God’s Mission Triumphs Through Prayerful Suffering

Did you know that the five martyrs who were speared to death in Ecuador on January 8, 1956 — Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian — had guns? During the attack by the Huaorani, at least one of them shot his gun in the air. But none of them shot at the natives in self-defense. Why not? (They had agreed on this ahead of time; it was a principle, not a mere impulse.) First, it was because Christ conquered by suffering and death, not self-defense, and called us to deny ourselves and shoulder our cross, not shoot our gun. Second, they said, “The natives are not ready for heaven, and we are” (see End of the Spear, 35).

Had they saved their lives by killing their attackers, would those five valiant, Christ-exalting servants of Christ have spent their next fifty years of missionary service any more fruitfully for God’s saving purposes than what God wrought through their deaths? Surely none of us would dare to say such a thing.

I’m going to try to show you from Luke 22:35–53 that the mission of the church — to call people from all the ethnic groups in the world to repentance and faith in Jesus — triumphs through prayerful suffering, not self-defense.

This is not a message about the biblical legitimacy of a police force and a military, both of which God has invested with the sword, according to Romans 13:4. It’s about the mindset of countercultural Christians, who are sojourners and exiles in this world (1 Peter 2:11), who represent a kingdom that is not of this world (John 18:36), who say with the apostle Paul, “When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat” (1 Corinthians 4:12–13). It’s about a mindset that does not say, while preaching the sacrifice of Christ, “Don’t mess with me; I’ve got a gun.” Instead, it says (in the words of Revelation 12:11), “They have conquered [the evil one] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”

Scenes of Sovereign Care

This drama unfolds in Luke 22:35–53 through four scenes. I’ll give you names for each and then we will walk through them.

• Scene 1 (Luke 22:35–38): God’s sovereign care through suffering, not sword
• Scene 2 (Luke 22:39–46): God’s sovereign care through prayer, not sleep
• Scene 3 (Luke 22:47–51): God’s sovereign care rejected
• Scene 4 (Luke 22:52–53): God’s sovereign care through temporary demonic triumph

I’m using the word sovereign because God is manifestly in absolute control throughout these scenes. We see it at the beginning, in Luke 22:37: “This Scripture must be fulfilled.” We see it at the end (Luke 22:53), where Jesus says to the evil forces, “You get one hour.” We see it in the middle (Luke 22:42), where he says, “Your will be done, not mine.”

And I’m using the word care because, from beginning to end, Luke is telling this story to strengthen his disciples for the mission, which will involve suffering but will have God’s care through it all. We will see this as we go.

Scene 1: Sovereign Care Through Suffering

And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.” (Luke 22:35–38)

What’s going on here is that Jesus is preparing his disciples — indeed, his church — for a radical shift from a local, Palestine-oriented, village-to-village, three-year ministry where they could depend on hospitality and didn’t need a moneybag or a knapsack or extra sandals, to a global mission extending for thousands of miles in totally unknown territories, climates, languages, and dangers. He will announce this mission to them explicitly in Luke 24:46–47:

Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

So, there will be a radical alteration in mission from local, familiar Jewish ministry to global world evangelization among all the peoples of the world. And he captures the newness of this mission with his instructions: “Now go get a moneybag and a knapsack and a sword.”

But the question Jesus asks in verse 35 is, “Did you lack anything [in my service]?” The answer was no. Did Jesus mean, then, in verse 36, “I took care of you when you had no moneybag or knapsack, but now you have to take care of yourselves, hence the money and the sword”?

“The mission of the church triumphs through prayerful suffering, not self-defense.”

Surely not. He didn’t call attention to the Father’s sovereign care for the last three years just to pull the rug out from under them as he sends them into the world. It’s just the opposite. “As you were cared for then, so you’ll be cared for now — only, it’s a radically new situation globally.” And this is the main reason it’s new, in verse 37 (quoting Isaiah 53:12): “He was numbered with the transgressors.”

New Intercession, New Mission

Here’s the verse in Isaiah:

He poured out his soul to death
     and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
     and makes intercession for the transgressors.

