When Jesus was being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me” (John 18:10-11)? Jesus said that this was the cup that His Father gave Him, so Peter was not to resist the will of the Father, and the Father sent Jesus to “give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), but something changed just before Jesus went to the cross. Jesus would not be physically with them after the Ascension, so this may be why “Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything” (Luke 22:35a), and the disciples replied “Nothing,” (Luke 22:35b), but then He said, “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” (Luke 22:36). That’s when Peter showed Jesus two swords and the Lord said “It is enough” (Luke 22:38b), so what changed? Perhaps Jesus was looking beyond the cross when many would try to kill Jesus’ disciples, and try they did. Jesus warned the disciples that they would be hated for His sake and taken before the authorities, and some of them killed and it happened just as He said “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Matt 24:9). Many times, Paul barely escaped with his life, even being thought dead once, but I don’t believe Jesus told them to take a sword in order to defend themselves from the Jews, rather, in taking the gospel into the whole world, it might have been because they would face the risk of meeting thieves, bandits, roving parties, and even the Jews who were jealous of the disciples, however, knowing Jesus’ teaching about violence, Peter’s sword was likely intended to be used to cut off Malchus’ ear so that Jesus could heal it. Peter was no soldier, but a fisherman. He was likely trying to take his head off. Even here, Jesus ends by telling Peter to “Put your sword into its sheath.”
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