The Gospel of Luke
Luke Chapter 22 :35-38
And He said to them, "when I sent you without purse and bag and sandals, did you lack anything? And they said, "nothing." He said to them, "but now the one having a purse, let him take it, also a bag, also the one not having a sword, let him exchange this cloak (outer garment) and redeem a sword. I say to you, that this which has been written, it must be fulfilled in Me. (Isaiah 53:12)...And he was counted amongst the lawless...so as the main purpose concerning Me is accomplished." And they said, "look Lord, here are two swords." And He said to them, "it is ( I am ) enough."
Note ~ Jesus was an itinerate Spiritual teacher, and He and the disciples, relied on donations from followers for their worldly needs. Early in the ministry of Jesus, He was sending disciples out to spread the good news about the One True, Divine Loving Creator, and the new Spiritual Way and understanding, He was teaching. This would set children free from the distorted understanding of God, they had been taught to believe in and follow. They were also sent to heal through the power of the Divine Love of the Creator, that He connected them to, in their Souls in Spirit.
At this stage, He was simply seen as a new prophet by the people, and the religious leaders were not seriously threatened by Him and His disciples. Instead, they were questioning Him, and searching to understand what He was trying to do, by teaching His Spiritual Way and new understanding about the Divine Creator. But by the time they reached the last supper, years of growing anger and threats, towards Him and His followers, from the religious leaders, were making things more dangerous.
Consequently, it was also a growing danger for those who supported them with donations, to be seen associating with them. This is what Jesus is talking about in these words, telling them they can no longer rely on donations from others they teach along the way. Instead, they must take provisions for themselves, to sustain them between receiving donations.
Jesus then says, they are not to focus on their outer covering, or cloak of the body, which protects them from external elements, but to exchange the idea of outer protection, to the inner protection of their Souls in Spirit. This is done with the Spiritual sword of Truth, that cuts through all lies, and connects their Souls in Spirit to the One True, Divine Loving Creator. Their Soul in Spirit, is the real life given to them, from the Divine Loving Creator. They must protect this using Spiritual weapons of Truth, and Divine Love. This is the ultimate protection, when the Spiritual sword of Truth is wielded by the hand of Divine Love. And Jesus is telling them, it is time to protect your Souls in Spirit from the oncoming storm of persecution. Soon they would be persecuted as lawbreakers and blasphemers, by the religious leaders and most Jewish children. As He often does, He uses a simple analogy of selling or exchanging their cloak of outward protection, for this inner sword of Spiritual protection.
He uses this same Spiritual sword of Truth analogy, about the Divine Loving Creator, in Matthew 10:34-36. Here, He warns them that this Truth He is revealing, about the new understanding of the Divine Creator, will be like a sword that divides, and causes enmity amongst family members, friends and the entire Jewish community. For children believing in a distorted understanding of God, will be disturbed by the Truth, that Jesus teaches, and may feel threatened and retaliate with physical violence. Instead of following Jesus out of the distortion, and joining with Him, to become True Spiritual children of the One Divine Loving Creator. Violence incited by any belief in God, is the clear proof of being entangled in a distortion, about the One True Loving God of Jesus.
He must have realised, that some of His disciples, had still not fully achieved this Spiritual realisation, and this last analogy in Luke, was spoken for their benefit. Sadly, I have come across many Christians who take this saying about 'buying a sword,' literally. This of course goes against the Divine Loving Creator and everything Jesus stood for and died for. Study Bibles need to update the correct meaning held in His words, so as children are not misled. Jesus then mentions an Old Testament scripture in Isaiah, which He indicates may refer to His upcoming ordeal.
The disciples were often slow in understanding the meaning of His parables and teachings, as seen throughout the Gospels. He must have had moments of real frustration. Here is another example of this, when a disciple believes He is talking about literal material swords, and offers two, thinking he is being helpful. But Jesus replies, "It is (I am) enough.
This translation from the Greek to mean 'It is,' instead of 'I am,' is very important. The original New Testament Greek manuscripts, may not have used the correct inflection or grammatical linguistics, and it may have shifted from 'I am' to 'It is.' Some scholars believe this ending is a later addition, but it makes logical, Spiritual sense anyway.
The entire Spiritual teachings of Jesus were about letting go of the flesh, and being born again into our Souls in Spirit.
He and His words, are the main things we need to achieve this, as He brings our Souls alive with the Divine Love of Our Creator. It makes good logical sense that Jesus said, "I am enough." So, Jesus is reminding the two-sword disciple, of what being a Spiritual disciple of His is really all about.
Most Bibles translate this ending as, 'It is enough.' Although I personally feel this is incorrect, it can still work as a possible reply from Jesus in the same way. Just as when someone is talking a load of rubbish to us, or behaving badly, we can get so frustrated by it that we blurt out, 'that's enough of that,' to admonish them or put a stop to it. Such a reply as this by Jesus, would fit in perfectly with Divine Love. Jesus would have been admonishing the disciple, who did not understand the meaning of His Spiritual message about the cloak and the Spiritual sword. For when he presented Jesus with these swords, that can be used to kill other children of God with, the abrupt and stern reply of Jesus could also mean, "enough of that rubbish"
Soon after the last supper, Jesus backs up this understanding of Luke 22:38, when a follower uses his sword to cut off the ear of one of the crowd that came to seize Him. Perhaps it was the same disciple who offered the two swords, still not understanding the Way of Jesus. Jesus famously says, " put your sword back into its place, for all who draw the sword, shall perish by the sword."
by Christopher John Joseph