As Jesus quotes from this verse, notice the “must” at the beginning of Luke 22:37: “This Scripture must be fulfilled in me.” And there is certainty at the end of the verse: “What is written about me has its fulfillment.” In other words, “My time to die has come. And it is absolutely certain that it will happen, for God has spoken.”

We need to feel the tension of this moment. Judas has made a pact with the chief priests (verse 5). Jesus has said at the Last Supper, “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes” (verse 18). And he has said to Peter, “The rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me” (verse 34).

In other words, “Brothers, this is it. Tonight, it all comes to a head. Your global mission will be established today, in the next 24 hours. And here’s how it’s going to happen: I will be numbered with the transgressors — any minute. I will be counted as a criminal. And when they kill me, I will bear the sin of many, and I will intercede for transgressors rather than defending myself from them.”

He’s saying, “This is why I’m alerting you to the new situation. God will care for you, just like he is going to care for me in these next hours. I will accomplish more for your eternal care in these next hours than you could ever imagine. But we are not on a crusade to conquer with the sword. We will conquer through suffering.”

Swords for the Mission?

Here’s a key question: Why did Luke include verse 38? “And they said, ‘Look, Lord, here are two swords.’ And he said to them, ‘It is enough.’” Luke could have gone straight from verse 37 (“I’m going to be counted with transgressors”) to verse 39 (“He went with them to the Mount of Olives and prayed”). Why circle back to the sword?

It’s to show how badly they misunderstand him. They can feel what’s about to happen: “He just told us to get swords, and he just said that he’s about to be counted as a criminal. So, who has a sword? Okay, good! We have two. Jesus, we don’t have as many as you said, but we have two, so we’ll do the best we can to protect you.”

What does Jesus mean when he responds, “It is enough” (verse 38)? It’s singular, not plural. He doesn’t say, “Two is enough. Don’t forget, I’m God. We’ll manage fine with two swords.” He says, “It’s enough. That’s enough” — in view of what’s about to happen in verse 50, when Peter takes one of those swords and chops off the servant’s ear, to which Jesus says, “Time out,” and puts the ear back on (interceding for the transgressor!).

I think what he means here in verse 38 is this: “You have missed my meaning so badly that we’re not going to talk about this anymore tonight. We’re done. There is no time. I’ve got business to do in prayer with my Father, and you are going to have to learn the hard way.”

Whatever those swords were for (or the missionaries’ guns), they were not for defending Jesus. And by implication, they’re not for defending the representatives of Jesus in their Christlike ministry. This is why, in the book of Acts (which Luke himself wrote), not once do you find a Christian using the sword to defend himself from stoning, or lashing, or mob violence, or imprisonment.

The message of scene 1 is this: “Whether you live or whether you die, trust me and you will have God’s sovereign care through suffering, not sword.”

Scene 2: Sovereign Care Through Prayer

They leave the upper room and go to the Mount of Olives. At the beginning of the scene, in verse 40, Jesus says to the disciples, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And at the end of the scene, in verse 46, he says, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

I take that to mean: “Listen, my dear, dear disciples: The mission that I am sending you on (even tonight) is going to test you and tempt you to the limit of your abilities. The only way you will be able to carry it out is with the sovereign strengthening of God, sought and found through prayer, not sleeping. Just like you need to follow me on the Calvary road of suffering [scene 1], so you need to follow me on the Gethsemane road of prayer [scene 2]. I’m going to get strength for the next hours of temptation through prayer. You must do the same, or you will fail.”

So, here’s what Luke tells us about Jesus’s praying:

[He prayed,] saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:42–44)

There is some evidence that verses 43–44 are not in all the oldest manuscripts. In other words, it may be that Luke didn’t write them. But I’m treating them as authentic, first, because they are the sort of thing a scribe would be tempted to take out rather than put in, since they focus so much on Jesus’s weakness; and second, because they fit the flow of Luke’s thought so well.

