(49)  When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?

(50)  And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

(51)  And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

(52)  Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

(53)  When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

Luke 22:49-53

Explanation:

The 11 disciples besides Judas were there, too.  They saw and perceived what was about to happen, and so they ask a pertinent question.  “Lord shall we smite with the sword?”.  They had been talking about swords with Jesus earlier that night in the upper room after the passover meal.  Look earlier in the chapter at verse 35:

(35)  And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.

Luke 22:35-36

As part of the discipleship process that Jesus had sent the disciples out two-by-two.  It wasn’t just the 12, either.  There were more.

(1)  After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

(2)  Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

(3)  Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

(4)  Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

Luke 10:1-4

When they went out here in Luke 10, God told them not to take those things.  He wanted them to learn to trust the Lord for what they needed.  But in chapter 22, He told them something different because the times were changing.  Look at verse 36:

(36)  Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

Luke 22:36

Why was this necessary?  Why was Jesus saying that now they should have a sword?

(37)  For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.

Luke 22:37

Jesus had told them that the Old Testament was prophesying that He would be reckoned “among the transgressors”.  Jesus was about to be treated as a criminal.  This meant that it was in God’s will for Him to be arrested, tried, and killed.  This wasn’t the first time that Jesus had told them, including Peter, what would happen to him.

(18)  And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?

(19)  They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again.

(20)  He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.

(21)  And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing;

(22)  Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

Luke 9:18-22

In a parallel passage in Mark when Jesus had told them these things, Peter rebuked Jesus for it.

(31)  And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

(32)  And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

(33)  But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Mark 8:31-33

So when the chief priests and elders of the temple came out with their guards, the disciples should have known that this was coming.  They should have understood that this was all a part of God’s plan.  Peter should have understood that Jesus was to be numbered with the transgressors, but instead He was still trying to fight.  The reason Jesus told them to sell their cloak and buy a sword was to let them know that there would be a time of persecution coming for those who were following Jesus.  They needed something for personal defense, not to wage war in order to bring in a kingdom.  If they could arrest and try the leader, then they would not stop in going after His followers.

Yet Peter and the others don’t get it.  He goes in for the kill trying to take the guys head off.  He only gets the ear, and what happened?  Jesus puts the mans ear back on His head.  “The revolution” won’t work if the leader keeps healing His enemies.

Notice also that Jesus confronts them with a relevant question:

(52)  Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?

(53)  When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

To reword His reasoning, we can think of it like this:  “You’re treating me like a criminal?  If I had really committed an obvious crime, you could have arrested me in broad daylight with everyone there.  When I was in the temple you didn’t arrest me, but now you come out to arrest me with all manner of weapons- swords and spears?  I guess that is what you have to do.  You have to come to get me in secret, in the dark, because that is who is leading you- the power of darkness.  This is your time to do what you have come to do.”

This section is frought with disbelief.  There is the disbelief of Judas that is evidence in his betrayal of Jesus.  There is disbelief in the apostles, as they are trying to institute Jesus’ kingdom and defend Jesus in mans reasoning and philosophy and not according to what Jesus had taught them.  There is the disbelief of the religious leaders and their guards who were coming out in the midst of the dark to do the works of darkness.  In another parallel passage it is recorded that when Jesus spoke to this band of guards that had come to arrest him they had all fallen down.  They ignored this power and His healing of one of them, and still arrested Him for the crime of claiming to be God.  Talk about a lack of faith.

Application:

Disbelief is a root cause of spiritual failure.  When we fail to believe what God says and act on that, we are going to go in the wrong direction.

So, How do we see our faith grow?

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

Response:

Do you have a plan to get into the Word of God?

Do you have a habit of getting something out of the Word of God?

Do you have a habit of applying the Word of God to your life?  This is what you need.