We must also consider what Christ told his disciples in his
last hours with them: "...But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it,
and likewise a sack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy
one" (Luke 22:36). Keep in mind that the sword was the finest offensive
weapon available to an individual soldier -- the equivalent then of a military
rifle today.
The Christian pacifist will likely object at this point that
only a few hours later, Christ rebuked Peter who used a sword to cut off the
ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest in the company of a detachment of
troops. Let us read what Christ said to Peter in Matthew 26:52-54:
Put your sword in its
place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think
that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than
twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it
must happen thus?
In the companion passage in John 18, Jesus tells Peter to
put his sword away and told him that He had to drink the cup that His Father
had given Him. It was not the first time that Christ had to explain to the
disciples why He had come to earth. To fulfill the Scriptures, the Son of God
had to die for the sin of man since man was incapable of paying for his own sin
apart from going to hell. Christ could have saved His life, but then believers
would have lost their lives forever in hell. These things only became clear to
the disciples after Christ had died and been raised from the dead and the
Spirit had come into the world at Pentecost (see John 14:26).
While Christ told Peter to "put your sword in its
place" He clearly did not say get rid of it forever. That would have
contradicted what he had told the disciples only hours before. Peter's sword
was to protect his own mortal life from danger. His sword was not needed to
protect the Creator of the universe and the King of kings.
Larry Pratt, "What Does the Bible Say About Gun Control?," Gun Owners of America (Springfield, VA: August 1, 1999). Retrieved July 10, 2014 from http://gunowners.org/fs9902.htm.
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