Matthew 26:51,52
Thomas Manton was a seventeenth-century
pastor who frequently warned his congregation about partial zeal. It is a
dangerous trap into which we are all tempted to fall. The Pharisees fell into
it with their love for the fourth commandment (remember the Sabbath). They
became so in love with defending this single commandment that they failed to
realize the greater importance of healing a man who had had a handicap for
thirty-eight years. Partial zeal becomes our enemy because it squeezes out
other important truths. It happens when our theology gets out of balance.
The apostle Paul reminds the Ephesians in
Acts 20:27 that he did not hold back from “declaring the whole council of God”
in his teaching. It is important that teaching be balanced and includes all of
the truth in balance. When truth gets out of balance, it can become misleading
and even evolve into false teaching. We all live with the danger in this.
Pacificism is a concept that frequently
falls to this danger. It cannot be taught from Scripture. There is a sling,
five stones and a dead giant in the Old Testament that stands as a mark that a
“man after God’s own heart” may take up arms and not deny his stand before God.
There is no place in Scripture where violence is universally condemned, but it
certainly needs to be kept in its proper place.
Our text presents us with a statement
(all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword) that, if taken out
of context, could and has been used to teach non-violence. If this statement
does not teach pacificism, then what does it teach? There is truth here that is
worthy of our investigation.
One of the first questions that cuts
itself into our interpretation is the appearance of a sword in the hand where a
fishing net would be more appropriately found. What is Peter doing with a
sword? Is this an indication of premeditation on the part of Peter? Perhaps
not. Peter could rarely be justifiably accused of premeditation of anything. He
never filed his income tax before April 15. He is a classic last-minute man -
Mr. Impulsive. His hand always was quicker than his brain.
The Greek term here for sword is the term
used for the shorter sword. It could perhaps more accurately be translated as
dagger. Perhaps it was part of Peter’s normal attire. Maybe it was simply his
favorite knife with which he used to clean fish. You certainly must not picture
eleven men with Jesus on that night with one of them having a full-length sword
in its sheath strapped to his side.
The ear on the ground stands for the
record that the fisherman was not very good at using his twelve-inch weapon. He
got the wrong person in the wrong place. Attacking a soldier in the hand would
have been a much better target. Jesus politely picks up the severed appendage
and puts it back on the man’s head where it belongs and says to his disciple,
“Cut that out! We do not live by the
sword!”
Matthew 26:51,52
INTRODUCTION
INSTRUCTION
I. Grace & truth:
Mark 14:47
Luke 22:50
John 18:10
A. Grace is
B. Truth is
C. Security is
II. Living in relationship
A. Listening
B. Loving
C. Letting
III. Avoiding dangerous dependency
A. Work is the
B. Work is the
C. Work is the