Sword and Spirit
Dwight A. Moody
June 9, 2022
Part two: Jesus and Guns
Introduction
In 1889, Charles Sheldon was installed as pastor of Central Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas. Seven years later, he adopted the tactic of replacing his Sunday evening sermon with a story, creating characters that sought to confront the challenges of life by answering the simple question, What Would Jesus Do? The story series proved popular, filled his sanctuary, and motivated him to print the series as a novel with the title In His Steps. That little book has sold more than 50 million copies, making it one of the most popular books of all time: not quite like the Harry Potter series, or The Hobbit, or even the Narnia stories; but still, that is a lot of books.
The question What Would Jesus Do? made a comeback one hundred years later when all manner of apparel and trinkets were sold featuring that question of moral discernment. Plastic wristbands in a multitude of colors were especially popular. But many contemporary moral quandaries challenged the capacity of that simple phrase and the decision-making process it implies to suffice.
Originally, the question was connected to what was known as Christian Socialism, challenging individuals to handle their ethical dilemmas one on one. But today’s moral climate is focused not only of individual issues of personal discipline and responsibility but also great social issues, like racism, poverty, and violence. These, we now know, are larger and more powerful than any single person can navigate alone. They involve large social systems and cultural norms, personal practices and public policy. The best example is slavery and segregation, but also in the mix is the gun culture of the United States. When we ask the question What Would Jesus Do About Guns? the answer comes to both individuals and to communities, to families and to cities, to organizations and to an entire country. What would Jesus do about guns and gun violence in the United States?
Jesus and the Empire
One way to answer the question of today—What would Jesus Do about Guns?—is begin with the gospel accounts of Jesus and review what they reveal about weapons, violence, and empire.
First, we must recognize that the ancient weapons of choice were knives and swords, and these appear occasionally in the New Testament literature. According to the gospel of Matthew, Judas strikes a deal with the authorities and comes to seize Jesus accompanied by “a crowd of men armed with swords and clubs.” When they take hold of Jesus, one of the men with Jesus (he is not called a disciple or an apostle) draws his sword and strikes another person in defense of Jesus.
Second, we have no record of Jesus owning a weapon, carrying a weapon, or using a weapon, even though weapons were common possessions. But there are several episodes involving Jesus in which swords played a role. Luke records that as Jesus prepared for his impending confrontation with the authorities (and their bullies), he said this to his disciples, “Take you money and a traveler’s bag. If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” When his followers said, “We have two swords among us” Jesus responded, “That is enough.” It is unsure what Jesus meant by this exchange, as when the time came for his arrest, he rebuked his disciples for drawing and using a sword, saying famously, “Those who use the sword will die by the sword.” He then went on to explain that if he so desired he could call upon the angels for protection.
Third, Jesus ignored weapons when he gave his disciples directions about their gospel mission. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes.” He challenged them to find hospitality (and all their needed supplies) in the homes of those who were receptive to the gospel message. In other words, neither he nor his disciples found weapons (swords) a useful possession in doing kingdom work. This, of course, coheres with the very message of the kingdom: listening to people, responding with kindness and compassion, calling people to repent and embrace values and practices of the rule of God. Shalom was (and is) the operative word in gospel work.
If we wish to do what Jesus did in relation to weapons, we will set them aside and give our attention to other things, such as faith, hope, and love.
Jesus and the Zealots
The connection of Jesus to his immediate Jewish environment in and around Galilee and Jerusalem is not the only dynamic of importance. The Jews (and therefore Jesus) lived under the authority of one of the great empires of world history. Roman conquered the world by the skill of its miliary and managed centuries of relative calm by the sheer power of its soldiers and their weapons.
Jesus saw this part of the social structure every day. Nazareth itself was not far from Sepphoris, a center of foreign activity; Capernaum was not far from Tiberius, another center of imperial power; and Roman soldiers were never far from sight anywhere you went in Jerusalem, headquartered as they were in a structure that overlooked Temple Mount. The gospel records tell of a soldier approaching Jesus for help. Luke, for instance, tells the story of the Roman centurion who had strong enough faith to ask Jesus to simply speak (rather than actually attending to his dying daughter in person); Jesus marveled at the faith of the centurion.
