John 18:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Nor does he speak of the right ear without purpose. By this, it seems to me, he wished to show the Apostle’s fervor, since he rushed almost at the head itself.

But Jesus restrains Peter not only by threat. He also consoles the others with the following words: “Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” By this He shows that everything now taking place depends not on the power of the enemies, but on His good pleasure.

At the same time He reveals that He is not opposed to God, but obedient to the Father even unto death.

For if God and the Father has determined and willed that I drink this cup, that is, voluntarily undergo death as a deep sleep, in order to destroy death and corruption, should one shrink from it? Rather, through the drinking of it, one must believe that so many and such varied blessings come to the human race. This is the meaning clearly defined in the saying under consideration. There is also another meaning akin to it. Our Lord Jesus Christ wished to make His disciples most firm in faith and to forestall scandal at the precious Cross. Therefore He once said to them in private conversation: 'Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners, and they will crucify Him and kill Him, and on the third day He will rise' (Mt 16:21; Mt 17:23; Mt 20:18). But divine Peter, not understanding the good that would come from the sufferings, and looking only at the dishonor of suffering, said: 'Be merciful to Yourself, Lord; this shall not happen to You' (Mt 16:22). What then did Christ answer? 'Get behind Me, Satan; you are a stumbling block to Me, because you do not think the things of God, but the things of men' (Mt 16:23). Therefore the work and aim of one who wishes to think what is pleasing to God must be this: to set no value on worldly honors. He must count as nothing the loss of good repute among men, if through it benefit is brought to others. For love, it is said, does not seek its own (1 Cor 13:5). By contrast, to a man who turns and directs his gaze only toward human things and toward concern for his own good, not toward relief for his neighbor's distress, the loss of empty glory on earth appears unbearable. Thus there Peter, though Christ could not be scandalized, was called Christ's stumbling block. He had spoken from love, though a love not free from blame, considering only the suffering on the Cross and not the blessings from the suffering. For as far as it lay in him, he tried to avert what had been determined and resolved for the life of all. So here also, through zeal, the sword, and an exceedingly impetuous intention, he is shown to be doing the same thing. Yet he again receives a prohibition. He hears not only, 'Put your sword into its sheath,' but also, as another Evangelist reports, Christ's added word: 'For all who take the sword will perish by the sword' (Mt 26:52). Let us briefly repeat what we have already said. Since the Passion took place willingly, and was not caused by Jewish violence, what need could there be for defense? What need was there to turn aside by the sword the boldness of those who came against Him, or the impious plots of the Jews? The Father and God, He says, 'gave Him the cup,' that is, death. It was accomplished through the instrumentality of Jewish hatred of God. Yet it certainly would never have happened if He had not permitted it to happen for our sake. Therefore Christ said even to the boastful Pilate: 'You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above' (Jn 19:11). Through Pilate's authority, He says, the Son's voluntary impulse toward suffering was fulfilled, together with the consent from above, from the Father.

This last point, as the Evangelist notes, was necessary so that what Christ had said in the high-priestly prayer might be fulfilled, Jn 17:12. And indeed, for the disciples it was already a stumbling block that their Teacher fell into the hands of sinners. If their own arrest by the soldiers had been added to this, their faith would not have withstood the temptation.

What followed is related by all the Evangelists, with greater or lesser detail. The soldiers approach to take Jesus. The disciples intend to defend Him with weapons. One of them, Peter, as John reports, cuts off the ear of a servant of the high priest, Malchus in John.

But the Lord rebukes Peter’s unreasonable zeal. Luke says that He healed the ear by touching it after it had been cut off. Matthew and Mark add Christ’s speech to those who had come to take Him. In it He makes clear that neither their numbers, nor the swords and clubs with which they came to seize Him, could have accomplished this, if He had not voluntarily delivered Himself to them.

Mark alone tells of a young man who wished to follow Jesus, but fled when the soldiers tried to seize him. This young man, clothed only in a night covering, had plainly been disturbed from sleep and raised from bed by the noise of the crowd passing near his house toward the garden of Gethsemane.

Whether this was Mark himself or someone else, in any case we must suppose that he belonged, if not to those who believed in the Lord, then to those strongly moved toward faith in Him. Therefore it mattered greatly to him to know how this whole Gethsemane event would end.

“Do you really think they can take Me against My will? Or do you think that I cannot now entreat My Father, and He will send more than twelve legions of angels to defend Me? (Mt 26:53). And if all this is incomprehensible to you, then at least look at everything now taking place as the fulfillment of prophecies concerning Me.”

“By this He shows that everything now taking place depends not on the power of the enemies, but on His good pleasure. At the same time He reveals that He is not opposed to God, but obedient to the Father even unto death,” says Chrysostom.

Second, the Gospel of Christ is the Gospel of peace and salvation, not of death and murder. Therefore the weapons of its preachers are only spiritual, the word of grace (2 Cor 10:4, 6; 1 Cor 5:4-5).

Third, Peter’s act opposed the orders of lawful authority and gave Christ’s enemies occasion to accuse Christ Himself of rebellion against the authorities.

“The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” After the will of the heavenly Father concerning the cup has been known, this cup, however bitter, must be drunk as a sweet cup, because it is a cup blessed by the Father.

The sorrows of life are bitter. Yet the Father sends them to us, not an angry ruler, and He sends them out of love for us. “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21), said Job, when he had lost everything.

The same word, cup, used in verse 11 of the present chapter, clearly indicates that the Evangelist John, recording the words spoken by the Lord, remembers the other Gospels. He is certain that Christians know of the sorrowful prayer described by the preceding Evangelists.

We insistently point to the undeniable signs that the Gospel of John was written as a supplement and completion of the knowledge communicated by the Synoptic Gospels.

“The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” says the God-man, as man surrendering His will to the divine will.