Happy Thanksgiving my friends.

I don’t know what y’all do today or what kind of emotions and feelings surround this day for you regarding getting together with family, not getting together with family, the actual history of Thanksgiving … but let me just say how unbelievably grateful I am for all of you - for your support and your encouragement of me, of my family, and of the work we’re trying to put into the world.

Thank you.

And if you don’t live in the US and don’t celebrate Thanksgiving - I’m grateful for you, as well; go have a Turkey sandwich in honor of us crazy Americans today.

HA!

Here are a few more thoughts about Peter’s sword from yesterday, enjoy your day and know that you are loved.

Glenn || PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE

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So what about the sword? Yesterday we talked about Peter and how he supposedly cut off the ear of the high priest's servant just as the mob was about to arrest Jesus and we talked about what in the world may have been going through Peter's mind as he drew his sword and waved it within millimeters of a guy's face.

But.

Um.

Can we talk about WHY he was carrying a sword to begin with?

The answer to that is likely relatively simple - Jesus told him to get one. I know it seems like a very "un-Jesus-like" thing to do, telling his disciples to buy a sword and strap it to their side ... but he did (at least according to the stories we find in the Gospels).

Yesterday we explored the story from the vantage point of Mark's Gospel, but it also takes place in Matthew, Luke, and John.

In Matthew we're told that "one of Jesus' companions" drew his sword and cut off the guy's ear.

In Mark we're told that it was "one of those who stood by".

In Luke we're told that "one of them" did it.

In John we're told that it was Peter.

HA!

If you read John's Gospel it sometimes seems like John had it in for Peter as he makes him the butt of a lot of the stories and this story is no different - Peter is the one, says John, who couldn't control himself.

"Silly Peter", John says, "always making a mess of things."

Matthew, Mark, and Luke, though, say it was someone else - one of the 12 disciples? One of the 72 disciples? One of the people who followed Jesus? Who knows.

Yesterday we pinned the blame on Peter, but today let's just assume it was one of the disciples - one of the disciples drew their sword and cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant.

NOW, back to the original question - why was this disciple carrying a sword?

AND, back to the original answer - because Jesus told him to.

Strange, I know, but in the Gospel of Luke the story of the disciple chopping off the guy's ear takes place in chapter 22:49-51 and if you flip back to chapter 22:35-38 (just a few verses), you find this very interesting story that happens before the story in question ...

"Then Jesus asked them, 'When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?'

'Nothing,' they answered.

He said to them, 'But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.'

The disciples said, 'See, Lord, here are two swords.'

'That’s enough!' he replied."

Wait, what?

A few verses BEFORE the disciple cuts off the guy's ear Jesus tells the disciples to get swords and when they find 2 swords he tells them that's plenty, they don't need any more. And THEN a few verses later when one of the disciples draws that sword and uses it ... what does Jesus say?

"Bravo!" ... ?

"Take another swing!" ... ?

"That's what I'm talking about!" ... ?

Nothing of the sort. Instead, in verse 51 just as the guy's ear hits the ground Jesus says, "no more of this!" and then touches the guy's ear and heals him.

Wait.

What?

So let's get the story straight:

Jesus says to get swords.

The disciples get swords.

The mob comes to get Jesus.

A disciple draws his newly acquired sword.

A disciple swings his newly acquired sword.

The sword strikes someone who is trying to harm Jesus.

Jesus then reprimands the disciple and heals the guy that the disciple used the sword against, the very sword that Jesus told the disciple to get.

Why?

Why did Jesus tell the disciples to get a sword and then reprimand them for using it?

WHY?

Because.

And follow me here.

But.

What if Jesus told the disciples to get a sword and then reprimanded them for using it ... because ... what if a true display of strength isn't so much in being able to swing a sword, but in having the power to swing a sword AND choosing not to?

Yes.

What if true strength and true honor are seen not so much in the power one has, but are seen in the restraint one exercises when he/she/they have an enormous amount of power, but choose to keep that power at bay?

Hm.

And if this is the case, if this is the point of Luke's story ... then the possibilities for applying this story to life are endless.

Right?

Endless for ...

For gun owners.

For billionares.

For nations who are military superpowers.

For pastors and church leaders.

For business owners.

... Just because we have power and just because we have ability and just because we are able to put ourselves on top and put other people into a place of submission doesn't mean we have to; and perhaps the greatest display of strength is having the power to do that and choosing not to, choosing to keep that power at bay, choosing the keep the weapon holstered, choosing to act from a place of weakness when you very well could act from a place of power.

Whew.

I'll let your mind draw your own conclusions, but it's an interesting thought ... no?

Today, though, I'm having coffee and wondering like I did yesterday - what things in my life am I swinging my sword at, trying to knock back and cut down? What situation am I trying to exercise my power over?

And.

Might Jesus today be whispering, "enough of this. Swinging the sword won't get us anywhere with this one. Put the sword away. Stop trying to overtake the problem and let the problem overtake you. Let it run its course. Let it crucify you. Crucify you? Yes. Crucify you. Why? Because what you'll learn on the cross and the life you'll see as a result will be much greater than the life you'll live if you avoid the cross altogether. Put the sword away, Glenn, and hold my hand. We'll get through this together."

Dang.

Time for more coffee.

Happy Thanksgiving my friends.

Until Next Time ✌🏻🤙🏻🦃

What If Project

☕️💭 Let's Talk About That Sword Again