Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 22:38

"And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough." — Luke 22:38 (ASV)

This short passage is difficult to interpret, with two problems in particular: (1) the problem of Jesus’ apparent support for using weapons, which is hard to reconcile with his words to Peter when the latter used the sword (Matthew 26:52); and (2) the seeming reversal of the instructions Jesus gave the Twelve and the seventy-two on their missions (9:1–3; 10:1–3). Thus there is a question as to which principle regarding the use of force is normative for the church.

While some solve their problems by taking Jesus’ words as ironical, this is not the best solution. Any approach to a solution must take into account the fact that later, when the disciples were armed with these swords, Jesus opposed their use (vv.49–51). Moreover, the tone of v.52 is nonmilitant. Verse 36 clearly refers back to 10:4, the sending of the seventy-two. In v.35 there seems to be an affirmation of the principle of nonmilitance in the question “Did you lack anything?” Yet a contrast is also clearly intended. What Jesus seems to be doing is making an exception for this time of crisis. Since he told them not to buy more swords than they had (v.38), and since two were hardly enough to defend the group, the swords may simply be a vivid symbol of impending crisis, not intended for actual use.

Verse 37a is one of several clear quotations of Isa 53 in the NT.