Today I’m thinking about the time
Jesus’ disciples picked up swords…
In the gospel according to Luke, he tells the story of Jesus’s arrest, and adds details that don’t appear in the other gospels. In Luke 28: 35-37, Jesus instructs his disciples to bring swords, which many Christians have pointed to as justification for owning weapons, lethal defense, and participation in military service.
INTRO TO CHIASMS:
A Chiasm (or Chiasmus) is a technical term for a type of literary structure.
It is from a Greek word that means, “shaped like the letter X”.
Don’t Panic!
This is just a short intro
before we get to the topic.
(If you already understand
how chiasms work, skip
to the next section)
To briefly explain, a chiasm is a literary structure makes two or more statements, and then makes the same kind of statements in reverse order. * There will be a single statement or pair of statements in the middle, which is usually the key theme of the chiasm. We are going to take a quick look at three chiasms to get a basic understanding of what they look like, and then we’ll dive into the passages about the Two Swords.
First, here is a simple example of a chiasmic structure in a single verse that is easy to unravel:
“No one can serve
Matthew 6:24
two masters,
for either he will
hate the one and
love the other,
or he will be
devoted to one and
despise the other.
You cannot serve
God and money.”
To map out the structure of a chiasm, we will label each unique statement A, B, C, and then label the matching reverse statements C’, B’, A’ (pronounced “C-prime, B-prime, A-prime”). If there is a central statement, label it “X”. Here is the same verse with the statements labeled:
(If you are reading this on a smart phone, it will look better if you rotate your display horizontally)
_A: No one can serve two masters
__B: hate the one
___C: love the other,
____X: or
___C’: devoted to the one
__B’: despise the other.
_A’: You cannot serve God and money
The author uses a chiastic structure to point out that every person must make a decision about who to serve. This example was simple, but the method can be used to clarify a complicated thought.
For our second example we see that entire stories can have a chiastic structure.
In the story of Noah’s Ark, the flood story can be broken down like this:
_A: 7 days until flood, pack ark
__B: 7 days again, waters came
___C: 40 days of rain
____D: 150 days of flood
_____X: God remembers Noah
____D’: 150 days water recede
___C’: 40 days on Ararat
__B’: 7 days after first dove
_A’: 7 days for second dove
The story converges to a central theme; God remembered Noah!
That’s the most important thing that the author wants you to think about in this story.
The final example shows that an entire story or parable can be the central theme of a chiasm. In chapter 10 of Luke’s gospel, Jesus tells the parable of The Good Samaritan:
_A: Lawyer: “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Luke 10:25
__B: Jesus: love God and love your neighbor 10:26-28
___C: Lawyer: “Who is my neighbor?” 10:29
____X: Parable of the Good Samaritan 10:30-35
___C’: Jesus: “Who was the neighbor?” 10:36
__B’: Lawyer: neighbor is one who showed mercy 10:37
_A’: Jesus: “You go, and do likewise” 10:37
Luke is using a chiastic structure to frame the central theme, which is the parable. **
Recognizing a chiasmic structure can help illuminate the text. The author is trying to focus your attention towards the center of the X, to the middle verse or verses.
In this passage it was
“a Samaritan…
Luke 10:33
…had compassion”
If you are thinking about a specific verse without realizing that it is part of a chiasm, you might miss or misunderstand a deeper meaning.
If you are reading the bible and notice two verses that seem to say the same thing, or pairs of verses that are similar, take a moment to look for a chiasm.
TWO SWORDS IN A CHIASM:
As Jesus was being arrested, his disciples attacked one of the soldiers and cut off an ear. Jesus immediately stopped the violence and healed the ear, but according to the text, this fulfilled a prophecy.
Jesus would be counted among the transgressors. ***
Up to this point Luke has made several references to Satan and temptation.
When Jesus was led out into the desert after his baptism, he was tempted three times…
And when the devil had ended every temptation,
Luke 4:13
he departed from him until an opportune time.
Now Satan has returned at an opportune time:
Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot,
Luke 22:3
who was of the number of the twelve.
In the meantime, Jesus has warned against temptation more than once. When they asked him to teach them how to pray, one of the key verses in The Lord’s Prayer is “Lead us not into temptation”.
In Luke 22:32 he has prayed that “your faith may not fail”, and then two more times he repeats:
And when he came to the place,
Luke 22:40
he said to them,
“Pray that you may not
enter into temptation.”
… Rise and pray
Luke 22:46
that you may not
enter into temptation.”
What is he warning them about?
Well, the chapter is too long to include here, but the key elements of the passage form the chiasm below:
_A: rooster won’t crow (22:34)
__B: until Peter denies Jesus 34
___C: get swords to fulfill “transgressor” prophecy 35-38
____X: Judas betrays Jesus 47-48
___C’: disciples attack soldier with swords 49-50
__B’: Peter denies Jesus 56-60
_A’: rooster crows (Luke 22:60)
It can be said that there are two general types of societies in this world:
1) sheep who willingly follow a shepherd
2) an empire with a ruler, slaves to do the work, and soldiers to enforce it
The text seems to be making the point that when the disciples used their swords to attack a soldier, they became “transgressors” just like the rest of us.
They returned to the world,
becoming members of the empire.
The disciples cannot resist the temptation to draw their swords and fight. I am convinced that this is the scene where not just Peter betrayed Jesus, but where everyone else has betrayed him, too.
Examined in that light, do we join the empire when we defend ourselves? Do we become worldly when we pick up weapons?
-=-=-=-
(thanks for sharing this time with me)
.
CREDIT:
I got the idea for this essay from
The Naked Bible Podcast
Episode #205
“The Sword and the Servant”
featuring David Burnett
(Thanks, David!)
Here’s a link to it:
https://nakedbiblepodcast.com/podcast/naked-bible-205-the-sword-and-the-servant-with-david-burnett/
NOTES:
* literary chiasms can also have parallel and ring structures, but I was afraid to over-complicate the intro.
** I also believe that, as Luke was writing this account, he had this literary structure in mind. Matthew and Mark do not have this in mind. Their gospels include similar accounts of Jesus talking to the lawyer, with the same teaching, but without the chiasm and without the parable. We are hearing the same ideas through different minds, which is refreshing to me. If the gospels were written identically,
1) I wouldn’t trust them as being from different minds, and
2) they wouldn’t be as useful.
On a parallel thought, if David Burnett ever reads this, I hope he will enjoy hearing a similar account through a different mind, instead of being disappointed with me for stealing from his!
*** Isa 53:12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.