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Jesus (Did He Mean It? ‘Sword’)

Luke 22:35-38
And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.”
Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.
“For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”
So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.”
And He said to them, “It is enough.”

Well, as I am dealing with the Life and Words of Jesus the time has come for me to deal with one of the most controversial statements of Jesus and the implication of them in our world today. We will look at the issue of:

Does Jesus favor physical violence or war or killing?

When one studies the life of Jesus and reads His Words there is no way to avoid this subject. The above statement is often used to justify using the ‘sword’ or to justify war or killing.

Remember again my columns at present are dealing only with the Words of Jesus even though they must be understood in the light of the Old Testament and the entire New Testament.

The best way to understand the Word and Life of Jesus is to let Jesus interpret Himself! Wow, ha, whoever thought of this?

I was born and raised in the U.S.A. I did not leave the U.S. until I was thirty except for a brief trip just across the Mexican and Canadian borders. I went to church and college and seminary in the U.S. I know the pressure of culture AND religion. I know the mixing of the two and how the one seeks to justify the other. I grew up in the time of racial segregation in the South and attended church and college at the time the Bible was used to enforce the social concept of racial segregation with the inferiority of black people. I grew up on a cotton plantation in the Mississippi-Louisiana delta. I know what I am talking about.

I could go on and on with such but present day beliefs is not my subject but Jesus is. What I am first trying to do is to help people reading this column to try to step out of American culture or whatever culture you live in and consider without prejudice the simple and pure Words of Jesus in the context it was written in. Let’s let Jesus speak.

Let us look at the context of what Jesus said.

Jesus makes it clear, very clear what He is talking about.

And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.”

The disciples knew exactly what Jesus was speaking about. Jesus’ time of training His followers was coming to an end. The cross and Calvary was just before Him, the tomb and the resurrection and His ascension into heaven would soon come to pass.

Life was to change for them. Jesus would leave in the form of His Body but He would send the Holy Spirit. Their lives were about to totally change from following Jesus in Person from town to town and they would now be going out to all the known world. They would be leaving the Jewish culture in which they had been raised and felt comfortable. The world would become their home. Jesus had told them the Temple would be destroyed (this happened in 70 AD) they were to go to all the world preaching the gospel.

Almost everything they knew was about to change. No longer the Sabbath and the Temple, no longer blood sacrifice on the altar (Jesus would be the sacrifice and the Blood Atonement.)

Twice Jesus sent out His disciples and He gave them instructions before the Cross and the ‘great commission’.

Matthew 10:5-15 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying ,’The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.
Freely you have received, freely give.
Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

Luke 10:1-12 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them,’The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.

There are several things to note in these two commissioning.

They were to go as ‘lambs’ among ‘wolves’ harmless and without protection except for the Presence of the Lord God.
Here is what they were to do:
And as you go, preach, saying ,’The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.

Freely you have received, freely give.
This is what they were ‘NOT’ to take:
Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals;

They were to go only to the places where Jesus was going and only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
They were ‘NOT’ to go: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.

These trips were limited in time and destination.

Now with the changing times and mission things would be different.
Jesus was now sending them to the World and to the Samaritans and the Gentiles!
These early followers of Jesus knew the land of Israel well. They had friends along the roads to Jerusalem. They knew the places to sleep and the rest stops along the way. They knew the places to get water and shelter.

Now things would be different.
They would be strangers in foreign lands with no support and with people hostile to their mission of preaching Jesus.
Jesus was now giving ‘NEW’ travel instructions to His followers.
And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.”

Then He said to them,
“But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. “For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”

So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.”
And He said to them, “It is enough.”
Now they would need some money, a supply of food and a knife.
Let’s look at the meaning of the Words Jesus spoke.

Sword:
1. machaira ^3162^, “a short sword or dagger” (distinct from No. 2), e. g., and parallel passages; , possibly “a knife” (Field, Notes on the Translation of the NT);
(from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)
BAGS: Bags made of leather or woven materials were in common use in Bible lands to hold money– lumps of gold or silver in most ancient times and, after the Persian period, minted coins. Water or wine bags were manufactured from skins of animals. The shepherd’s bag contained a heterogeneous assortment ranging from sling stones to food <1 Sam. 17:40>. In Jesus referred to the common wallet for traveling (cf. <10:4>; <22:35-36>). (m.f.u.) (from New Unger’s Bible Dictionary)

BAG
2. ballantion ^905^, from ballo, “to cast,” “a money-box or purse,” is found in Luke’s gospel, four times, <10:4; 12:33> (KJV, “bag”); <22:35-36>. See PURSE.#
Note: Zone, “a girdle or belt,” also served as “a purse for money,” . See GIRDLE.
(from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)

WALLET
pera ^4082^, “a traveler’s leather bag or pouch for holding provisions,” is translated “wallet” in the RV (KJV, “scrip”), .# Deissmann (Light from the
(from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)
Copyright (C) 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

It is easy to see the need of the money bag for expenses and the traveler’s bag for supplies. The question comes about the need of a sword. The meaning of the word in Greek is for a short sword or dagger or knife. Why a sword or dagger or knife? Just look at the context. I have now carried a cross in every nation of the world. I’ve walked across Africa and from North America to South America etc. On every trip I carry a knife. It is part of my supplies. It is needed for survival.
I have different knives for different trips. Several times I have carried a machete to cut through the jungle vines and bush. This is a long knife almost like a sword. Not to fight people but to make it through the jungle. The knife or sword or dagger could also be used to cut meat or slaughter an animal in that day. There was the need for firewood and construction of shelter.

When you see the context you see Jesus was telling them now that they would need supplies for their journeys. Before there was no need, now it was needed. Later in Acts and the other Books of the New Testament you see the need for offerings for the needs and supplies of the believers. This type of need is still for those going out on the mission fields of the world.
Remember too that Jesus sent them out as lambs not lions. Not to kill and war but to love and witness.
Jesus set the example:
Luke 9:52-56
and sent messengers before His face. And as they went,
they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him,
because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.
And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
But He turned and rebuked them, and said,
“You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.
“For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.
“And they went to another village.

Jesus made it clear that He had come to save not to kill.
In the Old Testament killing was common even in the Name of God and for the missions of God. However Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law. Now Jesus made it clear His mission and ours was not to destroy men’s lives but to save them.

The violence of the people under the old law was now fulfilled in Jesus and now there was the law of love. The Life and Words of Jesus was the beginning of a new day.

Pilgrim followers of Jesus,

Arthur and Denise Blessitt

Luke 18:1