The ear of Malchus

This article by Christos Yannaras offers a theological meditation based on a specific Gospel episode: Peter's gesture of cutting off Malchus's ear during the arrest of Jesus at Gethsemane. The approach is one of spiritual and ecclesiological reflection, structured around a recurring image that runs throughout the text. The central idea is that Peter's gesture — attempting to save Christ by human means — illustrates a fundamental misunderstanding of the Paschal mystery: death as the condition of resurrection. Yannaras extends this figure to the history of the Church and to personal life, denouncing every form of apologetics, legalism, or ecclesial activism that would claim to bypass the logic of the Cross. The theological contribution lies in a rereading of ecclesial weakness as the locus of divine power, drawing on Isaac the Syrian and Photius.