The Narrow Path Ministries

My pastor and I debate theology now and then (in a friendly way) and he asked me about my take on this passage:

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.”

I had read these verses many times, and they always troubled me in the back of my mind, but i never really tried to resolve them.

I concluded that Jesus was using figurative language. I.e., he was telling the disciples that the good ol' days are over, when people would accept their message and provide for their needs, etc and soon they would have a lot of hardships and trials. In regard to the sword, I dont think that Jesus was literally telling them to get swords. I think this is indicated by his statement "it is enough." I paraphrase this statement, which is a tad enigmatic, as two possible ways 1) "what are you talking about swords for? stop it! I wasnt being literal." or 2) "Two swords, or 100 swords, it wont make a difference. That is not how I will establish my kingdom."

I wanted to hear Steve G's take on this, but to my dismay, in his 95 tape series on the life and teachings of Christ it does not appear that he covered this passage (at least not per the tape content descriptions).

What do you all think of this somewhat problematic passage?

TK

Steve does mention this passage in his talk on war over in the digital ministries website.

TK,
Steve mentions it in his Isaiah lecture at http://www.thenarrowpath.com/mp3s/bible ... Isaiah.mp3

If you go directly to time set 13:44 you will hear that Steve really does not know.

I have always believed it to be talking about Peter and his use of the sword, and it may be that way and others believe it is about using the message of the Gospel as the sword of the Spirit. Not sure I can take that view. But it could be that since Christ was numbered among the transgressors (even though He had no transgression) then this is a play on words illustrating the times they were about to enter where violence was the reward for goodness and righteousness.

I'll give my take on this perplexing passage. I believe Jesus was using figurative language, as he often did, and the disciples, like they always did, misunderstood him as being literal. Peter drew his sword that very night and Jesus rebuked him for it so he wasn't advocating self-denfense, as Hank Hanegraaff claims.

I think Jesus was saying, "Times are getting harder and soon you'll be on your own because I must be taken out of the world, like the scriptures predict." I simply think Jesus was preparing them, one final time, before his arrest and execution. The serious tone and choice of words reflected the gravity of the situation and they weren't quite prepared for what was coming... as evidenced by their fleeing at his arrest.

His statement, "It is enough" can be taken two ways... as Tk mentioned. The real delima with this passage is Jesus telling them to buy a sword. The sword probably doesn't refer to the gospel because you don't buy the gospel by selling your garment. There's really no spiritual parallel. Perhaps it's just a way of saying, "Prepare for spiritual battle because when I'm taken out, they're really going to come after you."