Suddenly, one of those with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?” (Mat 26:51-54 NRS)
Relinquishing our swords is one of the most difficult commands for Christians to obey. Trusting God and submitting to his will makes a great sermon, but can be scary in practice. Too many times we want to draw “our swords” against the enemy and his tactics.
“Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete” (2Corinthians 10:3-6 NRS).
We must remember that Jesus could have asked for enough of heaven’s army to save himself AND GOD WOULD IMMEDIATELY HAVE COMMANDED THEM TO DO IT (v. 53). Yet, if Jesus had made that request, “how then would the scriptures be fulfilled?” The Eternal Logos who proclaimed that it must happen this way submits himself to the fulfillment of what he said would happen in exactly the way he said it would happen.
What a huge price our God and Savior paid for the redemption of humanity. Without a Savior, humanity was helpless and hopeless. Sin — our sin — cost God his very best and most precious possession. How could the angels remain calm and obedient during this event at Calvary? Their obedience must have been taxed to the limit! They must have watched in shocked disbelief as the Lord shouldered all the depravity of humanity. Yet, in awesome wonder they shouted praises to God for his wondrous sacrifice.
Somehow the host of heaven saw the light of that day. The Father turned his face away from the scene in first century Jerusalem and noon became as dark as midnight, but the angels recognized the blazing glory of the Cross. And the victory of Calvary became the defeat of satan’s strongholds, from depravity to every disobedient thought.
Dear Father, thank you for your sacrifice at Calvary. Empower us to be consistently obedient to your will and purpose. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be courageous today in obeying Christ,