Perishing By The Sword (Matthew 26:47-56)
Do you feel like you are powerless? Who is the most powerful man you know? When I think about power, the government, the media, the famous, and those who are wealthy come to mind. They have all the power to accomplish whatever they want. If we want to be powerful, we need to be more like them.
Have you ever felt that way? God calls for us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. How should we fulfill that purpose? Do you ever feel like this church needs a more prominent building, fancier programs, lots of money in the budget, and a famous brand? Are these the answer to all of our problems?
I think Jesus gives us the answer in this text, but it’s not what we expect. It’s upside down and seems backward. Let’s study our text and find the answer together.
Betrayal
Jesus has just finished praying to God in agony over what will happen to him.
Matthew 26:47--50 (ESV) --- 47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.
After all of the agony, Jesus was just in with his prayers to God, now we see him poised and collected as Judas comes up with a mob. These men were a mixture of Roman soldiers and temple guards. All of them were holding swords and clubs. The religious leaders sent all of them in the middle of the night to arrest Jesus. These men are ready to fight if they take Jesus by force. Jesus goes out to meet them because God has strengthened him for what he is about to do.
But the main focus of this text is the betrayal of Judas. He leads the way and makes sure that they have the right man, and he gives them a sign. He greets Jesus with joyful words, “Greetings, Rabbi!” Then, he walks right up to Jesus and kisses him. It’s bad enough that he brings men to arrest Jesus. This seems like an utterly disrespectful display of dominance.
This is the point in the story where we feel things intensify. What is Jesus going to do? What are the disciples going to do?
Rebuking A Disciple
Matthew 26:51--54 (ESV) --- 51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
When Jesus is taken, a disciple pulls out his sword. Peter wants to fight to the death, but Jesus tells him to stop fighting. Jesus seems to have given up. He says, “All who take the sword will perish by the sword.” This seems like an odd thing to say. Wouldn’t it be right to fight and defend his innocent friend from evil people? What Peter does seems so natural, and what Jesus says seems so unnatural.
Furthermore, Jesus says that he could call down twelve legions of angels. His Heavenly Father is right there with him and able to deliver him at a moment’s notice. One Roman legion is about 6,000 soldiers. So Jesus is likely saying that he could have 72,000 angels come in and destroy these guys if that’s what he wanted. Jesus has more power than they can imagine, but he doesn’t want to use it. Why not?
Verse 54 says, “How then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” Jesus has determined that this is the only way. God has not provided another way. He must go through this to accomplish God’s purpose for him. This is what he wants to do for Peter, his other disciples, his captors, and all of us. He wants to fulfill scripture and provide all the promises of God to them. He knows that the sword is not the way to do that. Fighting and defending himself is the easy way to feel better, but it’s not the way to accomplish his purpose.
Rebuking the Crowd
Matthew 26:55--56 (ESV) --- 55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. 56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.
The following words that come out of Jesus’ mouth are a rebuke against his attackers. He doesn’t call them names or condemn them outright. Instead, he tells them how evil it is. They were foolish to think that they would need weapons to take Jesus, and they were evil to take him in this way. His goal is to put a stone in their shoe. He wants them to realize that this is evil and feel ashamed. He also points them to the fact that God said would happen. This is all going to happen as God said it would hundreds of years earlier (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, and Zechariah 12-13).
The last part of verse 56 tells us that his disciples fled. None of them were willing to submit to being arrested and going with Jesus to the cross. Jesus knew that this was all part of God’s plan, but they didn’t believe that. They couldn’t understand how it could be part of the plan.
Do we not feel the same way? When men are doing something evil, the last thing I think about is how God can use that for good. When someone is working to have us fired at work, we might think the only way good can come out of it is if they get fired, and we keep our job. We tend to think very simply about what happens to us. But God has more in mind.
What Do We Learn?
The capture of Jesus teaches a lot about power and our perception of it. Throughout this part of the story, it seems like God has lost control. Jesus is the Messiah. He has defeated the religious leaders in every debate. How could he be arrested? How could evil win?
Who Has The Most Power?
But the words of Jesus reveal something much more significant going on. When we stop to think about who has the most power in this story, it’s evident that Jesus does. Twelve legions of angels could stop all of this foolishness in an instant. Isn’t it interesting that this man, the son of a carpenter from Nazareth, is given the power to control legions of angels? God’s power is behind him because God calls him his son.
Why Doesn’t He Use It?
