Did Jesus Teach Self-defense? (Q&A)

See the Q&A Series here

Q: In encouraging His disciples to buy swords, was Jesus essentially teaching us in our day to prepare for self-defense?

A: The scenario to which this question refers is during the hours just after the last supper, but prior to Jesus’ nighttime arrest in a dark garden area. He had earlier instructed His disciples to go on a ministry journey after having spent considerable time learn from and observing Him, akin to an internship and practicum experience. At that time, He instructed them to only carry the bare minimum, but no money or other normal essentials. Their lesson was to learn reliance on God’s personal directions and provisions. But now, before His arrest and pending death, He mentioned the need for them each to have a knife or sword, even selling their clothing, if necessary, to purchase one. One disciple pointed out there were 2 knives or swords within the group of twelve. Jesus responded, ‘It is enough.’ Yet when one disciple later used his knife or sword to cut off the ear of a member of the arresting party, Jesus sternly rebuked him, saying, ‘Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.’ This is the basis for the adage, ‘Live by the sword, die by the sword!’

God’s message to us in Scripture must be carefully perceived by a heart full of and inclined to His Spirit and wisdom, in context of His overarching strategic plan for humans. Our proclivity to focus on any Scripture passage out of this context is un-wise, and may easily lead to error, given our sinful, prideful, selfish human nature. Could a wide swarth of the worldwide church possibly have made this particular error when considering the above passage? I believe so, and here’s why.

It should be totally obvious that human beings do not need to be ‘taught’ to defend self, per se. This is clearly instinctive and, while observing toddlers, we see it is innate. So why would Jesus, God-in-human flesh, waste any time in His strategic mission on Earth to ‘teach us’ to defend self?! He didn’t. In all things strategic that He did, He was governed by John 5:19, namely only doing and saying what He saw/heard in His spirit The Father doing or saying. That said, it is obvious that every word Jesus said during His earthly life was not necessarily ‘strategic and mission-specific’. Our natural proclivity to treat non-strategic sayings as strategic opens the door for our prideful human nature to take charge and run amok, even developing erroneous doctrines by which we shape our lives and those of on-lookers. For example, the above passage is the clear ‘go-to’ basis and justification for so many Christians to justify their deep-seated, high-regard for gun and rifle ownership across America, even of military grade weapons in domestic, urban settings, whether for recreational use, hunting or, more likely, assuaging their growing fears (e.g., of increasing lawlessness, potential foreign invasion, the browning of America as a result of complex, long un-enforced immigration laws, etc.). Of course the US Constitution (Second Amendment) gives Americans the right to bear arms. This amendment was approved when the young nation had only a relatively small footing in a yet-unexplored, unknown, wild continent, was fraught with conflicts with indigenous Americans, and the system of laws and enforcement mechanisms were very nascent. America today is literally on the opposite end of this spectrum, yet some still revere the Second Amendment. Unfortunately, news reports steadily stream the disheartening results.

The end of the above-noted Scripture passage (i.e., put away and don’t ‘live by’ or trust wholly in your knife/sword….!) is clearly strategic, on-mission, and very much in context of the broader message of Scripture from Genesis-to-Revelation. That resounding message is summed up in these points:

  - turn the other cheek

  - trust deeply and only in God as our spiritual Father

  - develop maturing faith in His promises (e.g., Psalm 91)

  - obey Psalm 118:8 (referred to as the middle verse in the 

    entire Bible): ‘It is better to trust in The Lord than to put

    trust in man’

  -Etc., etc.

  

America has been very much a waring nation, and has excelled in not only developing ever more awesome weapons of warfare, but also in helping to arm other nations ‘to the teeth’, motivated by political machinations and our lauded and lofty profit motive. All things war-related are highly profitable …for a few. We also see the clear boomerang effects from our nation’s proclivity to wars and international arms dealing. This is manifested in (a) skyrocketing numbers of veterans who return home with battle-hardened appreciation for weapons use, and (b) the proliferation of weapons in our homeland, including weapons of war in domestic settings. The resulting mounting tolls on our citizens, and the steep deterioration in overall quality of life in our nation is increasingly unbearable. (See: America’s Spiritual Boomerang)

In conclusion, Moses and Israel sang a song after God destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. It includes this statement: God is a man of war: The Lord is His name. (Exodus 15:3) Centuries later, God forbade David from building a temple because David had ‘shed much blood on the Earth in My sight’. (1 Chronicles 22:7-8) Yet David accredited God, Himself, for having ‘taught my hands for war, and my fingers for battle’. (Psalm 144:1) So we see that complexity abounds and is paraded across the ages and the pages of The Bible as God unfolds His amazing strategic plan for humans. In response to the pivotal question above, the most pertinent point to ponder is, ‘What is God doing, and is most concerned about now, in our time, this portion of His multi-millennial plan, and how can/should that shape my life …today?’ Each person should answer this question for him/herself. Since we are not conquering Canaan lands as Joshua et al once did, nor subjecting neighboring nations to pay us tribute as David once did, nor defending Jerusalem from Babylonian invasion, etc., this is what I see is God’s greatest self-defense strategic objective for us Christ-believers today:

To stand against the wiles of the devil… take up the whole armor of God, gird your waist with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shoe your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, take the shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit - The Word of God, pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and be watchful with perseverance and supplication for all the saints…

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This question was triggered when I recently shared with friends a disturbing news article reporting on a decision by a panel of judges to strike down a California law that bands large or high capacity rifle magazines.