Dear Friends,

He said to them, “When I sent you out without a purse, bag, or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “No, not a thing” He said to them, “But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you, this scripture must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was counted among the lawless’; and indeed what is written about me is being fulfilled.” They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” He replied, “That’s enough”(Luke 22:35-38).

It is Passover Week. Tensions are running high. Jesus knows that things aren’t going to end well. He is going to be executed as a criminal and his disciples are going to face hatred and persecution. He wants them to be prepared.

They take him quite literally and pull out the hardware. “Lord, look, here are two swords” (Luke 22:38a). Obviously, some of them have been carrying the weaponry hoping that Jesus would finally take on the Romans.

A mature adult needs to step into situations when enthusiasm outruns good sense and say, “That’s enough.” Parents, teachers, youth leaders and bosses know this. This is one of those times. Jesus responds to the disciples’ bravado with a terse, ironic rebuke. “That’s enough.”

Jesus didn’t come for a fight. He came to take the worst beating and shame the world could dish out to prove that nothing humans or Satan can devise will defeat the power of the Father’s love to bring the dead to life.

It’s exchanges like this that authenticate Scripture for me. We humans are so prone to put our faith in technology and weaponry. It is an aspect of our “Tower of Babel” complex — looking  to bigger, higher, stronger, shinier, harder,  sharper and better — so the bad stuff doesn’t happen anymore. But it happens anyway and maybe is worse because of our efforts. Think Hiroshima and Nagasaki or why we are so concerned that Iran may obtain nuclear bombs.

We fight to settle things, but end up settling for so little. Jesus takes the long view, and the long view is never realized by shiny, sharp things whether a sword, needle, scalpel, laser or a missile. The best those things can do is postpone the inevitable, and often make it more painful and inhuman.

I work with an institution that has world-class capabilities for dealing with cancer and heart disease. But every patient cured will eventually die. Sometimes the pain and effects of the treatment far exceed the symptoms. That’s when someone with good judgment, frequently the patient, says, “It is enough. Stop now.”

This very night, the limitations of the sword were revealed. “When those who were around him saw what was coming, they asked, ‘Lord, should we strike with the sword?’Then one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him” (Luke 22:49-51).

We are rebels to the core and the instinct of a rebel under threat is to attack and cause hurt in defense of our position. We can be with Jesus every day and watch him love the people we hate like Samaritans, tax collectors and publicans, Then comes a sudden threat and in the heat of the moment we lash out with whatever weapon we have at hand.

The fact that we are defending Jesus does not justify the wounds we inflict. Protecting the God of love with violent words or actions is more than an oxymoron. It is disobedience to God’s express will. As the Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, observes, “Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (Js 1:19-20).

Jesus proposes no gradual program of disarmament. “No more of this!” is his command to his zealous defenders. Matthew, who is present at the incident, hears Jesus’ rebuke of our sharp, shiny solutions: “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matt 26:52).

The intention of Jesus’ heart is revealed by this: where we attack and slash, he heals. He commands us to give up the weapons that we wield on his behalf. Instead, we are asked to be thinkers rather than reactionaries and to trust God’s grace to have his way with us and with his enemies. This was the thought in the Apostle Paul’s benediction to the beleaguered Roman believers — “I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” (Rom 16:19-20).

“That’s enough . . . No more of this!” Let them hear who have ears to hear.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are those who find refuge in him” (Ps 34:8).

Under the mercy of Christ,

Kent

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The Lord is the strength of his people;