‘And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear.'
But things did not go quite so smoothly as they had hoped, for one of Jesus' disciples drew a sword, probably with the intention of getting Jesus momentarily released. (He hardly expected to defeat the whole crowd). He probably had the wild hope that they could then smuggle Jesus away in the dark, while he and one or two others (at least one other had a sword - Luke 22:38) held the crowd back. It was typical of the impetuosity of Peter, so that we are not surprised elsewhere to be told that it was him (John 18:10). It is a reminder that he was actually ready to die for Jesus on the impulse. Where he failed was when the circumstances had altered. Not all warriors have the nerve of good spies.
‘And drew his sword.' We are reminded of the man whom Joshua met who had a drawn sword in his hand (Joshua 5:13). That too had been in anticipation of the establishment of God's Kingly Rule. Thus when Jesus tells His disciple to put up his sword He is stressing that this time the Kingly Rule of Heaven is not to come in by physical means. It is a Kingly Rule of a different kind. On the other hand we must nor forget that one day He Himself will come with a sword, the sword of His powerful word of judgment (Revelation 19:15; Revelation 19:21).
‘And smote the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear.' How skilled a swordsman Peter was we cannot be certain, although it is doubtful if he would carry a sword unless he felt that he could use it. But the night was dark, and the target may well not have stood still. Thus the actual, cutting off of the ear was probably accidental (fortunately for the High Priest's slave). We note that Matthew is only interested in the fact, for he does not mention the healing. He probably therefore has in mind that the Chief Priests were deaf to the words of Jesus, so that this was poetic justice, or he may even have had the thought that thereby the High Priest was defiled by proxy (mutilation would have rendered him incapable of continuing to act. Perhaps there is also a hint of the fact that in the not too distant future the High Priesthood will cease.
Some have questioned this on the grounds that if he had done this the disciple would also have been arrested, and in fact perhaps he would have been if Jesus had not instantly acted, although even that is doubtful. They wanted the bigger fish. On the other hand men in those days were used to violence, and a slave' ear meant little, while it was the arrest of Jesus that was important. Thus once Jesus had obliterated the evidence, those who had seen it probably shrugged it off, or even began to doubt whether they had actually seem it happen, for it was all over in a flash. And there was by then no evidence of a case to answer. (It would have done Jesus' case no harm at all if they had said, ‘this disciple cut this man's ear off, and Jesus healed it'. The problem was that they would have been laughed out of court).