Jesus advising the disciples to buy a sword in Luke 22:36: “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”

First, let’s look at a Gospel setting in which Christ absolutely endorses self-defense. “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into (Luke 12:39). ” Isn’t Jesus saying here that violence – or certainly the threat of violence – is not just the reasonable, but even the responsible, option to take in protecting one’s property, never mind one’s person or one’s family?

Then, we have this next quotation from the Gospel of Mark: “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man (3:27).” Now, why would the bad guy have to bind the strong man? Obviously, because the strong man would otherwise do all he could to keep the bad guy out! And again, that’s just to protect property.

As if to confirm Mark’s Gospel, we find these additional words of Christ in the Gospel of Luke: “When the strong man, fully armed, guards his courtyard, his property is undisturbed (11:21).” In case anyone still doesn’t get the point, it is not enough simply to defend yourself when the situation arises; you should be armed and ready to defend even your property. And this, of course, is what Jesus told his disciples to do shortly before he was taken prisoner when he told them to make sure they had swords: arm yourselves and be ready.

Read the complete post by Lars Larsen here: 0riginal post https://www.ktsa.com/does-jesus-christ-support-self-defense/