It’s fascinating that Jesus refuses to use his power. He chooses to let these men capture him. Why? Everyone knows that those who don’t use their power will be disregarded. No one will remember Jesus if he doesn’t stop them. He will disappear into oblivion.
The most influential man to ever live wasn’t rich. He was the poorest of the poor. He didn’t lead a great army. His men abandoned him. The social leaders and eventually the whole population will call for him to be crucified, so I think it’s safe to say that he didn’t do what was popular. He had no social or political power. Everything about Jesus is upside down. Instead of hating his enemies, he loved them. Instead of fighting with them, he submitted to them.
Is this supposed to teach us something? Why is Jesus doing the opposite of what we would do, and how did that work so well? What is the secret?
The Greater Purpose of God
As we look at what Jesus does in this text, it’s important to note that he is not just being passive. He is not suicidal, and he does not want to die. There are plenty of instances where men try to kill Jesus, and he gets away. Jesus is allowing all of this to occur because he trusts in God’s greater plan. Two times in this text, Jesus says, “The Scripture must be fulfilled.”
We don’t learn from this text that Jesus wants us to die. We learn that he is willing to die to fulfill God’s will for him. To Jesus, there is something more important than surviving this attack. Jesus is more focused on doing God’s will than using his power to defeat evil because he knows God can work in the evil to create something good.
This text reminded me of Elisha when he was in Dothan. His servant was afraid, but Elisha said, “There are more with us than with them, and God opened the eyes of the servant to see thousands of angels around them. But instead of the angels killing the enemy, Elisha leads them to the king, and they enjoy a feast before returning home. Elisha is a picture of Jesus.
Joseph is also a picture of Jesus. It was also in Dothan that Joseph was thrown down into the pit. God didn’t listen to Joseph’s cry for help. He let Joseph be taken down to Egypt to work all things for good. Joseph saved his enemies because God had a greater purpose in mind. Those who were evil seemed to win that battle, but in the end, Joseph won.
Jesus will go to the cross, but he will rise from the grave and bring about the ultimate triumph over evil.
Application
To apply all of this to ourselves, we need to understand that taking up the sword is the wrong answer when God’s purpose for us is to show love. We are supposed to follow in Christ’s footsteps and suffer for those who are enemies of our faith.
2 Timothy 2:24--26 (ESV) --- 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Why is it so hard for us to do this?
Why does it seem like we have this urge to fight inside us? We believe that if we fight like the world fights, we stand a chance at winning. But we have lost focus on God’s purpose for us to be light and salt on the earth. We are not here to win battles. We are here to win wars. We don’t want to dominate our enemies. We want to lead them to Christ so they, too, can be transformed.
Titus 3:1--7 (ESV) --- 1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
We are dead wrong if we think that our anger and wrath can accomplish God’s righteousness! We need to remember that we too were foolish, disobedient sinners, but Christ changed us by loving and submitting to foolish disobedient sinners like us. Jesus didn’t force us to believe the right thing. God never does that. There is power in sharing the truth in a gentle, loving way and then letting them figure it out.
There is Power In Submission
So often, we are looking for power in all the wrong places. We think there is power in swords, money, fame, and dominance. But Jesus shows us that there is a greater power in the simple act of pursuing God’s will. If God is on our side, who can stand against us?
We are wrong if we think we must force everyone to align with our beliefs and opinions. Jesus didn’t do that. God doesn’t do that. We shouldn’t do that.
If we want to accomplish the most good in this church or our lives, we don’t need some fancy program, more prominent buildings, or a great brand/marketing scheme. We could have those. Perhaps there is nothing wrong with having those. But Jesus didn’t do those things. He went to the cross. He didn’t take the place of pride. He took the place of humility and service, seeking to fulfill God’s purpose for him.
James 3:17--18 (ESV) --- 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) --- 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
God has a purpose for all of us to shine as lights and be the salt of the world. Will we submit and fulfill our purpose?
Conclusion
Power doesn’t come with a sword. It’s not about being wealthy, famous, or political. Power comes through trusting in the Lord and submitting to his will. That may mean any number of things in your life, but for Jesus, it meant submitting to the authorities when they came with evil intentions at an evil time. He had all the power at his disposal to stop them, but he didn’t because he trusted in God’s plan instead of his desires. Do we trust in and focus on God’s purpose for us? Let that be our most significant source of power and our goal in life. If submitting to God means suffering, let’s be living sacrifices for God’s name to be glorified. Honor Christ by dealing gently with those who despise and reject you.