For the things concerning Me have an end

 

 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."

And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end."  So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."  And He said to them, "It is enough."

 

- Luke 22:31–38 

 

Yesterday we read that when the hour had come to eat the Passover, Jesus sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.  Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."  Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"  Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.  Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.  And He said to them, "The kings of Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called 'benefactors.'  But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.  For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves?  Is it not he who sits at the table?  Yet I am among you as the One who serves.  But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.  And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

 

  And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon!  Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."  But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."  In the first two verses here, my study bible notes for us that the form of the word "you" changes.  In the first verse, in which Jesus says that Satan has asked for you, "you" is plural.  This means that Jesus is saying "Satan has asked for" all the disciples.  But the "you" in the next verse, when Jesus says, "I have prayed for you" is singular, meaning that Jesus has prayed especially for Simon Peter.  A note says that because Peter's faith was the strongest, he would be tested the most.  Regarding what Jesus refers to when He tells Peter "when you have returned to Me," see John 21:15-17.  "Strengthen your brethren" refers not simply to the other disciples, but to all the faithful until Christ returns.  Christ's prophecy regarding the rooster's crow will manifest after His arrest (Luke 22:54-62).  

And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?"  So they said, "Nothing."  Then He said to them, "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.  For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me:  'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end."  So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords."  And He said to them, "It is enough."  My study bible says that the sword which Christ mentions is not to be understood literally (compare to vv. 49-51), but rather refers to the living word of God in the battle against sin (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12).  St. Ambrose gives us an additional meaning:  to give up one's garment and buy a sword is a reference to surrendering the body to the sword of martyrdom.  As the disciples were thinking literally of swords, Jesus abruptly ends this discussion by saying, "It is enough," which is better translated, "Enough of this!"  (see Deuteronomy 3:26, Mark 14:41).  

Jesus warns the disciples, yet one more time, of what is to come.  He tells them, "the things concerning me have an end," letting them know again what is coming by quoting from the prophesy of Isaiah:  "And He was numbered with the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12).  Jesus will be taken as a criminal and sentenced to the death penalty reserved for the worst criminals in the Roman Empire.  He will be hung on a Cross, carry a curse in His own people's eyes, and His movement will be subject to hostility and persecution.  It's easily possible to believe that this is what He was referring to in telling the disciples that they must now carry moneybag, knapsack, and sword -- as these are images of those who will be traveling and must prepare themselves for travel in places among those hostile to them, and unwelcoming.  He may also be preparing them for the time that begins here with the Passion, with His Crucifixion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension, the "end time" which is the epoch we have been in since that time.  For this is a time in which judgment is being facilitated through the work of the Holy Spirit and the word of the Gospel.  We are in a time which is essentially one of testing for all people, and indeed, we might even call it a time of the sword in a symbolic sense.  That is because the word of God itself is understood as such.  St. Paul writes, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).  Revelation describes "one like the Son of Man" in metaphorical imagery:  "He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength" (Revelation 1:16).  This sharp two-edged sword coming out of His mouth is clearly the word of God, the same thing to which St. Paul is referring in similar language.  That "two-edged sword" is one of judgment, because it is how we fall upon that word, so to speak, that determines where we are.  Do we embrace its truth?  Or do we cut against that sharp side?  Like St. Paul says, it pierces even to the division of soul and spirit . . . and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  This is the language of God's judgment, of that "one like the Son of Man," for it is the Son of Man who will judge, based upon His capacity for discernment and understanding and the knowledge of our hearts, and depending upon how we all respond to that word and to the work of the Spirit in the world in this age, this time of the end.  It is this age in which we live, and have lived during the entirety of the period of the Church.  We must consider Christ's words to the disciples, as they are the ones who will be sent out as His apostles on all the roads of the Roman Empire and into the known world and beyond, bringing the word of God as they travel among strangers and those who will persecute them, sowing the seeds of that word.  As we go about our lives today, some of us know Christians who face persecution even in those lands where Christianity first took root.  Let us consider the powerful words of warning that Christ tells the disciples, and remember also the metaphorical meaning of this sword of truth, and consider how we will respond today.  The apostles responded through evangelization, and our mission remains the same, with the same warnings, and following the same Son of Man for whom "the things concerning Me have an end."  Each of us, in our own way, must follow along that road, and take up that same sword of truth.