Touched By jesus
May 4, 2025. John 21:1-14. Richard Senum
When I first read today's gospel, I was drawn to verse 4.
In my NLT version this is what it says; “At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach,…”
It was the perfect image of the morning sun rising as the Son of God had risen. The glory of the sun shining in the day with the glory of Jesus shining in our hearts. As beautiful as this image is – it was not where the Spirit was leading me.
So I prayed and read today's gospel over several times. And one verse and one part of that verse stood out – verse 2; “Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.”
Two other disciples?
John has been living – in very close company with eleven other guys for the past three years. You get to know a lot about people you’re with in that kind of circumstance. But now - John doesn’t know the names of two other disciples?
Well – that makes no sense. You don’t all of a sudden forget the name of people you have been hanging around with for three years. Or maybe John didn’t like them.
And this also doesn’t make sense.
Jesus picked these men out of the world and he taught them how to love each other and how to pass that love on to those around them and eventually onto us. And reading the gospels there seems to be a strong feeling of companionship and friendship between all the disciples – except perhaps with Judas Iscariot.
So I have to ask the obvious question – Why did the Holy Spirit not want John to name these two other disciples? As a side note; one of the sons of Zebedee is John – the author of this gospel.
After some more prayer and thinking about the question - I began to wonder about all the people whose lives were changed because of an encounter with Jesus. And I’ll bet most of you have wondered about this as well - What happened to them? What did they do and where did they go? How were their lives changed?
What about Malchus - whose ear Peter cut of – what about the Centurion at the cross – what about Simon from Cyrene - what about the Samaritan woman at the well – what about the adulteress – what about the woman with a bleeding disorder or the blind man or the thousands whose hunger was satisfied.
The list is endless.
And more recently – church reformers like - Martin Luther - John Newton who wrote Amazing Grace – Florence Nightingale who founded modern nursing – Dr. Martin Luther King who fought against racial segregation – C.S. Lewis who wrote many inspiring Christian books. And what about each of us? How were our lives changed after an encounter with Jesus.
There are libraries of books that have been written describing the effect Jesus has on people. This morning I’m going to talk about three from the gospels.
The first one that came to mind was Malchus. Whose ear Peter cut off with his sword. Malchus was a slave of the High Priest Ciaphas. As a slave Malchus had to do what his owner ordered him to do. So, he went with the mob sent to arrest Jesus.
This is what happened to Malchus as he approached Jesus. In Luke 22: 49 - 50 we read; “When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!” And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear.”
In John’s gospel there is an important piece of personal information that is not in the other gospels. In John 18: 30 we read; “Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave.” We learn the name of the High Priests slave – Malchus and that it was Peter who slashed off Malchus’s ear.
In John’s gospel he leaves Malchus earless and bleeding. But Luke’s gospel 22: 51, shows Jesus as the ultimate healer: “ But Jesus said, ‘No more of this.’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.”
Jesus not only healed Malchus of the pain but it reads like he created a new ear for him. Completely restored back to health. And who knows what other possible ailments Jesus healed when he touched Malchus.
After the arrest we never see Malchus again in the pages of the Bible. But what might we say happened to him?
With his ear in place and his wound healed – how might he interpret what just happened to him. Any normal person would recognise this as a divine miracle. Because only God can completely heal a broken or damaged body.
Malchus might have told Ciaphas the Chief Priest and his owner what happened. But I doubt Ciaphas believed his story. His hatred for Jesus was so intense that it blinded him from seeing the truth.
Then three days later - Malchus hears stories that Jesus – who had been crucified on a cross – who was the man who touched him and healed him – that Jesus was alive.
Imagine the intense and conflicting emotions that were going through his head. But what was the Holy Spirit doing to his heart.
Later he might have sought out the believers and became a follower of Jesus – a Christian. His testimony would have a very powerful impact on all who heard it.
I say this about Malchus because there are a couple of observation in the gospels that seem to support this idea.
First - the incident is told in all four gospels. The gospels were written many years after the time of Jesus. Maybe the incident with Malchus was still known to the early believers and to the gospel writers.
The story of Malchus’s miraculous healing must have spread among the early church - especially if it was him telling about it. And the disciples – especially sword wielding Peter – would confirm the miracle.
Even though the incident is told in all four gospels – only in Luke do we read that Jesus healed Malchus. This is what we read in Luke; “And one of them struck at the high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear.
But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.”
In one of the several Jesus movies we’ve all seen over the years - I remember a scene where the actor portraying Jesus picks up the ear and reattached it to Malchus’s head. But the Scripture doesn’t say that. It says Jesus touched the man’s ear and healed him – his ear was gone laying on the ground somewhere – like I said earlier this is a completely new ear.
How would our brain process all that was going on – you are with a mob to arrest Jesus – your ear is cut of and then you are completed healed by the man you were sent to arrest. --- how do you make sense of what is going on and what just happened to you. You can’t except by faith.
