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To: hoagy62
Were the Popes who called for ALL of the Crusades not "good" Christians then ?

Jesus told his followers to even sell the clothes off their backs and buy swords with which to smite their enemies with. So just what does that make Jesus the Christ ?

3 posted on 12/09/2015 10:25:46 PM PST by nopardons
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To: nopardons; hoagy62
What Jesus was teaching in Luke about swords is the subject of some controversy.  Here's the passage:
Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.
(Luke 22:36-38)
Notice that the disciples think He is speaking literally, and tell Jesus they already have two swords.  This is problematic.  Are two swords enough to defend the disciples against all the enemies they will eventually face? Nope. And later that night, Peter will use one of those swords to cut off the ear of one of their enemies, and what will Jesus do? He heals His enemy's ear. So when Jesus says "It is enough," He probably is not saying they are enough, the two literal swords.  Linguistically, it is just as likely He is saying something more like, we're done talking for now.

Why would He say that? Because they didn't get it. They very often took Jesus literally when He was speaking metaphorically. That could have been the case here. Jesus had sent the disciples out on a mission of preaching and miracles.  They needed no weapons during that time, because Jesus was still in favor with the people.  But a harder, darker time was coming, as the prophecy said, when Jesus would be treated as a criminal, and the disciples would be on the defensive.  The sword He mentions could be a metaphor for that defensive state, or it could be an allowance for a literal use of a sword, but either way, the idea is not of going out and "smiting enemies," but of a change in Jesus' status that would make it dangerous to be His follower.

Furthermore, we know that Jesus did not envision His kingdom being put in place by the sword:
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
(John 18:36)
We also know He said that the one who lives by the sword will die by the sword. If we rely on the weapons of human might to defend us against our spiritual enemy, we are not equipped to win that fight. Paul says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in high places. Yes, we have a duty to protect our families, and sometimes that will involve lethal force.  But it is a last resort.  The real battle is with the prince of darkness and his minions.

As for Islam, there is a dark spirit at work there, a spiritual slavery, a deception very deep indeed, and we need to love our enemies while also defending our loved ones.  Both duties are true and valid responsibilities of the Christian. There are among the Muslims souls that God will bring to Himself, who will eventually risk everything to become followers of Jesus Christ. They are our brothers and sisters yet to be in the family of Christian faith.  We cannot claim to love God while at the same time hating those whom God loves.

I remember a young man I knew years ago, who went as a missionary to a Muslim country.  He was a frail individual, but with the perfect temperament for the long hard work of bring the Gospel to these trapped souls, a loving, kind person, with a clear grasp of God's truth. He and those like him are fighting at the front lines where the battle is truly being fought.

Peace,

SR


  



48 posted on 12/10/2015 12:14:32 AM PST by Springfield Reformer (Winston Churchill: No Peace Till Victory!)
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