Dear ones in Christ,
You have asked for my story, and you shall hear it. I am Chanan. My name means Grace, but I never thought I had any or was given any. My father died in debt to the priest Annas, and the man had no pity. He took me away from my mother, though I was her only support, to pay for his debts. She could not support herself, because she had a crippling disease and we had no other relatives to care for her in her illness.
I lost my childhood to Annas. He put me in his personal guard early on because I was taller than the other boys. I was taught to spy, fight, and kill others without thinking about what I was doing. I was taught to do whatever he told us to do without complaint or conscience. I was soon put with the men on less dangerous missions; and worked my way to the top. By 30 A.D. or so, I was Malchus's right hand man.
And then He showed up; another false Messiah that we would have to get rid of, or so I thought at first. This one wasn't military like at all, which made me complain to Malchus about the lack of action when he suddenly cut me silent. "Idiot, He is worse! Haven't you heard about anything? He has power over demons, they say, and He works dark magic over the people. So much that they believe that He is a God." I was satisfied then, and stopped my chattering. But the worst was yet to come.
The summons to arrest Him came sooner than I expected, about two days later. We were to arrest Yeshua and give Him to Annas. Judas, one of His disciples, was to lead us. It always surprises me, even though I have seen it too many times, how often it is a "friend" who leads us to the one we want to get. Traitors are useful, but don't have any loyalty, so I brought my sword and hid it under my cloak. It would be helpful if he turned on us. My sword is rare, and of Damascus steel, not even the Roman swords are this good. It is sharp enough to slice silk, yet strong enough to break the swords of iron. I hid it because the rabble we hired would take it if they had a chance.
At Malchus's orders, I sent two of the thugs to be sentries in the Kidron Valley while we questioned the traitor in a roundabout way about his role in the sure to be upcoming battle. The sentries were a small price to pay if it turned out badly in the beginning. Judas Iscariot seemed very shocked that we expected to fight. "Only the twelve are with Him, and they do not have weapons. And as to whether or not this is a trap, only God can commend me as an honest man." This satisfied Malchus for the time being, but I watched him closer than ever. Any man who swears by the name of God can only be like the man I serve. We went over signs and countersigns again; we would surround them in the night, and then wait until the traitor greeted his master. Only when the lanterns were covered did I realize the blackness of the night. It was thick, like cloth, and darker than I have ever seen before. Eyes closed and eyes open were the same thing. From here, we should have been able to see the lights of Jerusalem's nightlife. But there was nothing. It frightened me a little.
There were lights close by suddenly, and some dim shapes I knew to be men. The traitor walked up toward them and kissed one of them. Instantly all our pale lights came were uncovered and my their dim light I could see the outlines of the twelve's scared faces. One said, "Who are you looking for?" it was a calm, sad voice. "The Nazerite called Yeshua." Malchus answered, like a child caught steeling sweets before supper. "I am He." said the One. And instantly we were thrown backward by some supernatural force. A brilliant light shone, and we could see a being of light with flames surrounding it. The terror of it all made me black out for a minute. When I came to, the first thing I noticed was that my sword was gone. Before I could get my bearings, the voice spoke again. "Who do you want?" "Jesus", said a Greek man. "I am He" this time, nothing happened so we stood up and closed in on them. "Let my men go, they haven't done anything" We let them file out of the circle one by one. When suddenly a blade flashed and Malchus was on the ground, writhing in pain. Before we could react Yeshua himself stopped the fight and stood in between us. He took my sword from Peter and threw it on the ground, nobody picked it up. I could see Malchus better now, miraculously, only his ear was chopped off. The blood was spurting everywhere and he would probably bleed to death before we could get him anywhere. He stooped down, took the ear in His hand, and held it up to Malchus. Suddenly the bleeding stopped, and Malchus had two ears again. The rabble bound Him and took him away, but I stood there amaized. Malchus came to in a few minutes and I helped him go home. He would not believe what happened to him after Peter stuck him down, but he had to when I showed him the still wet blood trailing from his ear.
They crucified Him the next day, but I couldn't be there to see it. It was too painful. I was in despair until I met Peter again one day. He led me to the truth and now I am a church leader in Phillipa. You know all the rest.
May the Lords Grace and Peace be with you all.
Chanan