The Lesson of the Right Ear

The assassination attempt against former President Trump should be a wakeup call to all of us. I am not optimistic that it will be. I am not at all sure it will change the way that our country is increasingly resorting to violent acts and inflammatory rhetoric to solve the perceived problems of our nation and society.  

It was no accident that the would-be assassin got dressed that morning in a tee shirt advertising a YouTube channel that promotes guns. He was making a statement. But I doubt that this fact will convert anyone to the need for guns to be “well-regulated” as the second amendment says.  

When I pondered the video of the attack, I thought of another attack two thousand years ago that also resulted in a wounded right ear. The injured man’s name was Malchus. Malchus was the servant of the high priest Caiaphas. All four gospels record the event, which is a rare occurrence in the New Testament. It must have had special importance for early Christian communities. 

The gospels tell us that Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane with this disciples. Soldiers sent by the high priest came by night to arrest him. As they laid hands on Jesus, one of the disciples acted to prevent his capture. The apostle Peter responded to the attack on his master by drawing a sword and striking Malchus, who is identified as a servant of the high priest. Malchus was wounded in the right ear.  

Jesus’ response to this act of violence by one of his followers was swift and clear. He said to his disciple, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” In telling the story, the physician Luke adds the detail that Jesus then “touched his ear and healed him.”  

We do not know much more about Malchus. We know that his name means “my king,” which is ripe with symbolism. Beyond that is just speculation. In Mel Gibson’s 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, Malchus is pictured as an armed member of the temple guard. That certainly is a possibility.  

The apocryphal Gospel According to the Hebrews says that the risen Christ appeared to Malchus and presented him with the linen cloth that was in the empty tomb. There is no way of knowing if either of those details are true. 

I am more interested in the symbolism of the story of the wounded ear as it relates to the attack on the forty-fifth president. It may be coincidental that both were injured on the right ear. It may be coincidence that Machus means “my king,” and Trump sees the presidency in term of kingly power and immunity. Furthermore his followers seem to treat him like royalty. This may all be coincidence, but it is also an opportunity - an opportunity for spiritual reflection.  

Jesus spoke words of nonviolence into a scene of violence. He told Peter to put down his sword, and then spoke this timeless truth: “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” In terms of modern weapons it would be phrased today as “Those who live by firearms will die by firearms” or “Live by the gun, die by the gun.” That was certainly the fate of the man who shot president Trump. His reward was meted out swiftly by the Secret Service.  

Jesus’ message of nonviolence was met by violence. It was met by institutional violence carried out by the state with the backing of the religious establishment. It found its expression in a rigged trial and a political execution carried out by the government and religious authorities.  

Jesus taught people to love their neighbor and their enemy. To love those who hate you,  bad-talk you, and persecute you. This is not a message we hear much from either the pulpit or the political podium. Instead we are told to “Fight, fight, fight.”  

Jesus’ message was to “Love, love, love.” Love God. Love your neighbor. Love your enemies. The teachings of Christ live on in the lives of those who follow the teachings of Christ. Not all who profess Christ follow the teachings of Christ.  Hypocrisy is rampant among those who bear of the name of Christian.  

We have no idea what happened to Malchus. But the fact that his name was remembered and recorded in the New Testament leads me to think that Malchus was known by name in the early Christian community. That likely means that he became a follower of the one that he tried to arrest that night. He came to follow Christ as "my king.”  So there is hope for all who follow the violent way of Malchus ... and Peter.  

Trusting Private Ryan

On Independence Day I cannot help but think about our nation’s past and future. We are in the final months of a very contentious and controversial presidential election. Partisan politics rule the day. Misinformation abounds. The choices we have been given by the two major parties are not good. Many people are concerned about the future of our nation.  What is a spiritually-minded person to do in such a situation?  

A month ago, on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, actor Tom Hanks was interviewed by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour with the Normandy American cemetery as a backdrop. He was chosen because of his famous role in the movie Saving Private Ryan. Hanks was asked about the upcoming presidential election and if he was worried about the United States’ commitment to democracy and freedom. This was his reply: 

“I think there’s always reason to be worried about the short term. But I look at the longer term of what happened.”  He quoted the preamble of the Constitution, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,” and then he added, “That journey to a more perfect union has missteps in it.... Over the long term, however, we inevitably make progress towards, I think, that more perfect union.” 

He went on to talk about how this “perfect union” comes about. “It comes about because — not because of somebody’s narrative about who is right and who is a victim or not. It comes out of the slow melding of the truth to the actual practical life that we end up living. It comes down to the good deed that is practiced with your neighbor, with your local merchants. And I will always have faith that the United States of America and the Western societies that have adopted more or less the same sort of democracy, cannot help but turn towards what is right.” 

I agree with Tom Hanks. I do not think the American experiment is over despite what the doomsday prophets predict. I have faith in the American people and the arc of the moral universe. It bends toward justice, as Martin Luther King Jr said. More importantly I look beyond the illusion of time and space to the Eternal One. This is the One I trust, not politicians or parties.  

I will keep informed, and I will vote on election day. I will have honest discussions with people of good faith, but I will not argue with those whose minds are closed. I will not fret too much about who will be sitting behind the Resolute desk during the next four years. Presidents are merely bit players on the stage of history. I trust in the One who rules over the nations and guides history.