What Does It Mean That Jesus Said to Sell a Cloak to Buy a Sword?

One of my readers, Nicole Soumokil Burleski, sent me this awesome question.   Considering the Second Amendment arguments happening today, I feel her question is quite relevant.  Here is  her question and my answer.

Nicole: “I have a bible question for you if you don’t mind! What are your thoughts in Luke 22:36 when Jesus told his disciples to sell their cloak for a sword and they came back with two swords? Is there any significance there?”

SLR: “Hi Nicole, thanks for the question. It is one I have been wanting to think through myself. After reading the verses before and after (to get the ever critical context), Jesus was new instructions during the Passover to the disciples. Here is the whole text:

35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

36 He said to them, “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. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’[b]; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That’s enough!” he replied.

This was at the Passover Supper. He was to be arrested that very night. He said that he was to be numbered among the transgressors. To me, that means ‘criminals’. In other words, he was about to become, in the eyes of the law, a criminal. And as his followers, they would naturally also be called criminals

Rebellion Is In American Blood!

As I was commenting on a question from a reader about the recent N. Korean threats against America, I suddenly realized that my family has been involved in Korean politics for hundreds of years!  And now, so am I!  Is this a coincidence?  Or is something else going on?

It all started (as far as my mother told me) with an ancestor who came from China to govern an area of Korea.  He was also a scholar who was influential in the formation of the Korean language.  That would be during the late 1400′s to the early 1500′s according to my research.  He would have been in the Yangban ruling class as they were the only ones allowed to study.  My mother would often talk of our family, the Lim family, as being a ‘high family’ in Korea- she would stress the fact that our family had always been highly ‘educated’.  And she would brag that ‘Lim’ was a rare name in Korea- that only ‘high’ families were called, ‘Lim’.  I never got it when I was little- big deal!  Didn’t everyone go to school?? And who cares about a last name!  But her statements verify the historical facts of early Korea:  they were highly class oriented and aristocratic positions were inherited through the male line.  The Chinese only sent royal sons to Korea to rule.  A family’s destiny was never changeable- the powerful & rich stayed powerful & rich and the poor remained the poor.  My mother’s clear disdain for ‘lower classes’ also speaks t

What Can One Man Do Against Obama?

Friends, I am so pleased that the photo meme I posted yesterday (above) on Facebook was confirmed as an actual event by some very astute readers! Thank You Cindy Bahler Martin, David Paulison & Chris Malpass! I want to talk about Dr. Donald Allen, the man who waved the upside down flag at Obama’s inauguration. Many of you have asked, “What can we DO! There must be something we can DO!” “One person can’t really affect much change!” Yet, here we have ONE PERSON.  One determined, convicted, passionate man who decided that he needed to ‘do something’. It was a small thing. He brought an American Flag to the inauguration ceremony. Must have been a lot of flags there. But this man brought a big one with an extra long pole! And then he turned it upside down for the world to see. And he. inspired. a nation! One person can do a lot. First, by hitting that Facebook or WordPress  ‘share’ button. If you can not find the right words, then share someone else’s words with which you agree.

SPEAKING UP is the easiest thing you can do. And yet, the hardest. Because you know, deep down, that you will be ridiculed by your friends, family, co-workers, church members and

URGENT UPDATE on Connecticut Shooting

Friends, there is a gift that God has given me:  I can smell something fishy a mile away.  Like Benghazi.  Almost on day one, I told my husband:  “The facts don’t make sense.  Something is wrong here.”  Last night, after I saw a talking head interview (or, I should say, NOT interview) the father of the boy who saw his teacher get shot and ran for his life with a couple of friends, I told my husband, “Something is not right here.  She didn’t ask a single relevant question.  So far, this boy is the only eye-witness of the gunman coming forward.  She didn’t ask if the boy saw one or more shooters.  She didn’t ask any details of what the gunman did first, second, third.  She didn’t ask for a description of the gunman.  These reporters are complete prostitutes.  They could care less about the feelings of the people they interview.  So why didn’t she ask any of these questions?”  In fact, I could tell she was biting back questions.  I looked at my husband and said,  “Cal, this thing is starting to stink.  By now, there should be many eye-witness accounts of the actual gunman.  There should be breathless survivors talking about how this guy walked by their room, etc.  About how they narrowly escaped.  But so far, it looks like every single eye-witness is dead.  That is IMPOSSIBLE!”

Democratic Senator Boswell’s Grandson Uses Shotgun to Defend Home

Pro-Gun Rights Senator Boswell is Glad He Had That Shotgun!

Imagine that.  A democrat with a shot gun in their house!  On the heels of the Justice Department illegally restricting gun ownership in five southern states.  With Obama preparing an illegal executive order that would further restrict gun ownership by law-abiding American citizens.    The irony is not lost on this writer.

Had Senator Boswell not had the shotgun, it is very probable that he, his daughter and his grandson would be dead today because the home invader was armed (betcha it was an illegal gun).  A decorated war hero, with skills he no doubt learned in his 20 years in the Army, Senator Boswell instantly attacked the robber who had assaulted his daughter.   He, a man well advanced in years, grappled with the much younger armed man.  His 22 year old grandson quickly ran to another room and grabbed the shot gun.

Buy Your Guns Now- Big Ones. And Lots of Bullets.

"Vee Vill Get Zee Names!"

I can’t believe I just said that.  But I did.  As a result of the Fast n Furious Debacle, Eric Holder (or should I say, Obama) has just ordered the Justice Department to take away our Second Amendment rights- you know, the right to bear arms- the right to raise a private militia, the right to stand up to our own government should it become tyrannical?  Yeah, that one.

The Justice Department is now ordering five southern states to report the names of any private citizen who purchases high-powered assault weapons.  Even though no one, I mean no one, believes that Border Patrol Agent, Brian Terry, was killed by an American citizen.  Even though it was it the Justice Department who intentionally sent high powered assault rifles into Mexico- not American citizens.

No act of Congress to repeal the Second Amendment.  Just an arrogant order- from our new king.  I don’t know about you, but that makes my skin crawl.