drawn his sword and gone into the attack without waiting for the reply. Christ says, we are told in Luke, ‘Suffer ye, thus far’, according to our King James translation. The modern translations translate it quite differently. Christ according to them says, ‘No more of this’ – no more violence. But that is a very strange way to translate the passage. That is just a guess and an interpretation. What Christ actually said was, ‘Suffer ye, thus far [so far]’, and the word translated ‘suffer’ in the Greek means permit, allow – allow this to this point. That is really how it should be translated. What does he mean? Well it depends who he is talking to. If he is speaking to those who are making the arrest, the soldiers and the high priests, he seems to be telling them, ‘Permit what has happened; allow what has happened to this point’ – a reference to Peter’s action. Then, at a word, he heals the man’s right ear, and restores it entirely. It is as though he says to the arresting party, ‘Allow what has happened up till now’, and then promptly he puts it right and restores the ear. It is however very unlikely that Christ would ask any good will from those arresting him. But if Christ is speaking to the disciples, it means something quite different: ‘Permit everything that you've seen up to this point. Don't resist it; permit it.’ That would make sense, because Christ goes on to say, ‘But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?’ (Matthew 26:54). If you do not allow me to be arrested, how can the Scriptures be fulfilled which say it must happen? But to say, ‘No more of this’, just mangles the passage, and ignores the terms that are used in the Greek original. These translators assume that it is just some kind of figure of speech, and they can be free and easy in their translation. But the words actually meant, allow all that you see happening to take place.Christ is not yet bound, for after Peter had struck the servant, he ‘touched his ear, and healed him’ (Luke 22:51). The Gospel of John identifies the man: his name was Malchus, and he was a servant of the high priest – not Caiaphas, the acting high priest, but a member of his family; other high priests would have been there. You can imagine, a servant of the high priest trying to get of the way, but not being quick enough, and he loses an ear. Christ restored it: his final, public miracle. It was bold of Peter to draw a sword and to defend him, but perhaps not so bold, because we read a more extended account in John’s Gospel. We learn that when they came to arrest Christ, at the first word he said to them – ‘I am he’ – they all fell backwards on the ground. What a demonstration of his power! At any time he could have stopped these proceedings and maybe Peter drew courage from that: ‘Oh, they have all been thrown to the ground; he is going to resist them, so I will draw out my sword and do something bold.’ Furthermore he reassures them, ‘Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53), confirming them in their faith even in this critical hour. At the last day, when the Lord is revealed in his glory, he will indeed be accompanied by his mighty angels (2 Thessalonians 1:7; Matthew 25:31), but now is not the time for that. He is willing to submit to human injustice and lay down his life for us. However, when he comes at the end of time, those who treated him shamefully will realise how greatly they misjudged him. They thought he was in their power – though this made no sense in the light of his miracles – and they could not conceive of his purpose in voluntarily yielding up his life. His thoughts were higher than their thoughts. But, of course, he knew that he must lay down his life, and so he healed the ear of the servant of the high priest, and gave himself into their hands.