Buy a Sword

On the evening of the Last Supper, before going out to the Mount of Olives, Christ tells the Apostles to buy a sword. The word is startling, and it is sometimes used to make him a master who arms his own for battle. Read to the end, it announces the time of trial that opens with his Passion; and that very night, Christ forbids its use.

You lacked nothing

Christ begins with a reminder. When he had sent the Apostles to proclaim the Kingdom, he had made them set out with nothing, without money or provisions, and nothing had been lacking to them: “When I sent you without purse, without bag and without sandals, did you lack anything? Nothing.” Luke 22:35 As long as he was with them, they lived under his guard, and the world had not yet risen against them.

Take purse, bag and sword

The tone changes at once: “But now, let him who has a purse take it, likewise a bag; and let him who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.” Luke 22:36 This “now” marks a break. Christ is about to be arrested, judged, put to death; the time of visible protection ends, and that of hostility begins. Purse, bag and sword tell this reversal: the Apostles enter a world that will reject them, and they must prepare for it. The sword is the sign of this coming opposition, not the order to arm a troop.

Reckoned among criminals

Christ himself gives the reason for this change, and it holds in a prophecy: “This scripture must be fulfilled in me: He was reckoned among criminals.” Luke 22:37 The word comes from the song of the Suffering Servant: “He was counted among the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12 The hour has come when Christ will be condemned and put to death as a criminal, and to the very cross he will be ranked among wrongdoers, crucified between two of them. It is this hour that changes everything: the Master is about to be treated as an outlaw, and his own pass from the time of protection to the time of trial. The sword belongs to this turning of the times.

It is enough

The Apostles, for their part, hear the letter and present what they have: “Lord, here are two swords. He said to them: It is enough.” Luke 22:38 Two swords for twelve men suffice for no battle; had Christ meant to arm them, two blades would be derisory. His “it is enough” does not count weapons: it closes the exchange, before disciples who took him at the letter.

Put back your sword

That very night gives the meaning of the word. Scarcely is Christ arrested when Peter draws the sword and cuts off the ear of a servant of the high priest. Christ stops him at once: “Put your sword back in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” Matthew 26:52 He at once heals the wounded man, undoing the blow struck in his name. And he shows that no sword defends him: “Do you think that I cannot pray to my Father, who would at once give me more than twelve legions of angels?” Matthew 26:53 The one who commands the armies of heaven has no need of two blades. If he lets himself be taken, it is because he accepts the cup: “Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” John 18:11

The disciple's sword

The sword Christ asks for arms no violence: it marks the entry into the time when his own will face a hostile world. The disciple draws from it no right to strike, but the call to vigilance and to firmness in trial. The one sword given to the disciple, Scripture names: “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17