An ol
der man had serious hearing problems for many years. He went to a doctor and was fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed him to hear 100%. The old man went back in a month to the doctor and was told, “Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.” The man replied, “Oh, I haven’t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to their conversations. So far I’ve changed my will three times!”
The ears are fascinating parts of the human body. Sadly, most days we take both of them for granted. Did you know that the inner ear contains the hardest bone in the human body or that your eardrum moves less than a billionth of an inch when hearing? Did you realize that the ear also gives you a sense of balance and that a new ear canal is grown every year? Did you know that the entire inner ear is no larger than an M&M and that the three bones in your ear are the smallest bones in the body? And by the way, the smallest muscle in your body is also inside your ear.
God’s Word makes frequent mention of ears. For instance, it tells us who made them: “Ears that hear and eyes that see—the Lord has made them both” (Proverbs 20:12). It tells us that ears are a blessing: “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear” (Matthew 13:16). It mentions that ears can be decorated with jewelry: “Aaron answered them, ‘Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me’” (Exodus 32:2). It also tells us about animal ears: “Like one who seizes a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own” (Proverbs 26:17). Timothy tells us that itching ears are not a good thing: “The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3).
There is one man in Scripture who is known for his ears, or to be more exact, for his right ear. His name was Malchus. Malchus was the servant of the high priest who joined Judas and the soldiers in the arrest of Jesus. “Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)” (John 18:10). Luke, the physician, was more concerned about the healing than the cutting: “Jesus answered, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched the man’s ear and healed him” (Luke 22:51).
Perhaps this miracle might be considered minor when compared to raising the dead or feeding 5,000 people. (No doubt to Malchus, it probably ranked pretty high.) Why did Jesus take the time to heal this man’s ear? Wasn’t he busy enough? Shortly before this, Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room. Now in Gethsemane, Jesus had just finished praying to his Father with words that were so passionate that they caused him great grief. In his wisdom, Jesus knew that he had but a few hours to live. Yet it was his perfect love that caused him to show mercy to Malchus and heal him of his injury.
Maybe there was more to the healing than we see on the surface. Maybe it wasn’t so much Malchus’ ear that Jesus cared about. Perhaps it was Malchus’ hearing that concerned Jesus. Jesus stressed time and again, “He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15). By restoring the hearing of Malchus, Jesus gave him the opportunity to once again listen to the voice of his Savior. Jesus once said, “Whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life” (John 5:24). Perhaps Jesus wanted Malchus to have one more opportunity.
Our ears have been given to us for more than just hearing sounds around us. They are gifts from God that help us learn of his redeeming love.
“Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
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