How can the Lord Christ be the maker of peace and the king of peace, and at the same time tell His disciples “he who has no sword let him sell his garment and buy one.” (Luke 22:36) What did He mean by ordering His disciples to buy a sword? Why when they
But the Lord meant the symbolic meaning of the sword which is the spiritual struggle.
The Lord was talking to them on his way to Gethsemane (Luke 22:39) in His last minutes before His arrest to be crucified. He said “Let him sell his garments and buy a sword” then right after that He said ‘for I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me”, “and He was numbered with the transgressors”(Luke 22:37). What is the common line between these two statements? It seems as if He was telling them, while I was with you, I guarded you, I was the sword that protected you, but now I am going to give myself up in the hands of sinners and the saying “numbered with transgressors” will be fulfilled… then take care of yourselves and struggle.
Since I am going to leave you, every one of you should fight the spiritual fight, and buy a sword.
St. Paul had spoken about “the sword of the spirit” in his epistle to the Ephesians and about: “the whole armour of God, the breast plate of righteousness, and the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:11-17). That is what the Lord Christ meant by that; so we might be able to be steadfast in face of the snares of Satan in these spiritual fights.
The disciples did not understand that spiritual symbol at that time so they answered: here are two swords.
As He told them before in the same symbolic concept “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees” (Luke 21:1), He meant their hypocrisy but they thought He spoke about the bread (Mark 8:17). In the same manner they answered Him, when He talked to them about the sword of the spirit, here are two swords, so He replied that “It is enough”… It is enough discussion in this subject since there wasn’t enough time… He did not mean the swords by the statement “It is enough” otherwise He would say they are enough…
We should distinguish between what the Lord meant to be understood symbolically and what literally. The flow of the conversation usually indicates that.