Jesus’s human nature recoils from the prospect of nails going through his hands, thorns piercing his skull, a whip lashing his back, and all the horror of bearing the sins of man and the wrath of God. It is incomprehensible to us the degree to which Jesus will suffer in those next hours. There is nothing sinful in expressing his horror at this prospect to his Father and then submitting utterly to the Father’s sovereign, all-wise, gracious will.

After he submits to God in verse 42, verse 43 says an angel from heaven appears to him and strengthens him. Remember, he has a human nature as well as a divine nature. In his human nature, he models for us how to live as humans. We need God’s strengthening to avoid being defeated by temptation and trials. So did Jesus.

“We are not on a crusade to conquer with the sword. We will conquer through suffering.”

So, when the angel strengthens him, what happens in verse 44? “Being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” The strengthening from God does not replace his prayer; it empowers his prayer to endure with bloody earnestness.

What does he pray with such earnestness? Here’s what Hebrews 5:7 says:

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.

If we take Gethsemane as a chief instance where this kind of crying with tears happens, what he is praying for is this: “O God, please don’t let my human nature give way under the awful pressure of this suffering. Don’t let death conquer me rather than me conquering death. Don’t let the horrors of death tomorrow destroy my faith or my obedience, but save me from such an obedience-destroying death. Give me victory over the deadly temptations of death.”

Hebrews 5:7 says that God answered that prayer. So, Jesus stands up. And he is ready. The battle has been won; it has been won through prayer. He goes and finds the disciples sleeping. They have not won their battle, and their defeat will show immediately. So, the point of scene 2 is to show God’s sovereign care through prayer, not sleep.

Scene 3: Sovereign Care Rejected

First, Judas rejects God’s sovereign care; then the disciples do. Judas rejects it by misusing a kiss. The disciples reject it by misusing a sword.

While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:47–48)

In other words: “A kiss! My dear friend, it’s one thing to betray me. But to do it with a kiss? This is a dagger before the nails. This is what happens, Judas, when you cease to rest in God’s sovereign care and give way to the love of money, my dear keeper of the moneybag — thirty pieces of silver and a kiss. You won’t be able to live with this.”

And then the disciples fail. Verses 49–51 say,

And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.

They don’t wait for an answer to the question, “Shall we strike?” They just do it. They think they have his permission — his command, even! He has said, “Sell your cloak and buy a sword” (see verse 36). So, just like in verse 38, Jesus says, “Stop. Time out. Let me show you what I think of your use of the sword to defend me from the transgressors.” And he heals the high priest’s servant. He undoes the self-defending sword — the mission-advancing sword.

Judas rejects God’s sovereign care. The disciples reject God’s sovereign care. They think they will provide their own. Scene 3 shows that rejection.

Scene 4: Sovereign Care Through Temporary Demonic Triumph

Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” (Luke 22:52–53)

They had every chance to arrest him in the daylight, but they do it in the dark. Of course they do it in the dark! This moment is the crescendo, the embodiment of the power of darkness, Satan himself. He cannot do anything darker or more wicked than to treat the Son of God as a criminal — to number him among the transgressors — and to lead him to the slaughter. In the annals of hell, this is Satan’s finest hour.

And when Jesus says, at the end of verse 53, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness,” he is expressing again the absolute sovereignty of God over this entire affair. “You, Satan, get one hour to do this dark, dirty work. And you get it because, even though you think that darkness has triumphed, you are committing suicide.” As Paul says in Colossians 2:15, “[God] disarmed the rulers and authorities . . . by triumphing over them in [the cross].”

In summary:

• Scene 1 (Luke 22:35–38): God’s sovereign care through suffering, not sword
• Scene 2 (Luke 22:39–46): God’s sovereign care through prayer, not sleep
• Scene 3 (Luke 22:47–51): God’s sovereign care rejected
• Scene 4 (Luke 22:52–53): God’s sovereign care through temporary demonic triumph

This is our calling as Christians: to rest gladly in the sovereign care of God through suffering, not sword; through prayer, not sleep; never taking matters into our own hands; and confident in the face of every temporary demonic triumph that God is going to turn it for our good. That’s why he “was numbered with the transgressors” (Luke 22:37). That’s why he died for us and did not defend himself.