Buy a sword

[mikew]

This passage came up on Monday
Luk 22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Luk 22:37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.

I may have missed hearing all the interpretations of what Jesus said. But what I understood about the passage was that Jesus basically was saying that He would not be physically with them much longer.

In all but a few situations Jesus did not explicitly mention about His coming death on the cross. And even in the quoted passage, His words were not simple to understand, especially since the disciples failed to grasp how Jesus would die.

To give a little more detail to my explanation ...
Jesus basically was protected and so were His disciples during the time of Jesus' ministry. So we can see this protection in part as coming from Jesus' presence among them, as the Shepherd protecting them. Therefore Jesus was saying they would lose this protection and hence would need a sword instead. Jesus spoke Luke 22:36-37 to alert the disciples to the situation developing in the near future rather than them truly being armed with swords -- though there may have actually been some need to have some swords.

Then the disciples found a few swords...
Luk 22:38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

Jesus said "Is is enough" as His expression that their understanding was good enough for that moment but they would realize later the importance of what Jesus' warning.

[RND]

We could look at this from a spiritual application as well. Garments or clothing are often equated with righteousness or character - Isaiah 64:6, Isaiah 59:6 . The "sword" is often referred to as the word of God - Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12.

[TK]

Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament

Lord, behold, here are two swords (kurie idou macairai wde duo). They took his words literally. And before this very night is over Peter will use one of these very swords to try to cut off the head of Malchus only to be sternly rebuked by Jesus (Mark 14:47; Matthew 26:51; Luke 22:50; John 18:10). Then Jesus will say: "For all that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Matthew 26:52). Clearly Jesus did not mean his language even about the sword to be pressed too literally. So he said: "It is enough" (Hikanon estin). It is with sad irony and sorrow that Jesus thus dismisses the subject. They were in no humour now to understand the various sides of this complicated problem. Every preacher and teacher understands this mood, not of impatience, but of closing the subject for the present.

The Message reads at 22:38 (i know i know its only a paraphrase!):

They said, "Look, Master, two swords!"

But he said, "Enough of that; no more sword talk!"

TK