The second observation is in John’s gospel. John identifies the High Priests slave by name – Malchus. I would think that if Malchus had not been around in the early church to witness about losing his ear – the incident would have long been forgotten and no one would remember his name. Knowing someone’s name personalizes them and passes the knowledge of that person on to others. By sharing his testimony - Malchus preserved his name and may have brought others to be believe in Jesus.
The next person I wondered about was the Roman officer at the cross.
Again this soldiers encounter with Jesus is told in all four gospels. And there are interesting differences between them – reading all four helps provide a better picture of this Roman officer who came to be known as the Centurion at the Cross.
In Matthew 27: 54 we read; “The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
In Mark 15:39 we read; “When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed,’ This man truly was the Son of God’”.
In Luke 23: 47 we read; “When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, ‘Surely this man was innocent.””
In John 19: 32-35 we read; “So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.)
On Friday it was these Roman soldiers who knew that Jesus was dead on the cross. They witnessed and felt the earthquake and felt the darkness that covered the land.
The officer and the soldiers under his command were also tasked with guarding the holy tomb that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had placed the dead body of Jesus. And on Sunday morning it was these Roman soldiers who witnessed a living Jesus resurrected out of the tomb.
There is a post crucifixion history about this Roman officer and two of his officers. The early church recognized him by name – Longinus - the soldier who pierced Jesus in the side. And he is the one who said; “This man truly was the Son of God’”
The early church identified him as The Holy Martyr Longinus the Centurion.
After the crucifixion the Jewish religious leaders offered a large bride to the soldiers to lie about what happened to Jesus. Matthew tells us about this in 28: 11-15; “…some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe.
They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say.
Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.”
However – church history records that Longinus and the two other soldiers refused the bribe. They leave the Roman army and go to Cappadocia. Their testimony about their experience at the crucifixion would be very powerful and convincing. They could give a personal eye witness account that they knew Jesus had died on the cross and a personal eye witness account that Jesus rose alive out of the tomb. Imagine the intensity of their testimony. As a result they brought many to believe in Jesus and the church grew in Cappadocia.
But when the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem head about what they were saying about Jesus and that a growing the number of people were believing that Jesus was crucified and rose alive from the tomb – they ask Pilate to send soldiers to kill them.
Church history records that when the soldiers arrive in Cappadocia they are treated hospitably by Longinus and his companions. Therefore - the soldiers do not want to kill them. Instead, they suggest that Longinus and the others flee. But the three would not flee and they will not deny Jesus. ----- They ask the soldiers to carry out their orders.
They chose to suffer like Jesus and were beheaded. What fear would they have? They know that because Jesus lives they also will live.
Because of their presence at the cross and death of Jesus -- and at the resurrection - God used them to give very powerful testimonies about Jesus who truly was the Son of God.
How can you keep silent about such miraculous – life altering events. You can’t. And if Jesus is in our heart and we know the crucifixion and resurrection to be absolutely true then we cannot deny Jesus.
Longinus and his companions were willing to give their life rather than deny Jesus.
A more positive witnessing story is by the Samaritan woman at the well. Reading the biblical account, she and her fellow villagers believed Jesus is the Messiah. And this would be even more true after they heard about the resurrection.
One of the interesting things about this encounter is that it subtly connects Jesus to the Patriarch Jacob. We read about the encounter between the Samaritan woman and Jesus in John 4: 5-7; “So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
At first - she is surprised that he is asking her for a drink of water – because he is a man and she is a woman and secondly because he is a Jew and she is a Samaritan. Both issues were frowned upon in Jewish society. But they were not issues for Jesus.
Jesus tells her about that if she knew who he was she would be asking him for “living water. In John 4:10 we read; “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
Jesus compares regular water with living water in John 4: 13-14; “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
This piques her interest and she wants this living water. I mean water that leads to eternal life rather than the pit of hell – what a gift.
She replies in John 4: 15; “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again,…”
Jesus changes the subject and tells her to go get her husband. Now he confronts her with the sin in her life. She admits that she does not have a husband and Jesus confirms that she has had five husbands and adds that the man she is with now - is not her husband.
She senses that Jesus is a prophet and after some discussion comparing Jewish and Samaritan traditions. Jesus tells her that true worshippers will worship God is spirit and truth. She says that when the Messiah comes he will explain all things. At this Jesus says; “I am the Messiah!”
She runs back to the village and tells the villagers that the man she just met might be the Messiah. In John 4: 28-29; he says; “The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the villagers came out to see Jesus.
Her encounter with Jesus and her testimony to her fellow villagers brought many Samaritans to believe in Jesus. John 4: 39; “Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!”
In reading about Longinus and his companions - I have to ask myself – would I be willing to give my life rather than deny Jesus? In the back of my mind, I remember what Jesus said to the disciples about persecution - in Matthew 10: 32-33 “Whoever acknowledges me before men. I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men,I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”
As difficult as it would be - we must - “Fear God who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” Rather than fear humans who can only end life in this temporal body.
After hearing what the LORD said to Rhona – I know we will live in peace - in the glory of heaven - illuminated by the light of God all around us.
So always be willing to give a testimony about your experience and your relationship with our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Come LORD Jesus
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Watch this sermon presented live here: https://youtu.be/BS4L2dJa8_g
