Marcas internacionales

47 _{While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd came, and the one called Judas, one of}

the twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him;48_{but Jesus said to him,}

‘Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?’49When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, ‘Lord, should we strike with the

sword?’50_{Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right}

ear.51But Jesus said, ‘No more of this!’ And he touched his ear and healed him.52Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit?53_{When I}

was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!’

Context

The last act in Jesus’ healing ministry takes place during his arrest. After the Passover meal, Jesus came with his disciples to the Mount of Olives where he prayed in his intense struggle, and repeatedly urged his disciples to pray before the arrest (22:40-46). Though all four Gospels refer to the cutting of the ear of the chief priest’s slave, Jesus’ healing act is found only in Luke.165 This healing gesture most clearly demonstrates Jesus’ virtuous character as a healer and a teacher as he faces his own death.

Details of the Healing Account

The healing takes place in the midst of violence and chaos. Judas, his trusted friend betrays him, bringing a band of armed men to the scene, and comes forward to kiss him. The chief priests, the temple police and elders come in the night to seize him by force. His disciples defend him with the sword and slash at the chief priest’s slave. Jesus’ calmness reveals his inner victory, in the face of the leadership’s loss of dignity and

Judas’ betrayal.166 Jesus yields to the temporal power, but his own power is most clearly seen in the ability to restrain himself, and his disciples, from violent resistance.167 _Most

poignant is his healing of the high priest’s servant who is clearly an aggressor among his opponents. In this last healing act,168 _{Jesus who has taught his followers to “love your}

enemies, do good to those who hate you” (6:27) is showing a concrete example of this non-discriminatory love in action. Jesus’ example highlights the self-sacrificing aspect of the virtue of mercy that Jesus exemplifies. Even in the hour of darkness, Jesus is kind to the wicked and shows mercy to the undeserving, the qualities he has attributed to God in the Sermon on the Plain (6:35-36). This gracious act resonates with Jesus’ prayer from the cross on behalf of those who persecute him, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (23:34).169 As Johnson puts it, the healing of the servant not only demonstrates that Jesus remains a healer to the end, but also “shows Jesus

exemplifying the attitudes of forgiveness and compassion toward those ‘who hate him’ that he had enjoined on his followers.”170 _{It is also symbolic of the way God in Jesus}

deals with human violence, for through Jesus’ passion and death forgiveness will come.171

166 _{Johnson, Luke, 355.}

167 _{Byrne, The Hospitality of God, 176.}

168 _{Fitzmyer notes that Jesus performs no miracle in Jerusalem or its Temple, and this last healing miracle}

takes place on the Mount of Olives. Luke X-XXIV, 1449.

169 _{Though this verse is absent from some significant manuscripts, it is found in other important biblical}

sources. For a discussion on the textual variations, see Shelly Matthews, “Clemency as Cruelty: Forgiveness and Force in the Dying Prayers of Jesus and Stephen” in Biblical Interpretation 17 (2009), 118-146.

170 _{Johnson, Luke, 353.}

171 _{Fitzmyer, Luke X-XXIV, 1449. Cf. 24:46-48. In line with this, Frederick J. Gaiser holds that Jesus’}

passion and death is the final and ultimate healing act. Gaiser, Healing in the Bible : Theological Insight

Relevance for Medical Ethics

If the basic motivating force behind Jesus’ healings is mercy, then Luke shows us that his mercy has no bounds. Luke has shown us that Jesus’ gift of healing extends beyond ethnic and social boundaries, bringing new life not only to Israelites, but also to non-Jews (8:26-39; 17:12-19), and even member of a centurion’s household (7:1-10). With the healing on the Mount of Olives, Luke demonstrates that Jesus’ merciful love extends even to his adversaries who are actively seizing him by force. This healing account further highlights the non-discriminatory nature of a Christian medial ethics centered on the imitation of Christ. If we take Drane’s virtue of benevolence as the hinge of the medical virtues – or the fundamental attitude of the physician toward the patient – then this benevolence must transcend all socio-political boundaries, and all forms of

discrimination if it is to be modeled on Luke’s depiction of Jesus the healer.172

2.5.5. Healing in Jesus’ Name: Cure of a Crippled Man at the Beautiful Gate – Acts