WHAT I DON'T KNOW: What exactly is going on with the swords here?
- Luke 22:36, 38.
- The references to swords garner the most attention from most readers. They are intriguing statements that are not easily understood.
- I wish I could tell you that I have an incisive, succinct explanation to what He’s getting at, but I don’t. In reading multiple commentaries, no one has an explanation that particularly satisfies me. Some provide some illumination, but none are satisfactory.
- So I’m going to leave those portions for another day and a better commentator.
- Even though that attracts your attention first, there are still substantive truths to be explored in this passage and that’s where we will focus our exploration.
THE BIG IDEA: Jesus’ kingdom will be seen as transgressing.
- Luke 22:37.
- Jesus is here explaining to His disciples what they will be facing. It will be different than before.
- In vv. 35-36, He asks them about their previous “missions’ trips.” He had sent them out in the past. And as He sent them out, He instructed them to go without sufficient provision for the journey. Why? Because those provisions would be provided along the way.
- Getting those “just-in-time” provisions was the result of two things coming together:
a. God’s divine provision.
b. The people’s enthusiastic welcome.
- Clearly the first of those is still open to the disciples. God is still willing to provide for them.
- But the point Jesus is making here is that the second of these two things has changed markedly. The people will no longer enthusiastically welcome them.
- Why the change? Before, everyone was still fascinated by Jesus. He was a miracle worker! He was an intriguing teacher! He was a man of the people! It’s no wonder He was drawing huge crowds.
- Now, though, things are different. The crowds are gone. Indeed, soon His disciples will even be scattered.
- This is why perhaps the most important two words in this passage are in v. 36: “But now.”
- Before they lacked nothing, “but now” things are different.
- Why are they different?
- Jesus tells us why. After telling them a few of the things that will be different (purse, bag, sword), He tells what’s going on. Quoting Isaiah, He says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.” He furthers explains that the “transgressing” truth is coming to a head right now.
- What does He mean by transgressing? Definition of transgressing: standing against the rule, law, or way of doing things.
- The point Jesus is making is something like this: up to now, the people welcomed you because of Me; now the people are going to reject you because of Me.
- Jesus is being numbered among those who are transgressors. He is both breaking the Jewish Law according to the biased interpretation of the Jewish religious leaders and also standing against the power structures of that day. He is standing against their rules and power.
- Jesus is sometimes seen as inoffensive and harmless, but only by people who are ignorant of the gospels. The gospels present Him as a threat to the powerful of His day.
- Understanding this, the question then is what does that mean for those of us who call ourselves His representatives?
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US AS HIS REPRESENTATIVES?
1. We will clash with our culture on many issues.
- We like to be liked.
- It’s painful, therefore, when others shun us or mock us.
- On a grand scale, this is a challenge for the church in each generation. There are things that the society around the church will claim for truth that stand opposed to Biblical truth. It is a perennial temptation to alter our convictions to be respected and embraced by the culture around us.
- We must, in the face of that temptation, recognize that we are to stand for the truths of the Bible even when we clash with the culture around us.
- The particular issues will vary generation to generation, culture to culture. But there will always be substantive points of disagreement.
- The most obvious one for our generation and culture is homosexuality. It has been fully embraced by our culture as normative. Significant portions of the church have come to agree with that assessment. Additional portions of the church are heading in that direction. In the face of that, it is challenging to stand for what the Bible says on that issue. But we must do so remembering that Jesus warned us here that we would numbered among those who are breaking their rules.
2. We cannot learn “truth for life” from our culture.
- There is a related truth that is worth handling separately. That is that we cannot learn truth for life from our culture. The first deals with issues of controversy. This one deals with wisdom for how to live your life.
- What does a good life look like? What does a life well spent entail? These are questions of monumental importance, yet in answering them we rarely dig deeply into Jesus’ words to find the answers.
- Two examples:
a. Self-fulfillment.
- Our culture preaches a gospel of self-fulfillment; Jesus preached the need for self-denial.
b. Materialism.
- Our culture preaches the glory and necessity of material possession; Jesus preached the need to store treasure in heaven.
- We must look to Jesus for insight in how to live our lives. We cannot look around at our culture and follow their lead plus tacking a prayer on the end.
3. We have to learn how to be truthful and loving at the same time.
- In light of what we’ve just talked about, we know that we are going to disagree with much of what our culture around us is saying. Some Christians presume that we proceed by loudly telling people they’re stupid and going to hell.
- The right approach, though, is remembering that we are called to preach the truth in love.
- Even though we disagree with those around us on substantial issues, we are also called to love them. This, of course, takes maturity on our part.
4. We should not be surprised when we are rejected.
- Finally, we should not be surprised when we are rejected. It’s inevitable that this will happen. After all, we are not “on their team” and many can’t handle that.
- We continue to love them anyway, but we have to ready ourselves for that rejection. We must not shrink from what we are called to do, to proclaim, and to live. As loving and compassionate as we may be, we will be rejected.
- In such cases, we shouldn’t grow mad at the person or act shocked as though something unexpected has come upon us. If Jesus was rejected, His followers will be too.
