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1.
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The swords were intended as a defence against wild beasts
which might be encountered in the course of the missionary travels of the
disciples. There is a double difficulty here. Firstly, there seems to be little
in the context to suggest that such an idea might be in the mind of Jesus.
Secondly, the immediate reason given for buying a sword is: "For . . . this that
is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the
transgressors'—a reason which has no possible connection with wild
beasts.
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2.
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A second view is based on an ingenious re-translation of the
passage: "Let him take his purse, and likewise his scrip (i.e. wallet for food,
or—just possibly—a collecting bag); and he that hath no sword (to
sell, that he might buy a wallet), let him sell his cloak and buy one (i.e. a
wallet)". But, again, all the difficulty of harmonizing with the context, as
already mentioned, still has to be met. How would the disciples be accounted
"transgressors" by such a policy? And there is also the further problem as to
why Jesus should specify precisely the selling of a sword. Why not, for example,
sell fishing gear or household furniture?
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3.
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Whereas each of the two suggestions mentioned hitherto
foundered on the unsuitability of the context, the next to be considered gains
all its strength from the context.
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It is suggested that Jesus wished his disciples to be equipped
with swords at that particular time only, precisely in order that in a few
hour's time (or less) when he was arrested in Gethsemane, they would be tempted
to use their weapons in his defence, and so the prophecy would have literal
fulfilment "He was numbered with the transgressors." It is further pointed out
that for this purpose two swords would be "enough". But there are big objections
to be urged. First, and sufficient in itself, is the moral difficulty: Would
Jesus deliberately lead his disciples into temptation in this way? Second, with
one exception (for which there was particular reason), Jesus did not go out of
his way to ensure the fulfilment of various odd fragments of Old Testament
prophecy. When prophecy was fulfilled in him, such fulfilment came about
"naturally", and not at all as a result of his own careful devising.
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4.
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Another possibility is to take this saying as spoken entirely
in an ironical vein, as who should say: 'You went out before on your preaching
mission with full faith and confidence in me who sent you. But now that faith is
at its lowest, your present inclination is to rely on yourselves; you would
rather depend on your own strength and resources. Well, go ahead and
try it. You will achieve -nothing except to gain a name as malefactors, and make
me a transgressor, by reputation, along with you.' The incipient effort to
defend Jesus from arrest, and later Peter's wrong-headed reliance on his own
ability to look after himself at the high-priest's palace, certainly chime in
well with this point of view, as also does the somewhat sardonic: "It is enough"
in reply to their "Lord, here are two swords." The fact that some of them were
already equipped for fighting showed that Jesus' assessment of their frame of
mind was an accurate one.
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5.
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There remains now the suggestion that almost the entire
passage is to be taken in a figurative sense, that Jesus was not intending to be
taken literally. Consider, first, the following examples in which "the sword" is
obviously a metaphor for the Word of God:
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a.
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"He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword"
(ls.49:2).
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b.
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"Out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword" (Rev. 1 :16).
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c.
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"I will come . . .and fight against them with the spirit of my
mouth" (Rev.2 :16).
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d.
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"The sword of the spirit, which is the word of
God"(Eph.6:17).
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a.
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When his words were taken in a baldly literal sense: "Lord,
here are two swords", the rather curt reply was: "It is enough", as who should
say: 'Enough of this matter; I see that you do not understand me.' For such an
interpretation of the phrase, reference might be made to the parallel experience
of Moses and Elijah: "But the Lord was wroth with me for your sakes, and would
not hear me (i.e. his plea that he might enter the land) and the Lord said unto
me, "Let it suffice thee (the Greek version here is almost identical with
Lk.22 :38); speak no more unto me of this matter" (Dt.3 :26). "It is enough;
now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers" (1
Kgs.l9:4).
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It is possible that Jesus was at this time almost reduced to
despair by the spiritual obtuseness of his disciples.
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The closeness of the parallel with Elijah is not without
point. For Elijah slept and rose, and on the third day began his forty days
journey in miraculous strength to the mount of God. In like fashion Jesus rose
the third day in divine power and on the fortieth day found himself in the very
presence of God.
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b.
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"For the things concerning me have an end." The phrase is
usually taken to mean: 'all prophecy concerning me must be fulfilled.' This
might well be the meaning. But another very different view is possible. "And if
Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an
end", i.e. comes to nought, is destroyed (Mk.3 :26).
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If similar significance be given to these other words of
Jesus, they mean: 'All I have striven for is in ruins, for even you, my chosen
disciples, seem hardly at all to understand and appreciate my
teaching.'
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Such a view is possible, but cannot be pressed.
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The chief difficulty which this fifth (figurative)
interpretation encounters is that the opening words of Jesus are certainly as
literal as they could well be: "When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and
shoes lacked ye anything?"
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Yet this objection is not fatal, for there is no lack of
passages of scripture where the literal switches suddenly to the figurative, and
vice versa; e.g. "And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the
stars (figurative); upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity
(literal); the sea and the waves roaring (figurative); men's heart's failing
them for fear" (literal) (Lk.21 :25,26).
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It would seem, then, that there is fair Biblical evidence for
the view that the counsel of Jesus to "buy a sword" was a hyperbolic way of
exhorting to spiritual fitness and preparedness, rather like the nautical
metaphor: "Clear the decks for action."
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