As Jesus faced His captors and Judas the traitor, there was a real sense that evil could not hold Him.  The soldiers had fallen to the ground when He spoke and were reluctant even to touch Him.  The holiness of Jesus was like a wall of protection which evil could not penetrate (John 18:2-9).  But then, Peter decided to save His Saviour and, lifting up his sword, struck out at the High Priest’s servant.  It was a badly landed blow to the head; instead of killing the man, Peter merely sliced off his ear.

This narrative detail is important.  Simon Peter is named as the assailant; his victim is named along with his job and the person he worked for.  It was a true account of one man’s plan to save the Saviour.  How foolish.  Even as Jesus was being arrested, He rebuked His disciple who had proved to be a clumsy swordsman – not for being incompetent with his weapon but for misunderstanding Jesus’ mission and fighting against Him.  Peter was out of order: once again, he was fighting against God and not for Him (Matthew 16:23).  
 
This was not in Jesus’ plan at all.  Perhaps Peter thought Jesus would be grateful to him for this physical support.  No. The Saviour was not going to resist arrest because that would be to resist God’s will (Hebrews 10:1-10).  The cross was not to be avoided but embraced.  Jesus needed no army to protect Him, so He touched the man’s ear and healed him (Luke 22:51).
 
Believers need to know that when God is working out His purposes, they must not resist His will.  They need to be able to discern when to accept God’s way and stop fighting against it.  Peter had previously boasted that he would protect Jesus, and, although Jesus rebuked him (Mark 14:29-31), he had not repented.  When our passion to serve the Lord gets bigger than our obedience, everybody will have a problem.  This is a good time to examine yourself to see if your spiritual passion flows from obedience (working with God) or from self-assertion (fighting against Him).  Today’s prayer may be helpful.