Jesus taught his followers to pay their taxes to the empire and to treat Roman soldiers as people who needed the mercy of God. He also taught them to resist the nationalistic movements seeking to overthrow the Romans.
These insurrectionists were known as Zealots. The Jewish historian Josephus described the Zealots (along with other Jewish movements, such as the Essenes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, each with its own strategy for flourishing under Roman rule). Jews had a long history of rebellion, beginning with the Exodus itself and running through its history right down to the time of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles records the words of Gamaliel to the Jewish high council about a certain Theudas who led a freedom movement followed by Judas of Galilee who led another one. Matthews tells of Herod’s fear when he heard of the birth of “the king of the Jews” and his effort to kill the baby Jesus. This anxiety about insurrection followed Jesus throughout his ministry, before and after he named Simon the Zealot as one of his lead disciples; it was a major factor in his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, a form of capital punishment largely reserved for the crime of sedition.
An important piece of this political puzzle relates to this history of Jewish rebellion. Jesus predicted another rebellion, one that would worse than all others; it would occur soon—perhaps in the lifetime of those first disciples. This is the essential message of what is known as his Great Prophetic Discourse, in Matthew chapters 24 and 25. “You see all these beautiful buildings?” Jesus asked, pointing to the Jewish temple. “They will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left upon another.” When his disciples asked for clarification, Jesus said, “the day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the desecration of the Holy of Holies in the Temple.” Then he added this command to his disciples: “Flee to the mountains.”
In other words, do not join the insurrection. Get out of town. It’s going to be bad. “For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began.”
When the rebellion finally came, in the year 66 (and again in the year 124), the followers of Jesus—the Christians—refused to join the rebellion. They fled Jerusalem. They got out of town. They knew the kingdom described by Jesus was not what the rebels had in mind, nor what Jesus had in mind. The end of the Jewish war of 66-70 was the fall of Masada and the fall of Jerusalem. The Roman legions crushed the Jewish rebels. Rebel swords were not enough to combat the well-trained, well-armed soldiers of the Roman Empire.
Jesus For Us Today
How does this brief survey help us discern our role in today’s political and military contest? How does the example of Jesus point a way forward for those of us today who take seriously the famous question ask more than a century ago?
First, it demonstrates that Jesus carried no weapon and used no weapon. Ever. He was not part of an insurrectionist movement (although I recognize that some scholars claim that he was, a connection later obscured by the religion that emerged under the leadership of Paul the Apostle). Not only did he not connect with the rebels of his time, he urged his followers to ignore them as well.
Second, everything in the teaching of Jesus pushes back against violence at every point. Jesus consistently chose conversation and dialogue as an avenue to community; he preached kindness and compassion to those different than he was.
Third, Jesus practiced non-violence in response to the very people who sought to do him harm. Jesus knew of their plots against him; he sensed the growing impatience of those in power against his populist and spiritual movement. “My kingdom is not of his world,” he said during his trial; what he meant is that the values and practices of the human community he envisioned are not secured by armed rebellion or by the isolated act of weaponized activity. The kingdom of God does not come by force, by power, by armies, by weapons, by swords, by guns. Jesus intentionally and consistently chose another way, the way of the peaceable kingdom, the say of shalom, the way of non-violence, the way of God.
This perspective on Jesus does not answer all the questions nor solve all the problems. It does not deal with the role of private or public security, of standing armies, of resistance to wickedness of all sorts. But it does present Jesus as a person of peace who had no need of swords and shields. He gladly laid down his life for others, for you and me, rather than take up arms to protect himself.
This is the reason why advocates of guns—making guns, selling guns, owning guns, or using guns—rarely if ever appeal to Jesus as a role model. The story of Jesus cannot be twisted enough to provide moral justification for the gun culture in the United States today. Any drawing of Jesus that has him packing heat, as they say, are shocking to the senses and rightly so. Advocates may appeal to other portions of the Bible, just illustrating once again the importance of this interpretative principle: it is not what you affirm about the Bible but what you emphasize in the Bible that shapes your religion, your spirituality, your community.
Emphasizing the words and deeds of Jesus is surely at the center of all Christian discernment, and this discernment leads us faithfully and firmly to turn our backs on the possession and use of weapons. Our calling to follow Jesus takes us in a different direction, leads us on a different path. Jesus himself called it a narrow way, but he also called it a way that leads to life.
