Sermon(Lk 22:47-53): Let's prepare the sword of Jesus

The original Koran text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025222048

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Scripture reading: > And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this.” And he touched his ear and healed him. (Lk 22:50-51) <

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Jesus had told his disciples to prepare swords before he got arrested by men whom the high priest sent. He told him who had no sword to sell his mantle and buy one (Lk 22:36). Jesus said so in order that the prophecy of the Scripture that he (Jesus) would be reckoned with transgressors might be fulfilled (Lk 22:37). Peter cut off the right ear of Malchus, a servant of the high priest, when Judas came with enemies to arrest Jesus (Jn 18:10); and Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me? (Jn 18:11)" Lk 22:51, Jesus said, "No more of this!" And he touched Malchus' ear and healed him. Mt 26:50-52, Jesus warned his disciples, "All who take the sword will perish by the sword." Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. Jesus was arrested, tried, crucified, and died but three days later resurrected.

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Some of the people who misunderstand Christianity are obsessed with the wrong prejudice that Christianity is a cruel religion. Some people think Yahweh religion of the Old Testament is cruel when they see his (Yahweh's) order, in the days of the conquest of Canaan, that all inhabitants, young and old, male and female, be put to death. Some people identify Christians with greedy conquerors when they saw how cruelly North and South American Indians were conquered. Furthermore, Jesus who is the Head of the church and the Master of Christianity says to his disciples that they had better sell clothes and buy a sword if they do not have one, so that Jesus and his disciples may look like an illegal group of violence. But as it was Jesus ordered his disciples to put the sword in its sheath when people came to arrest him, and healed the ear when one of his disciples cut it off in a fit of anger.

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These acts of Jesus show the true Christianity. Christianity is not a religion of cruel conquest as the rumor says. Christianity is not a religion that worships power and sword. The relationship between Christianity and sword is well defined in the words of Jesus about the sword. "All who take the sword will perish by the sword." In other words, Christianity is not a religion of ideology that supports the policy of greedy conquerors. Therefore, tyrants trying to conquer Christianity with the sword have misunderstood Christianity greatly. If Christianity had been a religion of the sword, it might have been conquered the moment the soldiers sent by the high priest conquered Jesus by force. But as Christianity was not a religion of the sword, the soldiers of the high priest didn't exterminate Christianity but gave birth to Christianity when they arrested Jesus. Christianity is not a warrior class with the sword.

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On the contrary, If Christianity, forgetting its identity, attempts to exert Christian excellence by sword, Christianity will ruin. We can not expand Christianity by taking the sword of the world. There are many kinds of the sword. Political power can be a sword. What if Christianity holds political power? It will rot with politics. Economic power can be a sword. If Christianity gets economic power ...? It will rot away with money. The power of Christianity can not be identified with political power or gold. (Again, Jesus says plainly, "If church takes the sword of politics or economy, it will perish therewith.") Christianity must teach the people in politics and economy by the words of God so that God's justice may be there. If Christianity forgets this role and seeks to collude with political power and money power and finds its identity therein, it will surely undergo a process of corruption and become a subject of reform. This is the death sentence for Christianity. If Christianity becomes the subject of reform in the society, Christianity taking root therein has already gone to ruin. If the church is the subject of reform, it is already a dead church. If the clergy are the reform targets, they are already dead men. There are many wicked people in the world; therefore, if Christianity is greedy for the worldly things, evil people would join forces with Christianity to gain the world. When the evil people corrupt, Christianity that is in a boat with them will corrupt. Be careful! Christianity should not have the sword of the world, or it will ruin unawares. Christianity must protect and embrace the underprivileged weak people who are suffering from violent swords of the world. It should be their shield.

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Jesus asked his disciples to prepare a sword for another purpose, besides the purpose that the words of the Scripture be fulfilled. Jesus wanted his disciples to realize that his kingdom was not a kingdom with the worldly political power. Jesus told the disciples to prepare especially a sword, and stopped them from using the sword when the soldiers came to arrest him, because he wanted to emphasize that his kingdom would not be established by the sword. Herewith the disciples thoroughly woke from the vain political dream that they would hold high offices when Jesus became a king. The disciples learned from a bitter experience that Christians are bound to be defeated and chased if they try to establish Christianity by swords. one of them fled naked in a great panic (Mk 14:52). It's a shame! If you, as a Christian, wield a sword to show the power of Christianity in a country, you will be driven away by the powerful men with real dreadful power and sword. The secular nations will attack Christianity if they think it has the sword. If the worldly nations see Christianity have love, justice and peace rather than the sword, they will not be hostile to Christianity and will incline their ears to the teachings of Christianity, and plant it in every part of the society; of course, if the heads of the nations are conscientious politicians with a sane mind.

