Did Jesus Order His Disciples To
Be Armed?
Luke
22:35-36 (NIV): Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you
without
purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?" "Nothing," they
answered. 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. 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." The
disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords." "That is enough," he
replied.
So, what
was Christ's purpose in telling his disciples to be armed?
Some have said he gave this command so he could tell them later that
they should not use them. However this makes no sense because
Peter and the others were already armed. Furthermore, Jesus
would
have known - having traveled with them for years - what kind of weapons
they carried. If Jesus did not want them to carry weapons,
why
didn't He address the issue in the three years they were
together? Every other explanation I have seen falls
just as
flat.
So, I took a careful look at
this passage - and this is what I found.
Point
One: Christ's reference to their prior missionary journeys indicates
that the need to be armed is directly related to their future
missionary journeys.
Effectively,
Jesus said, "Your last journey was easy (See Luke 10:1ff) - but, in the
future you will need to be prepared. You will not have the
support of most people."
Why
would Jesus include a sword in the same category as money and camping
gear? The answer is simple: Traveling the roads back then was
a
very risky endeavor. Robbers and bandits were very common
(Paul
mentions this in 2 Cor 11:26) and it was common for travelers to carry
arms to protect themselves. After all, 911 wasn't available
for
about 1950 years! Travelers were on their own.
In
short, the most logical reason - the one the fits the context best - is
that the disciples needed to be able to defend themselves.
Point Two: The original Greek
word (machaira) means any edged weapon or tool of any length.
While
the context of most NT passages containing this word indicate that an
edged weapon is in view, in many cases we cannot, in most cases, know
how long the blade was. Looking at other Greek documents is
very
instructive.
"Homer
mentions the makhaira, but as a domestic knife of no great
size. In period texts, μάχαιρα has a variety of
meanings, and can refer
to virtually any knife or sword
(taking the meaning of today's Greek μαχαίρι), even a surgeon's
scalpel......."
As
is the case today, a knife of - say four to five inches - would be
suitable for defense, but also would be absolutely necessary for
everyday use while the disciples traveled. It would likely be
used for everything from cleaning fish to cutting cordage to cutting
and eating food. It is certain that each disciple would have
carried some kind of knife for daily use.
Point Three: The best
interpretation of the disciples response is that each disciple
possessed both a short and a long blade.
Let's
examine the disciples response in Luke 22:38: 'The disciples said,
"See, Lord, here are two swords." "That is enough," he (Jesus) replied.'
So what are the possible
interpretations of this verse?
1) Between the eleven
disciples then present, there were only two blades of any kind.
2) Between the eleven
disciples then present, there were only two blades long enough to be
useful for defense.
3)
Each of the eleven disciples then present had two blades - one for
every day use (a short, likely single edged knife) and a longer blade
that would today be considered a long knife or a short sword.
We can rule
out the first possibility as being impossible, because, as we have previously
mentioned, at a minimum each disciple would need to have some kind of
blade while traveling.
Moving on
to the second possibility, this also does not fit. On
their first journey, Jesus sent them out in groups of two.
Both
tradition and the New Testament (especially the Book of Acts) indicate
that the disciples also traveled in groups of two to three.
It
therefore makes no sense for Jesus to approve of only two edged
weapons, as this number would have many of the disciples defenseless.
The
most logical interpretation is that when Jesus gave his command, the
disciples each simply opened their garments and displayed both their
every day blade and a longer blade - such as a long knife or a short
sword.
At the same time, they
would have said, "See, I already have two blades." Seeing
this,
Jesus said that this was enough.
Conclusion: Jesus did tell his
disciples to arm themselves in order to be able to defend themselves on
the road in coming years.
Further support:
Then
Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s
servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)
Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup
the Father has given me?” John 18:10-11
Here
Peter rashly comes to the defense of Jesus. Rather than telling
Peter that such action is always wrong, Jesus tells Peter that he
should not interfere because He must endure what is coming.
Critically, had Jesus intended that His disciples not be armed for self
defense, there would be not better time for Him to have told Peter (and
the other disciples) to get rid of their swords. He didn't do this.
Please
note that this analysis is limited to this passage. The Bible
has
a great deal to say about how and when it is necessary and morally
justified to use force, including deadly force.
There are many good articles on the net that address this
subject. I urge you to carefully read some of them.
That
said, there is no doubt in my mind that Jesus commanded his disciples
to be armed.
What does
this mean for Christians today?
First, it
establishes that Christians may carry and use arms defensively - at
least in some circumstances.
Second, the
weapons Jesus spoke of were particularly suited for personal defense
rather than offense.
Jesus certainly was not advocating that the Christian faith be spread
at the point of a sword - if this was his goal, spears and bows would
have been needed. Additionally, when persecuted for their
faith
by governmental authorities, the Biblical record and history make it
clear that Christians did not resist - just as Jesus did not resist.
Third,
Christians need to be careful about advocating the disarmament of the
public.
While Christians can certainly disagree concerning gun laws, calls for
total bans on the ownership and even the lawful carrying of firearms
clearly violate the principle found here.