To Sword or not to Sword? A Short Exegesis of Mark 14.43 - 50*

A friend of mine on another social media platform has asserted that this passage teaches, without question, that Christians are not to ever use or even possess any kind of weapon, be it knife, be it sword, be it club, or be it a pistol or rifle. Is this correct? Does this passage teach such? Are Christians to offer themselves and others to senseless slaughter without resistence? Let's examine the passage in it's context.

First of all the passage: 1) is not about sword of Peter per se though his sword is in the narrative, 2) is not about the swords of those who arrested Christ, though said swords are part of the narrative, 3) is not about violence per se though there is violence in the narrative, 4) is not about clubs per se though there are clubs in the narrative, and, 5) is not about healing per se though there is an instance of healing in the narrative.

What, then, is the exegetical point and meaning of the passage? It is that Christ refuses to allow anyone, any circumstance, any weapon drawn, any weapon used, any weapon un-used, any words, any insult, any betrayal by anyone...to stop Him from His mission to sacrifice Himself for the sins of the World for THIS is the overarching Will of God since "before the foundation of the world." ( Revelation 13.8)

The several mentions of both "sword" and "swords" in the passage are incidental to the meaning of the passage.

Here is how we know this: Jesus tells us precisely what passages in the Old Testament that this instance is fulfilling. In other words, we know what the meaning is. We don't have to speculate and we don't have to read in-betweens the lines, as it were. Verse 50 says; "But let the Scriptures be fulfilled." What Scriptures? There are at least 4 and none of them advocate individual disarmament or pacifism. Here they are:

1. Lamentations 4.20 - "...the Lord's anointed was trapped in their pits..." - He was ensnared...but of course, on purpose. It was His Will to sacrifice Himself. This sacrifice was not hindered by any sword.
2. Isaiah 53.7 - 8 - "...He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth..." He was betrayed and yet He did not defend Himself...why? For US. His determinate sacrifice was not deterred by any sword.
3. Psalms 41.9 - "...even my close friend in whom I trusted..." "...lifted his heel against me." - He was betrayed by a close friend. Though the friends of Judas had swords, those swords did not hinder the Lords determinate sacrifice for us.
4. Zechariah 13.7 - "...Awake, O sword, against My shepherd…" The adversarial sword here is possessed, not by Peter, but by the betrayers. It is incidental to the betrayal for the sword did not "force" the Savior to surrender. He freely gave Himself to the adversary regardless of the swords of the adversarial guard.

There we are. Four passages. Three out of 4 do not even mention a sword. The only one that does mention the sword does so only incidentally. The sword mentioned did not belong to Peter but to the mob who arrested him, It was not the sword that caused sinful men to go and "arrest" Christ. Their "tools" were of no consequence to the outcome for Christ freely gave Himself for us, he did not have to be forced or corerced by this rabble...with or without swords. Not only that, in the John passage, what does Christ say to Peter regarding his sword that has just cut off the ear of Malcus? Does he tell Peter to immediately surrender his sword to the soldiers? No. Does he tell Peter to go and surrender his sword to a government buy back program? No. He tells Peter to sheath his sword, thus Peter retains possession of the sword.

Christians are to "as much as it is possible, live in peace with all men." Paul told the Athenians that in God we; "live, move, and have our being." Life is the gift of God, it is God and God alone who takes life. When man attempts to take control of God's will in this regard it is the right...the DUTY...of men to defend not only the lives of family, friends, and strangers around them, but to defend their lives as well. The tools of self preservation are incidental. The passage above is all about the self-sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in His Redemptive Work. No one and no thing were going to stop it. Swords were incidental to this Story of Love. To make this passage about pacifism, is to deplete it of its meaning and to make a mockery of the willing Sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Peter kept his sword and so should we...

not to commit violence, but to deter it's occurrence. But should it take place, may we have the faith to use any incidental tool at our disposal to protect all the lives around us, including our own for all lives are gifts of God and are to be defended.

* This passage is also paralleled in John 18.1 - 11, Luke 22.47 - 53, and Matthew 26.47 - 56

Russell H McCullough is a speaker, preacher, and teacher from Charlotte, NC. He writes here often on LinkedIn Pulse where he has written over 100 articles. He also blogs at https://gospelcall.blogspot His sermons are recorded at http;//soundcloud.com/archdale-church-of-christ He is the author of the 2013 book, EMERGING TOWARDS APOSTASY. It is available at Trafford Press or on Amazon or Barnes and Noble websites.