“One of those with Jesus reached for his sword. Striking the high priest’s slave, he cut off his ear. Then Jesus said, ‘Put the sword back into its place. All those who use the sword will die by the sword.” - Matthew 26:51-52, CEB
A few years ago, I realized these were the last words that Jesus spoke to his disciples before his crucifixion. And I wasn’t in seminary when this fact came to my attention. Instead, I was in Bethlehem, Israel, in the Palestinian Territories or the West Bank as we call it. It hung on a wall of a school, reminding the occupants that Christ commands us to be people of peace.
Again, in a strange sort of way, this is one of the scenes I enjoy the most about the Passion story. Christ easily could have called multitudes of angels to help him, like Matthew goes on to say, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t react in violence. Instead, he shows us a better way.
I know there are plenty of things that get my blood boiling. I get fired up over the most insignificant details of life at times. But the reality is that I follow a Savior who never used violence against another human being, not even in that scary situation in which he had to defend himself. Instead, he trusted God. May God continue to grow and I, so that we too would have that level of trust.
Blessings,
B
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