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On the other hand, in the Bible today, we see Jesus take care of Peter's mistakes. Peter didn't know that Jesus' kingdom would not be established by violence or political resistance but by Jesus' crucifixion and the gospel of his love for the world. So Peter acted as his disposition led him and cut off with his sword the ear of one of those who had come to seize Jesus. But Jesus, by healing the hurt man, covered up the fault of Peter who had misunderstood Jesus for a while and mistook. Yes, Jesus is the Lord of us Believers. If we make mistakes while working hard on God's work, Jesus himself will answer for our mistakes and settle the case. Brethren, do God's work conscientiously, carefully and zealously, as you are taught. The good result will be your lot and the bad result, if it should happen, will be well handled by our Lord Jesus. The Master has to answer for all that the servant does. Everything will work for the good of God if you, with that faith, do your best in what the Lord has entrusted to you. What kind of person has Peter made after such a big mistake? Of course, he might have become a nice Christian leader who generously forgave others' mistakes, and did his best to deal with the bad results due to others' mistakes, assuming the responsibility for them to himself. As you know, Peter frequently made mistakes, but once he has learned something, he does it well without mistake. Mistake itself is a process of learning. After several minor collisions, a driver is more careful about driving and can avoid major accidents. If you have made a mistake, and if you can't settle it alone, please do not give up in despair, but pray to God like this. "Jesus, I blundered because I was stupid. This happened in the desire to do Lord's work more passionately. Lord, forgive my fault and cover my mistakes. Lord, take responsibility for this for me." Of course, it is a practical faith to throw away worry and anxiety after this prayer.

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Jesus taught his disciples that he had stronger power than their swords. >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 should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so? (Mt 26:52-54)"< one legion is an army unit of 3,000 to 6,000 soldiers. Twelve legions of angels refer to a large number of angels. Even one angel can simply annihilate tens of thousands of God's enemies. Game or war is already meaningless for the twelve legions of angels. This is the real situation, but disciples of Jesus, not knowing the situation, are making a fuss to do God's work with a few rusty swords! Brethren, how strong is Jesus? So he could be seized and crucified to death by dust-like humans although he possessed unlimited power and ability. A conquers the enemies of B by force. A provides B with hundreds of millions of won (Korean money). A who can do both goes to jail instead of B. My brethren, we can see the true power of A in the third case. The crucified Jesus is a true strong man. And when it comes to swords, Jesus' sword is far better than that of the disciples. Jesus has the sharp two-edged sword (Rev 2:12). From his mouth issues the sharp two-edged sword (Rev 1:16). This sword is enough for the work of God. The only true power of Christianity is the words of Jesus that separate truth from falsehood, and eternal life from eternal punishment. If Christians try to defeat the world with several worldly swords, they can not use the sword of Jesus and will be horribly defeated by the worldly enemies. The most common worldly sword used by Christians is their own wisdom. You will never defeat the world with that kind of sword. The means by which Christianity overcomes the world is the sharp sword of Jesus. If we confront the world with his words of truth, the power of falsity of Devil will be gone and Christianity will have the upper hand. The Devil also has a kind of wisdom; so if Christians approach him with the worldly sword, at first he will pretend to be defeated, but will give them a decisive blow to subdue them when he seizes a golden opportunity. But if we have the sword of Jesus, our victory is only a matter of time. How gravely important is the salvation of the human beings? However, Jesus thoroughly solved this critical problem in three days. Three days passed from the time when Devil tried to arrest and kill Jesus with the help of political gangsters including high priests, to the time when Jesus resurrected. Therefore I can say this to you: if Jesus delayed the day of your victory for more than three days, he deliberately did so to give you a greater prize. How can you get a big prize if you win easily? All of you know that!

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Christians must cut off the affected parts of the world with the sword of Jesus and cure it. They should cut off the rotting, pus-producing parts. Nowadays, obscene culture is spreading all over the world. This smelling rotten part should be removed from the society. The power of Christianity lies in the sword of Jesus to cut off the evil of the society. Of course, we must remove with this sword all bad aspects of our Christian life such as pride, arrogance, envy, etc., so that only the will to be obedient to God may remain in us. This is the good example Jesus our Savior showed us. Jesus gave up all except obedience to God, and drank the cup the Father had given him. We can be as strong as Jesus if we abandon all our worldly merits and have only a will to obey God.

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Let us throw away our worldly swords and prepare the sword of Jesus. Let's read the Bible every day so that both blades of the sword are sharpened most. Jesus says, "If you have no money, sell your clothes and buy a sword." This means that you have to be a fully armed strong Christian even if you look shabby. Have you ever been humiliated while using your own secular sword haughtily before? Then use only the sword of Jesus from now on. Then you will surely win. You can inflict with Jesus’ sword here in Korea a fatal wound on the servants of Devil who are hostile to the missionaries in Africa. For a man of great faith, Jesus' sword is more powerful than nuclear bombs. He is like a tiger with wings. May Jesus, the King of kings, give you the sharp two-edged sword so that you may always win in God.

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Chong Tack Kim

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                                      - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -