Luke 22:51

51 Jesus said, "Let them be. Even in this." Then, touching the servant's ear, he healed him.

Luke 22:51 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 22:51

And Jesus answered and said
Not to the question of the disciples, but either to Peter, who had done this rash action; and so the Persic and Ethiopic versions add, "to him"; or else to the multitude, suffer ye thus far;
or to them both, to Peter to stop his hand, to proceed no further, but put up his sword; and so the Arabic version reads, "refrain thyself"; and to the multitude to be easy, and not revenge the affront that was given them: and in order to pacify them, "he went to the wounded man", as the Persic version inserts, and he touched his ear and healed him;
which shows, that though the human nature of Christ was in a very low condition, yet he still retained the power of doing miracles; and also his great humanity, by which example be confirmed his precept of doing good to enemies; and likewise hereby gave full proof of his willingness to be apprehended by them; for otherwise, he that wrought such a miracle as this, could easily have delivered himself out of their hands; and one would have thought this would have put a stop to them, and have convinced them of the truth of his being a divine person, and the Messiah.

Luke 22:51 In-Context

49 When those with him saw what was happening, they said, "Master, shall we fight?"
50 One of them took a swing at the Chief Priest's servant and cut off his right ear.
51 Jesus said, "Let them be. Even in this." Then, touching the servant's ear, he healed him.
52 Jesus spoke to those who had come - high priests, Temple police, religion leaders: "What is this, jumping me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal?
53 Day after day I've been with you in the Temple and you've not so much as lifted a hand against me. But do it your way - it's a dark night, a dark hour."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.