Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-june-30-2023
Luke 22:35-38
35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Nothing,” they answered.
36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”
38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”
“That’s enough!” he replied.
This reading from Luke’s gospel is his account of the very last words of Jesus’ conversation with his disciples at the Last Supper. It seems odd to read Jesus telling the disciples to arm themselves, especially since on that same night, he would tell them, “All who draw the sword will die by the sword.” In fact, I suspect that what Jesus says here seems so strange that lots of people just shrug and keep reading. But like every report of what Jesus did and said, this one merits some serious thought. So let’s give it some today.
Here at the end of his time with his disciples, Jesus tells them to ‘sell their cloak and buy a sword.’ At various times in Christian history, people have interpreted this command by Jesus as a blessing on the idea of holy war, or as an invitation for Christians to revolt against the governing authorities. But most Bible scholars don’t think either of those things is what Jesus had in mind. After all, just a little later on the same night, he restrained his followers from using arms to prevent his arrest.
The scholars say that what Jesus seems to have had in mind is that the apostles should prepare to defend themselves against criminal lawlessness as they travel around in ministry. You might notice that he also tells them to take along a purse and bag, which on earlier occasions he had told them not to do. So Jesus’ instructions about getting a sword seem to come in the context of equipping his followers with the things they will need as they go into the world in mission.
Earlier in his ministry, Jesus had been sending out his disciples two-by-two on “short-term mission trips.” Those trips had been to prepare the way in towns where he himself would soon follow. But our passage for today takes place on the last night of Jesus’ earthly ministry. On that night, he was preparing the disciples to do ministry on their own. They were being sent out into a dangerous world, and Jesus knew they would need to be able to protect themselves.
But that didn’t mean they needed to be armed to the teeth. Jesus said that two swords were enough for the group’s purposes.
What Jesus says here seems to contradict his commandment to “turn the other cheek.” But it seems to me that when he gave that commandment in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus wasn’t advising his followers to allow themselves to be victimized by any random criminal who wanted to harm them. It seems to me that he meant that his followers should be willing to put up with the insults and offenses that are a part of life with other people. It’s been pointed out that to be ‘struck on the right cheek,’ as Jesus puts it in that passage in Matthew, meant that a right-handed person would have to strike you back-handed. In the ancient Near East, that kind of back-handed blow was intended as an insult, not to cause injury. So it seems to me that in this passage, Jesus was telling the apostles to arm themselves for protection against violent criminals.
The Bible is sometimes referred to as “God’s instruction book.” That’s true. But it’s also true that the instructions we find in it – like the ones in today’s reading – sometimes take some careful thought and reflection.
I’m not sure I would feel confident in trying to explain when followers of Jesus are authorized to take up arms in the defense of the faith. But I suspect Jesus would say the goal would always be to prevent violence against people of faith, and not to take vengeance after the fact. That, of course, is where things get tricky, because killing some people we think of as enemies is sometimes justified as ‘pre-emptively’ preventing attacks on us.
Back in the fourth century, St. Augustine set forth his “doctrine of just war,” which set forth principles for deciding when taking up arms is justified. I would recommend that every follower of Jesus take a few minutes to Google ‘just war doctrine’ and read about it. Because as citizens of a democracy – which just happens to have the largest military budget in the world – we share in responsibility for deciding ‘how many swords are enough,’ and under what circumstances they should be drawn.
Let’s pray. Lord, you know we live in a dangerous world, and that our enemies do violence against your Son’s followers every day. Give us the wisdom to know how you want us to defend ourselves, and guard us against crying out for force to be used to take vengeance, or to advance our own selfish interests. Amen.
Have a great weekend, and worship joyfully on Sunday!
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 59 and 60; I Samuel 9:1-14; and Acts 7:17-29. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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