Does Jesus really suggest we bear arms in Luke 22:35-38? The answer is no. But that doesn’t make the passage any less confusing.
There’s a strange little passage tucked into the Passion story in Luke. It comes after the Last Supper. The disciples argue over which of them is the greatest and Jesus says that true greatness comes in weakness, vulnerability, and service.
It is now becoming clear that something big is coming. Something that will throw them all off of their rockers.
He tells Peter that he will deny Jesus three times (Luke 22:31-34) which Peter can’t believe. He’s planning to go all the way “to prison and to death” with him!
Then Jesus gives them some really weird instructions:
“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, ‘It is enough.’”
(Luke 22:35-38)
Does Jesus really authorize violence?
No.
Did you lack anything?
Luke 22:35-38 starts with a callback to Luke 9 and 10. If you recall, in these two passages, Jesus sends his closest followers and then all of his disciples out into the world to do his work. But it isn’t just general work-a-day experience.
- Jesus gives them his power.
- He tells them to take nothing with them.
- And they must rely on the hospitality of strangers.
It is in this moment, his disciples become apostles. They become the teachers and leaders of the Jesus movement without Jesus there to lead them.
Jesus tells them to remember that moment and asks “did you lack anything?”
No.
Because this whole moment begins with lack. Jesus sends them out with nothing, with lack. They are to go out with nothing and taking nothing. This means they aren’t going to accumulate possessions from naive people. They are to go with nothing and remain with nothing.
But each time they meet someone willing to share, they should receive their generosity.
And when they return to Jesus, they are overwhelmed by how amazing the experience was. They were healing and serving and being Jesus all over the world. They never lacked because they were always full.
The question of lack becomes a profound statement. When I sent you out with nothing, did you lack anything?
No they reply.
But now, the one who has a purse must take it
If discipleship began with Jesus’s followers embracing a life of lacking possessions, then why does any of them have a purse or a bag right now? Some clearly do.
So Jesus says to take those things they have, sell them, and go, buy some swords. Or more specifically, “the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one.”
In isolated terms, this moment seems inconsistent with the memory of lack. It sounds as if Jesus is giving them a new instruction. And many take it like a replacement and universal instruction for life.
But these assumptions are based on the idea that the disciples are supposed to have things. The consistent theme from Jesus was to give things away and to live in common with one’s neighbors. The fact that there are purses and bags to be sold in light of the reference to going into the world with nothing puts the onus of consistency on the disciples, not Jesus.
The question we should be asking is not why has Jesus changed his mind. It’s why have the disciples failed to listen to Jesus?
For I tell you, this scripture must be fulfilled in me
So, now the part about the sword.
When Jesus tells them to sell their stuff and buy some swords, he gives them a strange reason.
To fulfill scripture.
The scripture doesn’t say His followers were an army. Nor does it say Everybody was armed.
The scripture Jesus references isn’t about the weapons. It is about the group he will be found with.
“And he was counted among the lawless”.
But it is even more abstract than that. It says “he was counted among” which doesn’t mean they were the lawless. It means that powerful people considered them to be the lawless.
So Jesus is instructing his disciples to appear lawless. He’s asking them to play dress-up. Go look like a bunch of terrorists!
indeed what is written about me is being fulfilled.
In a passage completely misunderstood and abused by many, this may be the easily overlooked theme.
The entire thing is already in motion.
A quick recap.
The disciples are supposed to go into the world with nothing. They’re being told that the end is near and that Jesus’s most loyal follower will betray them. So Jesus reminds them of how they went into the world with nothing and asks if they actually lacked anything.
No, they say.
He says that one who has something should sell it and buy a sword. They’ll need it so that the authorities will find Jesus “among the lawless.”
And all this is already being fulfilled.
One can easily expect that this last part is because the soldiers are already preparing to meet Jesus in the garden.
It’s also because of the next line.
They said, ‘Lord, look, here are two swords.’
They already have swords.
Of course, they do.
The people who went out without extra clothes, money, or food to do Jesus’s work in the world are already packing.
The disciples don’t need to follow Jesus’s “new” instructions because they were already there. The instructions were already being fulfilled.
Which means something truly devastating for the disciples.
Jesus tells them to go and buy things they shouldn’t have so they can pretend to be terrorists. And they already have them. The disciples actually are terrorists.
They aren’t embodying Jesus’s Way of Love that they’ve learned by spending days upon days following him. They already are the violent revolutionaries the temple authorities and Roman leaders will gladly execute.
Some things Luke 22:35-38 does not say,
But many believe anyway:
- Disciples should carry weapons.
- Jesus condones that the disciples already possess them.
- That this is a new and forever direction for Christians.
- These swords should be anything but decoration.
- Disciples should be prepared to use weapons.
- They will need them to take on Rome.
- This applies to us.
- Weapons are for protection.
- This passage encourages self-defense.
Beyond Luke 22:35-38
When you read the gospel according to Luke straight through, this passage sticks out. And as I’ve shown, even a plain reading of the text makes it hard to believe that Jesus is telling us to possess weapons for self-defense. Even though this is precisely how many read this passage.
But all of this is even more challenging to someone who has read through the whole gospel. A gospel that includes stories challenging division and calling for reconciliation.
Arriving at this point, followers of Jesus should hear these words as UN-Jesus-like. They should ask themselves why Jesus would make these requests before assuming this is the rule to follow. As opposed to, say, turn the other cheek.
This is very much the exception that proves the rule. And that’s precisely how Jesus uses it.
Listen to “the second sentence.”
This is the idea of the implied, silent sentence that goes after the first one. Like saying Trust your neighbor. But still, lock the door.
Jesus is saying Go, buy a sword. Because there’s no way one of my people would already have one!
But Jesus also already knows they have failed to trust him. He knows they haven’t taken it to heart. Even if he doesn’t know for sure that a couple of them have swords, he probably knows there’s a really good chance they do.
The nonviolent resistance of Jesus
We arrive at Luke 22:35-38 knowing Jesus as eschewing violence and hatred and embracing love and reconciliation. He has spent days confronting the Temple’s leadership for their injustice and willingness to support the powerful against the needs of the powerless. And he has taught his followers to be beacons of light in a world of darkness.
When Jesus says his disciples should pretend to be terrorists when they enter the garden, he does so
- Knowing they have been taught not to be,
- And yet they resemble terrorists anyway,
- But the powerful will treat a people of peace as an existential threat regardless.
Jesus is the innocent man condemned by the state to be executed. And this is the ultimate teaching of nonviolence: that violence can never bring peace. It is always the tool of death.
This, after all, isn’t a “new” teaching. It’s the start of the disciple’s final exam. They will need to drop those swords to take up their own crosses.