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.

My oldest daughter is a senior and is beginning to look at colleges. It turns out, she may go to a school about three hours away from home. As we think about her future away from home, we have worked with her to prepare for this future: 1) We discussed which schools she is interested in attending, 2) I took her on tours of those schools. 3) We looked at scholarships she qualifies for and have worked on applying for those, and 4). We will turn our attention to the practical things she will need as she begins life on her own (to some degree) in college. Items like a warm coat for winter, a reliable way to get to work from school, supplies for her room, etc.

Jesus, here, is focusing on the same types of things. He is asking his disciples to prepare for his departure from this earth and their being on their own. He has talked to them about their faith, taken them through teaching experiences needed to build their faith in God and him, and he prays for them. Now, he asks them to take their purse of money, a bag with supplies for the road, and swords. But before he asks them to prepare for time away from him, he reminds them of the time he sent them away for a short time. This was when he sent them out to minister in pairs, to preach the truth, to heal, to cast out demons, etc. They went from town to town. In that instance, they took no supplies but were provided for anyways.

The first point Jesus makes here is that God will provide for them if they are doing his work, regardless of preparations. The second point is that it is important to be prepared for future trials.

Then he even asks them to bring swords. Why? Why was only two swords enough? Clearly he was not planning an insurrection once the arrest with Judas and the Chief Priests came, with just two swords. It could have been for protection as they were wandering about, scattered, after his arrest. I think it is interesting too that he quotes scripture here: “he was numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53). This Word of God would be fulfilled in him. And God’s Word is referred to as the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). So in an ironic twist, Jesus holds up his spiritual sword to win the day, the Word of God. And he also tells the disciples to buy swords if they don’t have them. What point is he making?

It is possible that he is highlighting their continued dependence on the methods and ways of this world to achieve justice and victory. This is compared to God’s primary way of achieving victory — through His Word. He, in essence, was relying on God’s Word and its power instead of man’s power. And he relied on it before, during, and after his time of suffering for us! Jesus wanted the faith of his disciples to be transformed into a spiritual weapon of greatness, like his faith was!

Lord, thank you for the way you call out our lack of total belief in you, to challenge us to seek you more completely and believe you more fully. May I use the sword of your Word to primarily defend me and not just rely on the swords of this world for my protection. You sacrificed to the earthly swords so that the power of God’s Word —the Sword of the Spirit — would shine, and that Word would be fulfilled!