This is my third of what will be four posts on men’s ministry and guns.1 In response to my previous two posts, a number of readers cited Luke 22:35-38 as proof that Jesus commanded his followers to take up arms, and, therefore, current day believers should do so as well.
“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’s enough!’ he replied.”
Based on this text, a number of contemporary Christians have exhorted their fellow believers to take up arms. For example, Jerry Falwell, Jr. made the following statement in a chapel service at Liberty University in 2015:
“I’ve always thought that if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walked in… I just wanted to take this opportunity to encourage all of you to get your permit. We offer a free course. Let’s teach them a lesson if they ever show up here.”,2
There is something terribly wrong about the tone of this kind of “Christian” speech, and I will discuss this in my fourth and last post on this topic on Wednesday. But today I want to point out the fallacy of basing a need for Christians to carry arms on Luke 22:35-38.
In this text, Jesus describes a period of time when he is being “numbered with the transgressors,” a period that will culminate in just a few hours with his crucifixion. Among those “transgressors” is Peter himself, as the passage immediately preceding this one makes clear:
“[Peter] replied, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.'” Luke 22:33-34
These hours in human history are the most evil and repugnant that have ever been or ever will be. Jesus, the perfect Son of God, has been rejected by his own people and by the world. And he will soon be betrayed, abandoned and denied by his own disciples. It is in these circumstances that Jesus tells his disciples to arm themselves with swords. The disciples are transgressors like everyone else and swords are for transgressors to use among themselves.
But the picture is about to rapidly change in a dramatic fashion. Since the physical kingdom Jesus was sent to bring to earth is being rejected, he radically transforms both the nature of his kingdom and the way it will be expressed on earth; that is, it is no longer a physical kingdom on earth, but a spiritual kingdom in heaven and it will be manifested on earth, not through force, but through faith; not through violence, but through submission to that violence.
Later that night, Jesus describes this radical change in his kingdom to Pilate.
“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.'”
This changed nature of the kingdom, indicated by Jesus with the phrase “but now,” is why we have no examples of any Christians fighting or or using any force to resist persecution in the rest of the New Testament. If Luke 22:35-38 is meant for believers today, then we have a major problem reconciling the use of force by contemporary believers with the absence of that force that we see in the early church.
Even Peter himself – who once used deadly force (John 18:10-11) – later rejected its use, as we see in these passages from his first epistle:
“This is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.” (1 Peter 2:19)
“Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless.” (3:9)
“If you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.” (3:14)
“It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. (3:17)
“Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (4:13)
“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed.” (4:14)
“If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. (4:16)
“Let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (4:19)
The kingdom of heaven is based on something – or rather, Someone – far more powerful than a sword or gun. But it comes with a price for believers, Peter says.
And the question is, are we willing to pay that price?
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
For the past sixteen years New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North American and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt their widowed and single parents in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called New Commandment Men’s Ministry
Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church here.
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and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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- “Put Your Gun Back in its Holster: Men’s Ministry and Guns,” “Should Churches Arm their Members with Guns to Protect Themselves?”
- “Jerry Falwell Jr.: ‘If more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those’ Islamist terrorists.” The Washington Post, December 5, 2015
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